Sponsored

3 kids, no 3rd row vehicle

Chinz67

Well-Known Member
First Name
Ken
Joined
Jul 18, 2020
Threads
9
Messages
80
Reaction score
68
Location
Westfield, MA
Vehicle(s)
2020 Hydra Blue Gladiator Sport
Occupation
Retired
I have 3 girls. 8-9-15. All fit no problem. It's not as roomy as my 2014 ram crew cab, but way more fun and the kids love it!
Sponsored

 
OP
OP
JTBurns

JTBurns

Well-Known Member
First Name
Joe
Joined
Jun 28, 2020
Threads
19
Messages
976
Reaction score
1,813
Location
Lancaster, PA
Vehicle(s)
Jeep Gladiator
I have 3 boys (4yo, 3yo, 10month old) and manage, I had a 2019 raptor which was awesome and easily fit everyone but longed for a jeep in the spring so bought another wrangler and got Diono narrow car seats to just fit....then when they discounted the sport s recently in the Gladiator I consolidated (Traded JLU and raptor in).....totally worth it...fits all of us and is so much fun especially lifted with 35s.

if I did need more space I would strongly consider a power wagon with front bench as they are a bargain for what you get, just a little big for a daily driver
Awesome to hear you traded a Raptor on the JT! And yes we're getting by pretty well right now too with the young family. Just nice to see we don't have to spring for a 3 row right away and may never need to. There are just so many more options without. Thanks for the perspective!
 

GreyGladiator

Member
First Name
Erik
Joined
Sep 10, 2020
Threads
0
Messages
9
Reaction score
20
Location
Highlands Ranch, CO
Vehicle(s)
Volvo XC70; XC90; F150; HD Dyna Glide; 2021 Mojave (ordered)
Occupation
Retired Navy
Congrats on the new arrival. Our 3 are now all in their 20’s and two years apart. We cycled through a 1999 Suburban and a 2004 Toyota mini van.

Third rows are great when oldest is able to climb back there and buckle in solo. The sliding doors are a huge convenience for loading and unloading 1-3 kids and carpool friends at school, practice and activities because you can open and close the doors from the drover seat.

i was able to fit all 3 in the back seats of my Avalanche during those years but didn’t have to shuttle everyone on a daily basis like my better half did.
 

XJADDICTION

Banned
Banned
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Threads
11
Messages
821
Reaction score
1,659
Location
TN
Vehicle(s)
2020 JT SS Max Tow, 2005 WK Hemi, 2013 Mustang GT
Occupation
Surgical CSFA
So my wonderful wife just gave birth to our 3rd (and final) child. I have the three seats set up in the back of the JT, and our other vehicle is a Mazda CX-5 that's just about paid off with 50k miles. We are not convinced that a three row vehicle is a must, so does that make us crazy? We feel between the bed of the truck and the roof rack on the CX-5, we could haul our kids and stuff without a problem. Understand it'll be a little tight, but outside of vacation, our trips are generally less than two hours at the furthest.

My wife doesn't really want to drive a bigger vehicle, but if we did get a 3rd row, it's narrowed down town Acura MDX or Mazda CX-9 and we'd want Captain's chairs in either.

So just wondering if anyone out there is toting three kids without a 3rd row and find it at least tolerable? We'd like to at least get the JT paid off (2 1/2 years) or the Mazda closer to 100k miles before trade. Appreciate the replies in advance!

We’ve had the Toyota Sienna, fantastic for small kids, sliding doors no worry about door dings on cars parked next to you and lots of space and infotainment. This is by far the easiest setup for three car seats.

We also had Ford Expeditions including the extended length. These were just for long travel, not DD’s. My wife HATED the Expedition especially the EL, too big. I loved them 😁

For the past 3 years we’ve had the all wheel drive grand touring CX-9. My favorite and her favorite by far. Plenty of power lots of room with sliding and reclining 2nd row and a decent 3rd row. Front seats are magic for long drives.
 
Last edited:

Sponsored

XJADDICTION

Banned
Banned
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Threads
11
Messages
821
Reaction score
1,659
Location
TN
Vehicle(s)
2020 JT SS Max Tow, 2005 WK Hemi, 2013 Mustang GT
Occupation
Surgical CSFA
Meant to say Grand Touring CX-9. My wife DD’s it and parks in hospital garage. She says, and I feel the same way, the CX-9 is big but doesn’t feel like it.

We have a friend with a 2010 CX-9 and she has almost 200,000 miles on hers. Only issue was one HID headlight that needed to be replaced.
 
OP
OP
JTBurns

JTBurns

Well-Known Member
First Name
Joe
Joined
Jun 28, 2020
Threads
19
Messages
976
Reaction score
1,813
Location
Lancaster, PA
Vehicle(s)
Jeep Gladiator
Meant to say Grand Touring CX-9. My wife DD’s it and parks in hospital garage. She says, and I feel the same way, the CX-9 is big but doesn’t feel like it.

We have a friend with a 2010 CX-9 and she has almost 200,000 miles on hers. Only issue was one HID headlight that needed to be replaced.
We like the CX-9, definitely one of the most preferred options once we go that route. Our CX-5 has done well for us now up to about 53k miles. Only put like 1500 miles on it since getting the JT about a year ago, between us both working at home almost always taking the Jeep everywhere on the weekends. It's fit the three kids pretty well so far. Even just went roundtrip from PA to FL a couple of weeks ago
 

RavensEyeOffroad

Well-Known Member
First Name
Nick
Joined
Sep 16, 2019
Threads
75
Messages
1,469
Reaction score
1,411
Location
Kentucky
Vehicle(s)
'21 Mojave
Build Thread
Link
We have 3 kids, all girls 14, 7 and 6.
The car and booster seats take up the majority of the room honestly. Even with small booster seats we can fit all 3 in the back of the truck no problem and it would be easier without them.
My wife's car is a chevy transverse, 2 captains and then the 3rd row. it works ok. Sometimes we just open the tailgate and let the teenager go in that way instead of having to climb past the smaller kids. I dont think there is any "fun" solution just what everyone can live with really.
 

Orange01z28

Well-Known Member
First Name
Andrew
Joined
Aug 19, 2020
Threads
63
Messages
1,350
Reaction score
1,693
Location
Queen Creek Arizona
Vehicle(s)
2020 JT Sport S
Don't forget about when they get older and they have friends

You might not want to haul the whole crew around, but it happens

It's for this same reason why we're hanging onto our Explorer rather than trading it in for something smaller
 

XJADDICTION

Banned
Banned
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Threads
11
Messages
821
Reaction score
1,659
Location
TN
Vehicle(s)
2020 JT SS Max Tow, 2005 WK Hemi, 2013 Mustang GT
Occupation
Surgical CSFA
Don't forget about when they get older and they have friends

You might not want to haul the whole crew around, but it happens

It's for this same reason why we're hanging onto our Explorer rather than trading it in for something smaller
This is stage we are in now. volleyball and teenagers. The CX-9 has second row reclining seats (also important as kids transition to booster seats with backs. When they fall asleep their head doesn’t drop causing sore necks).

CX-9 third row is ok for teens under 5’10”. Over that and footwell is two shallow for legs.

That is where the Expedition shines as third row is adult sized with deep footwell. Also third row in these Expeditions fold into the floor creating a flat cargo space. The Toyota Sienna is also a good teen carrying vehicle with adult sized third row seating... and 28 mpg vs the Expedition’s 16 mpg
 

Sponsored

Deleted member 30519

The last time I put my kids car seats in rear facing I couldn't get my seat back far enough to get comfortable.
 
OP
OP
JTBurns

JTBurns

Well-Known Member
First Name
Joe
Joined
Jun 28, 2020
Threads
19
Messages
976
Reaction score
1,813
Location
Lancaster, PA
Vehicle(s)
Jeep Gladiator
The last time I put my kids car seats in rear facing I couldn't get my seat back far enough to get comfortable.
Yea I agree it's a little tight if you put it there. I have that in the middle now. My 4yo is in a booster now which saves some space and I put him behind me, not that I don't feel his feet in my back from time to time.
 

RogueOne

Member
First Name
Drew
Joined
Apr 11, 2021
Threads
2
Messages
10
Reaction score
5
Location
RI
Vehicle(s)
Sport S Max Tow
Occupation
Teacher
We have 3 kids, all girls 14, 7 and 6.
The car and booster seats take up the majority of the room honestly. Even with small booster seats we can fit all 3 in the back of the truck no problem and it would be easier without them.
My wife's car is a chevy transverse, 2 captains and then the 3rd row. it works ok. Sometimes we just open the tailgate and let the teenager go in that way instead of having to climb past the smaller kids. I dont think there is any "fun" solution just what everyone can live with really.
The 3rd row is really about what else you will be doing. It's also about what car seats you'll be using and how you have them placed. I finally got rid of my traverse and got back into a jeep now that my guys are close to being out of car seats. I used to have a traverse like mentioned above with captain seats, which makes life easier but the gladiators back bench suffices so far. We just did a 1,500 road trip and it wasn't bad for my three. I would defiantly look at Dino Radian carseats if you have 3 in car seats, they are fully convertible and can easily get 3 across. They are actually easier than boosters for fitting, because you dont have to worry about the buckles. The gladiator is bigger than my wife's cherokee back bench. We have 2 in boosters which makes things a little tricker as the middle seat is a bit tight to easily reach seatbelts, but we put socks under where the buckles go down into the seats to make it more accessible, the Dino fits right between them.

My inlaws got a car with 3rd row, and captains seats so if we need to go anywhere we can travel with them now which really freed me up. that was the major benefit of our third row. The other benefit of the 3rd row is no one was in the middle so less fighting. But like I said we did 1500 miles in a bit over a week and no one got killed so it cant be that bad.
 

mrdude

New Member
First Name
Tim
Joined
May 2, 2021
Threads
0
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
MA
Vehicle(s)
2020 Jeep Gladiator, 2000 Porsche Boxster
Get a Late 80s Dodge Caravan Turbo...still MOPAR if it matters! I grew up in minivans...so much room for activities. I remember playing my Gameboy on road trips as we passed under each street light.
 

RacerX00

Well-Known Member
First Name
Jim
Joined
Nov 10, 2020
Threads
4
Messages
165
Reaction score
89
Location
Long Island
Vehicle(s)
2018 Ford Escape, 2008 VW GTI
So, if you want the JT and want someone to justify it to you, in Europe (and really, almost anywhere in the world) they'd laugh at the Gladiator not being fit for 3 children. Rest of the world would consider the Ford Focus or something similar the perfect family car for that affair.

Once you add a bed cover or a rack, forget it, the storage is just as good as a mini-van, if not better in most ways.

As a fellow father whose eldest is now 13 I can say that really the only time you "miss" a 3rd row for real is when you need to cart around your kids + their friends.

No one has bad things to say about cars like the Odyssey, hard to look at hat purchase and say "you purchased wrong." But the JT totally fits your lifestyle.

/devilsadvocate off
Sponsored

 
 



Top