Hi,

Will the 3rd generation provide enough space for 3 child seats in the rear?
My searches here only recovered results for inquiries on rear facing seats and not exactly what im asking.

Thanks,
Albert

 

I have only one car seat in the back of mine, but am quite certain I could fit two more in there if needed. I can easily sit two adults in the back seat with our rather large car seat, and still be comfortable.

 

Albert,

I have 3 child seats in mine. We got the RX so we could fit all 3 kids in the back.

 

photos anybody? id like to see 3. i have one coming

 

I have three as well. I will post a pic later. But I have two Graco high back boosters and a cosco 5 pont harness seat in the middle. The kids have no problem fitting. I have a 9 year old, 6 year old and 3 year old. there was even enough room for us to pile everyone in and take the car to the mountains for a ski trip this winter. Even with the dog in the back. I did have to use a ski rack for the top of the car and a hitch mounted luggage rack but overall I was very impressed with the amount of room.

 

I think it also depends on what carseats you have. I have a Britax Marathon (rear-facing) and a Britax Frontier (forward-facing), using the LATCH system, and there's no way I could fit a 3rd seat in the middle.

Also, be careful about how you harness the middle seat since I don't believe our RX's have dedicated middle LATCH anchors, and you're not supposed to share anchors. I think the middle seat would have to use a belt.

 

diono upright child seat x 2
graco infant seat x 1

yes, I use the seat belt for the middle upright child seat

 

^haha nice..

 

great! thanks for the input everyone. I was concerned as two of mine are moving to boosters and one was still in a child seat. The center postion seemed narrower than the side seats so that was my main concern.\

 

The middle seat does look smaller, but with two boosters you will have no problem.

 

We have the Britax Marathon and wanted to keep it for our 3 year old in center seat placement but it really does chew through the arm room of the side seats...

TBH, I have come to the realization that this isnt an ideal vehicle for a family of 5...

 

Originally, I had 2 forward-facing Britax Marathons, and a rear-facing infant seat.
One of those Marathons is now rear-facing and I have 2 next to it.
As long as you mix the same height seats, so they don't overlap, it's fine.

Since I wanted a Hybrid, the RX450h fit the bill well. For a non-hybrid vehicle, I would look at the new 4Runner. Kids loved the 3rd row back seat at the auto show. GX460 would be another option, but it is a bit too big and heavy.

 

vlad_a,
im gonna have to agree with ya and check out the recaro boosters. Thanks for the tips and feedback.

the 3rd row does come in handy now and again but its my excuse for not picking up more people for trips being a primary driver

 

Albert,
You're welcome!

While 3rd row is useful, I figured you can't put kids seats in there, as it takes away from the trunk space. So, they will end up in the 2nd row anyway.