Families of 4–how often do you use 3rd row?

[Anonymous]

I’m trying to decide how much of a priority this is in a new car. Kids are 12 and 7.

[Anonymous]

I think it mostly depends on (a) if you have family visit a lot and (b) if you plan to do a lot of car pooling. We don't have either of those issues, so we're sticking with the smaller car.

[Anonymous]

The family I grew up in: frequently. But we (a) went on a lot of road trips (ranging from 5 hours to 5 days in the car, so the extra space per kid was nice) and (b) one of us played the cello, which took up an entire row by itself and was hard to fit in five-seat cars at all.

[Anonymous]

We used it quite a bit for carpooling, or going out to eat with grandparents. My parents only drive local roads, so it was great to have the 3rd row to fit everyone in for a Sunday outing.

It is definitely great to have the option of that row when needed.

[Anonymous]

We definitely needed it for the tween years. And then the minute they turn 16 it is never needed again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used it quite a bit for carpooling, or going out to eat with grandparents. My parents only drive local roads, so it was great to have the 3rd row to fit everyone in for a Sunday outing.

It is definitely great to have the option of that row when needed.

This. Also. With a dog, the trunk area is great.

[Anonymous]

when you need it you need it, mostly when kids are younger than driving age. we have used it a bunch for road trips, as well.

i got rid of my suburban a few years ago and got an acura with a 3rd row. never used once.

i want a suburban again, though.

[Anonymous]

Not often but I need the cargo. The cargo areas on the 5 seater cars were absurdly small.

[Anonymous]

I got a third row suv when I had my second kid. I’m on my second one at this point. Kids are 10 and 7. I don’t use the third row that much as we are in arlington and all of the sports are very close. Plus, I haven’t been comfortable carpooling with covid. Now that I have one kid in travel sports, I’m probably going to have to carpool. I like it not so much for the third row but for the massive amount of storage. We have another two row suv and it doesn’t hold too much.

[Anonymous]

We do a lot of road trips, so all the time.

[Anonymous]

We got a Pilot, largely for carpooling, just before the pandemic.

Thanks to the pandemic, we've done less carpooling than expected, but our pandemic puppy rides in the 3rd row instead!

[Anonymous]

Similar-aged kids here, with a SAH parent. In the Times Before, we used it all the time: team carpools, outings with friends, throwing an extra kid or three in the back for an impromptu hangout, driving with grandparents, road trips, separating cranky siblings…

Not quite as much large-scale carpooling at the moment, but I expect it will pick back up. But we’re still using it for all the other stuff, plus the cargo room with the 3rd row down is great for pandemic DIY projects.

[Anonymous]

We use ours enough that I am glad we have it. Mine are younger though, 5 and 7. But it is really nice to just say "oh you can just get in here" and pull up the 3rd row.

With a 12 year old though, they can sit up front right? So that buys you an extra seat if you have 1 adult and 4 kids that you need to tote around (ex: for carpooling).

[Anonymous]

My kids are younger - 6 and 9. We have a 7use it occasionally for carpooling/taking another kid somewhere.

[Anonymous]

My kids are younger - 6 and 9 - and we have a 7-seat Highlander (captains chairs in the middle). We use the third row occasionally for carpooling/taking another kid somewhere, but it is a necessity for when grandparents visit, for the dog, and for the cargo space.

I would not trade the space and flexibility for a smaller car, but it totally depends on your lifestyle.