Originally Posted by MMike1981

unless you get a truck with a 3rd row or a minivan...you will encounter a little difficulty here and there no matter what mid sized suv you buy. but by no means can the RDX not handle a family of 3.

the better bet here would be spend your money on a Pilot or MDX. A pilot would serve you better as your fam grows (more kids ya never know right) but at least you have the expandability you wouldnt get from the RDX. as much as i love the acura, id be a little hard pressed to buy it over a pilot/mdx if i knew i had a kid(s) coming.

Originally Posted by Patronus

2009's come in June, according to a lot of posts on this forum. There are some great deals now on 2008's ($5000 factory to dealer incentives on Tech Pkg vehicles).

However, you may kick yourself depending on the changes the 2009's come out with. I'd wait another week or so to see what the 2009's bring, then decide.

Originally Posted by chicagoTL

Are incentives really this good? I thought it was $1500 or special financing.

Originally Posted by ddb

If you are planning to have a baby, the RDX is not the ideal car for baby and its gear. A rear-facing car seat requres that the front seat ahead of it be pulled up pretty far (we have a Graco Snug-Ride seat), which leads to very limited legroom for anybody taller than 5'5". You get a little more front-seat room if you install the child seat in the middle position of the rear seat, but then you lose the ability to fold down either side of the fold-down rear seats.

Also, with a stroller in the trunk (we have both a Graco travel system stroller and a BumbleRide Indie), there's very little room for much more cargo. It's totally fine for us, but I think a lot of people would want more space. Just something to keep in mind.

My 12-year old Subaru Legacy Wagon is much more space-practical for our family, but obviously doesn't have the amenities that my wife really wanted in a car!

Originally Posted by mvwood

...As for the stroller, we have the bugaboo chameleon and there indeed isn't very much room in the back, though there is enough for groceries and the like.

Originally Posted by mvwood

we had the same issue with out snugride. However, now that our baby is into the second stage reversable car seat, even though it is still rear facing because it is more upright the front seat space issue is not the same as it was before. As for the stroller, we have the bugaboo chameleon and there indeed isn't very much room in the back, though there is enough for groceries and the like. Usually when hauling baby gear and other stuff we have the /60 rear seat down, but after a second baby shows up I anticipate there not being nearly enough space in the trunk.

Originally Posted by MMike1981

i dont see how a wagon clears up your 2nd row issues. if anything, like Brizey said, wagons 2nd rows are smaller and snugger with less usable space. ill take an suv seating position any day.

Originally Posted by RDX_A

What if a 35lb dog was added to the mix? Will there be enough room?

Originally Posted by ddb

We're a few months away from going to a forward-facing seat (Britax Boulevard), which will free up a lot of room. If we have another baby, we can put child #1 in forward-facing seat behind the driver's seat and the rear-facing seat for child #2 behind passenger seat. We can make the stroller situation work in the trunk, even with two kids, but there will be very little room for anything else. I wouldn't want to do an extended roadtrip with this car if we have two young kids, but hopefully by that time I'll have a newer wagon that has more cargo space.

- DDB

Originally Posted by mvwood

that's our plan too eventually with the config. We just got lucky I guess that our boy grew out of the snugride at 7ish months and so is in a convertable - while rear facing, it is more upright and so leaves more room for the passenger seat. I suppose, because the convertable are rated to 5 or 6 lbs, that we could have started with one, but they don't come out and having the bucket with a baby is worth whatever discomfort on the road.

The other thing I noticed to save a bit of room was you know how they say to make sure the carrying handle is right behind the car seat, well they just don't want it above the baby, but if you put it all the way back it gives an extra few inches for the front seat but does not pose any risk for the baby.

Oh, and not sure what our plans are yet, but I read that the switching to forward facing at 1 yr is the minimum, but the longer you can keep them rear facing the better as the vertebrae have not fused yet.

Originally Posted by ddb

If you are planning to have a baby, the RDX is not the ideal car for baby and its gear. A rear-facing car seat requres that the front seat ahead of it be pulled up pretty far (we have a Graco Snug-Ride seat), which leads to very limited legroom for anybody taller than 5'5". You get a little more front-seat room if you install the child seat in the middle position of the rear seat, but then you lose the ability to fold down either side of the fold-down rear seats. Also, with a stroller in the trunk (we have both a Graco travel system stroller and a BumbleRide Indie), there's very little room for much more cargo. It's totally fine for us, but I think a lot of people would want more space. Just something to keep in mind.

Originally Posted by ddb

We have an RDX and a '97 Legacy Wagon. With the rear-facing child-seat installed, there is significantly more front passenger-seat legroom in the Subaru than in the RDX. It's not even a close comparison. PLUS, I can fit a LOT more cargo in the rear of the Subaru than I can in the RDX. Again, not even close.



Roadtrips are no problem for us now with just one child. But let's say we have an infant and a 2-year old. Both need car seats, so rear-seat space is maxed out. At the minimum, we'd need to haul the following in the cargo space:

- 1 or 2 strollers
- Travel bassinet (for infant sleeping)
- Two suitcases (one for wife and I, one for kid's toys and clothes)
- Cooler (we usually bring our own food for roadtrips to save expenses eating out)
- Wife's other miscellaneous gear

Frankly, I don't think the above minimum cargo load would fit in the RDX cargo area. Plus, if we're planning to do any activities on the trip, such as hiking or skiing, then there a lot more gear that needs to go as well. And of course, even if by some miracle all this stuff fits in the car, my wife at 5'5" still has very little legroom in the front passenger seat due to the rear-facing child seat behind her.

Look, I'm not complaining about the car at all. We knew the size, and we were comfortable that it would be fine for our needs, with the assumption that we'd use the Subaru or get a newer wagon longer journeys if we ever have a second child.