arags

Hello all
i wondering if folks can share their experiences in using the full passenger capacity of the Gx on long trips say on two fronts
1) 400 miles or 8 hour trips with a full complement
​​​​​​ 2) 500+ miles trips with maybe 5-6 passengers

I have 2 kids 3&5 and 4 adults and 1 large golden retriever to pack in.

Currently the thought for a full load( > 400 miles) is that we would either have
1) 2 kids in the back
2) 1 kid and puppy in the back and two adults + 1 car seat in the middle

For the longer trips the thought is either
1) one or both kid s in the back
2) both kids and adult in the middle
3) both kids in the middle and adult in the back.

Would love to hear any thoughts on these configs and share any experiences you have had.

Piney1

Depends on their sizes I’d think. The third row is fine for people under 5 foot but I would not want to be back there. Second row can slide up to give more room to the third so that helps. If your driver is tall and keeps seat back, it might hurt some.

A small dog, maybe. Dogs can make car travel not fun, puppies sleep a lot so it may be OK.

You will have very little for any luggage unless you use a tailgate box or roof box.

It is doable but you probably won’t have anyone fighting to sit in back.

arags

Thanks for the reply. Obviously I will need a roof rack or a luggage carrier.

i guess I will need to try it out to see how it feels. We had the pilot before and I ended up being in the third row seat for a 8 hour trip and it was not bad, though no dog at that time. I am 5’9 average build.

just curious to see if anyone has had actual experiences on the longer trips. Short trips of an hour or two are probably ok I would guess.

will post here if I do end up filling it up.

jphowey

To me it would be much more painful and unpleasant to have to own a Suburban or Escalade the other 50 weeks of the year.

Go for it!

sjz

Frankly, I think you're gonna have a bad time, due mostly to width. I don't have a car seat but I can't imagine they're particularly narrow, and adding that to the middle row (assuming thats what you mean), your passengers are going to be, at very least, very worn out by the end of the drive. I will admit I have a bias, as I'm a good bit taller, and pretty broad shoulders.

ASE

Passenger space is one question ... but with the 3rd row up there is absolutely no space for luggage for that number of passengers ... so unless you have a roof rack pod (which has limitations) the seating space is only part of the consideration.

CFAI

Sell your GX and get a minivan.

sjz

Or drive two vehicles. Or fly. Either way, all loaded up in the GX is probably not the safe move here.

CFAI

Or maybe just Rent the minivan for these trips if you really want to keep the GX and also drive. But 4 adults + 2 kids (one in car seat and maybe one in booster) + 1 large dog + overnight luggage for 6 + personal hand bags + kids travel bag(s) + doggie bag (food+toys etc.) + snacks and drinks for the ride = Minivan (maybe Suburban/Tahoe if you really hate minivan, and are willing to give up passenger comfort and gas mileage and extra money to avoid it).

bowhun2r

I've done trips in the GX over 600 miles to OBX from PA (one way) with 4 adults (2 old adults... and 2 young adults) plus a large Golden. Besides my wife... the most important passenger is our Golden. Our two boy (actually young adults) are secondary when it comes to comfort

In all honesty, we have packed the truck with 4 adults, a golden and a roof top Thule carrier packed to about 210lbs (weighed everything as I loaded the carrier up) including carrier weight. Other than the driver (me) and passenger (wife) it was tight. The boys had their back packs and whatever else they packed in the second row. The cargo had one large plastic bin taking up half the cargo area with nonperishable and what nots and the other half was Luna's area. There was no room for anything else.

I don't see (at least for our family) how we could have fit one more human (or dog) in the vehicle for that length of drive.

arags

I just barely managed to convince the wife to get the GX. The thing is I also need to tow my boat and hence the GX

arags

Well with our kids who are pretty little (3 & 5) I think we will be real comfortable for the long rides. I guess I should clarify that I might have i additional adult on the longer 400+ trips, so would be curious to see how that will work out.
The 7 config will be mainly for our trips down to Rochester NY from Rhode Island and usually a Thule roof top will more than suffice and its like a 6+ hours drive. Yeah I get the Golden context, we have our pups pretty high on the totem pole too,, I think i might be the low man on there .. On the pilot it was pretty comfy and the dimensions of the GX are not really that far off from the Pilot.

arags

I think i would go to a minivan before i went suburban or Tahoe. the 4+2+1 config would usually be for one short trip 6+ hours long and we can usually get all our gear in a Thule roof rack. We needed to do that in the pilot too.
the longer trips might be possibly 3 adults + 2 kids total no dogs
I almost did get a minivan, but need to tow as well and hence the GX

arags

Just got it two days ago

arags

I would rather have a minivan anyday