Anonymous wrote:Audi has the Q7
Infinity has the ???? formerly the JX, similar to the Nissan Pathfinder
Highlander/Pilot
BMW X5 has a small 3rd row as an option
The big Mercedes GL
New Volvo XC90 looks pretty nice
Ford Explorer is nice

The Land Rover LR4 also has a 3rd row (two seats)

The new volvo xc90 is a great 3 row crossover. It has amazing safety features. I'm considering it but am nervous about such a new model made by volvo.

Which minivan do you have? I have an Odyssey, and I love it. It doesn't feel any different than driving a car in terms of maneuverability/size.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mercedes E class wagon has a (rear facing, old school) 3rd row.

really? this is good to know. I thought they stopped making them. I assumed it was a safety issue or something. I always liked the rear facing 3rd row

Sweet! Like the old school Volvos!

i miss those

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Mercedes E class wagon has a (rear facing, old school) 3rd row.

really? this is good to know. I thought they stopped making them. I assumed it was a safety issue or something. I always liked the rear facing 3rd row

Sweet! Like the old school Volvos!

i have the bmw x5 with 3 kids. The good thing about this car is it feels compact for a 3 row SUV so it's easy to maneuver and park. Also you can keep car seats attached in the second row and the entire seat pulls up to access the back row. This is HUGE if you have little kids with carseats. Sometimes my oldest child will enter/exit from the trunk if another child is asleep in second row. It's really a nice car and I love it. Also you can put one third row seat up and leave the other down so you have some trunk space.

If you are going on a big trip then it's not enough cargo space and we got a roof box for that. And it's definitely tight in the 3rd row, but fine for kids.

Anonymous wrote:The Mercedes E class wagon has a (rear facing, old school) 3rd row.

really? this is good to know. I thought they stopped making them. I assumed it was a safety issue or something. I always liked the rear facing 3rd row

Audi has the Q7
Infinity has the ???? formerly the JX, similar to the Nissan Pathfinder
Highlander/Pilot
BMW X5 has a small 3rd row as an option
The big Mercedes GL
New Volvo XC90 looks pretty nice
Ford Explorer is nice

i liked the R350, but they stopped making them.

Mazda5 is great for the price, and roomy enough, but there is zero room for groceries if you have the third row up (and with 6 people in my house we would have it up all the time).

I'd love to see a return of large wagons with rumbleseats, like the old caprice estates, volvo wagons, or benz wagons. SUV/minivans are not nearly as easy to drive, and handle horribly.

I have the r350 too and it's been great to have seating for 6. I've used it for 6 adults before and it's pretty comfortable (I've sat in the 3rd row too!) The doors are way too big and swing out too far. How can people use these cars in those tiny European garages?!

Anyway, I would love to find something similar as I'm in the 115k range, but the next vehicle needs to be shorter and have doors with a smaller wingspan. Do any other Mercedes have a 3rd row? Audi?

The Mercedes E class wagon has a (rear facing, old school) 3rd row.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I drive a 2010 Mercedes R350, and have put 114,000 miles on it so far without anything but routine maintenance issues. It has a third row of seats and has been very practical, I hope to drive it another 114,000 miles at least. Unfortunately, Mercedes stopped selling the R350 in the U.S. In 2012.

Because while it might have been easy to park, it was not easy to open the doors without hitting the car next to you.

That has never been a problem with our R350, in part, because I have taught my children to open car doors carefully. In any case, my 2010 R350 now has 114,000 miles and counting, and it has never given me a day's serious trouble. If they still made them in the U.S. I would happily buy another one when this one hits 200,000+ miles.

Anonymous wrote:I drive a 2010 Mercedes R350, and have put 114,000 miles on it so far without anything but routine maintenance issues. It has a third row of seats and has been very practical, I hope to drive it another 114,000 miles at least. Unfortunately, Mercedes stopped selling the R350 in the U.S. In 2012.

Because while it might have been easy to park, it was not easy to open the doors without hitting the car next to you.

I drive a 2010 Mercedes R350, and have put 114,000 miles on it so far without anything but routine maintenance issues. It has a third row of seats and has been very practical, I hope to drive it another 114,000 miles at least. Unfortunately, Mercedes stopped selling the R350 in the U.S. In 2012.

I'm not sure if this link will work. But most car sites that lets you compare cars will list dimensions for multiple cars. Here is the link that I tried to do on Edmunds for some of the cars mentioned on this thread (Highlander, Pilot, Rogue, Mazda 5):

http://www.edmunds.com/car-comparisons/?veh1=200706723|suv&veh2=401581359|suv&veh3=200738523|suv&veh4=200715549|minivan&show=0&comparatorId=5813554

And it's under Measurements. In case the link doesn't work go to http://www.edmunds.com -> Car Research-> compare New cars

And from there you can choose the cars you want to compare.

The Highlander is interesting. I'm kind of interested in a three row SUV and the Highlander seems to get great reviews.

My impression of the opinion of the Mazda 5 on this board is opposite. Where I've seen several posts of people being fans of it. I know several people that considered it, myself included, but eventually decided to get something else.

We had a Rogue Select as a rental recently. The Rogue Select is the previous generation of the Rogue that they still make now along with the new generation. I went in with the low expectations and was somewhat pleasantly surprised. My main complaint is that it seemed a bit heavier/slower than it should've been but I'm not really familiar with that class of car and didn't really play around with it. Like turn on the sport mode to see if it made a difference.

btw, when I was shopping the Mazda 5, there were posts and articles talking about the Ford C Max along with the Mazda 5. So they might be comparable vehicles but the Ford C Max doesn't have sliding doors.