The problem is that car seats have gotten enormous. Hard to fit three car seats across a single row.

I know two families with 3 who both only have 2 rows. Ironically, both have Subarus.

My kids are 23,21 and 16 and wife needs a three row vehicle. We have five adults in car on some trips and lots of trips back and forth to college hauling stuff.

This is OP and I’d totally forgotten about this thread. We actually did cave, and bought a 2023 Telluride, which we like a lot. Both our cars were on their last legs so we sold them both and now share one (I recognize we are lucky to do so!).

Anonymous wrote:We have three kids and one car: Honda Fit.

With some effort and research we’ve managed 3 across with many combinations over the years:

2 dionos and one rear facing Chicco Keyfit, then 3 dionos, then 2 dionos and a bubble bum, then 2 bubble bums and a Diono.

We have no plans to supersize to a 3rd row. You can do it if you really want to.

And with the mileage and maintainance savings from the Fit, you probably have some money to set aside for college savings, unlike the majority of people driving $45k cars and then complaining that they didn’t know their alma mater now charges $80k per year!

Anonymous wrote:I grew up with 2 siblings. We had a HUGE Oldsmobile station wagon.

Same- riding in the "way back" was the best, lol. Although couldn't do that for trips obviously.

We have three kids and one car: Honda Fit.

With some effort and research we’ve managed 3 across with many combinations over the years:

2 dionos and one rear facing Chicco Keyfit, then 3 dionos, then 2 dionos and a bubble bum, then 2 bubble bums and a Diono.

We have no plans to supersize to a 3rd row. You can do it if you really want to.

We have a minivan and an accord. When all five of us go somewhere together, we use the minivan. When we travel and don’t want to splurge on an SUV or minivan, it’s miserable with my three boys (13,11,9) in a sedan. I end up sitting in the middle back just to keep them from fighting with each other because someone is in someone else’s space or they are breathing too loud or just their existence is too annoying.

Brutal.

I also love that we can carpool kids around. It’s great to listen to your kids talk to their friends when they don’t think you’re paying attention.

I love a minivan. Never wanted one, but they’re great. So much room and great for varying things around too.

We did it for a while.
Audi A4 - we needed to be really smart with the carseats / boosters that fit right.
Acura Sedan (not sure the model)

We decided that we would get rental car (minivan) when we had road trips so that we had a little more space and comfort for everyone. It is important to book way ahead of time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are 9, 7, and 4, and we still have a five seater car. It has only rarely been a problem. Two caveats:

1. We don’t do sports with equipment needs other than ski (and have a rack), so I am not putting three lacrosse/hockey/etc pads.

2. I can’t carpool as much as I would like because I can’t easily reciprocate. Hasn’t been a huge problem but as kids get busier with activities this may come up more.

What do you have?

Mazda CX-5. We have loved it so far at nine years old and 115k miles.

Doing it right now with a 13, 11, 5 year old in a Highlander and captain's chairs in the 2nd row.

Ideal? No, and I'm looking for alternatives before we do another road trip as the one in the way back (5 year has booster in a captain chair) is squished and uncomfortable.

The larger SUVs would work but are land whales. DW does not want a minivan. I spent a bunch of time reading reviews on the Telluride, Q7, etc. hoping to find a workable mid-sized solution but it might not exist. The other option is the full 2nd row with the kids rubbing elbows (which I did as a kid).