gplayer

Not to mention it will run FOREVER. I have a 93 with 350,000 miles on it, and its just now starting to show signs of old age.

jayhawk815

Although the Flex definitely has a lot of space it does not as much room as a minivan. It has more room than some 3 row crossovers, but certainly less than our Sienna. We had looked at one when we were shopping for a large family hauler, but my wife just didn't care for the styling and actually preferred the styling of our Sienna SE over it. The AWD and Ecoboost combo would have been pretty damn cool though.

charliemike

Just don't be rear-ended in one ...

MTEAZY

lol @ all the terrible options ITT




<---------------- never having kids crew









no but seriously get a Range Rover with one of those carmax warranties

KEG97

Really? I don't have fat ass kids so it's not an issue. I'm actually fine sitting back there in the "open" spot and I'm 5-9/160lbs. The car seats automatically claim space for the younger two so they're guaranteed space. People (like my wife) automatically assume that you need a minivan or SUV for kids.

I took the 9 year old with me before finalizing a car deal on the G and made sure she was comfortable with the car seat situation. They often prefer taking the G to our QX or Q7 because it's "faster" and "funner"

jayhawk815

I don't have "fat ass kids" either, and there is no way in hell I'd expect them to fit with any semblance of comfort in the back seat of a G. That's why I got rid of mine. Getting a narrower car seat helped, but there still wasn't much room between the two car seats. The OP needs room for 2 car seats and a booster, which would be extremely tight in a G, if it would fit at all.

KEG97

Different strokes for different folks. I had two car seats and a booster in my TSX and the kids were fine. There was never a complaint if I took them in that car instead of one of the roomier trucks. Many folks always deem that they "need" the room of a minivan/large SUV/truck, but sedans still do the job.

jayhawk815

You had to find special, narrower seats for that to even fit. Two standard-sized car seats won't fit with a booster seat in a TSX or a G. Also, if you travel at all, and have to take portable cribs, strollers, don't want your kids pinned to each other, etc., a larger vehicle is needed. But yes, the vehicles you mentioned can be made to work with three kids, but they are FAR from ideal.

KEG97

Like I said before, the Sunshine Radian makes the 3 car seat deal work, but it's a highly rated seat so you're not doing your kids wrong by purchasing it. Otherwise I'm using "typical" booster seats.

Your list of items needed to travel made me thankful my kids aren't that young anymore (9, 5, 3)! Then again, we have the QX56 or Q7 to take for longer trips. The G37 (and TSX before it) is my commuter car and what I use for around town duty.

fsttyms1

It may not be exactly as much as the sienna but it has to be close. The one i rented for a week had more room than my Father in laws town and country and it had more room than my expedition.

And for less than 2k bucks you can have a mid 12s in the quarter family hauler. Lets see the mini vans do that

fsttyms1

Agree. Hell for most family sedans i wouldnt even attempt to put 3 of them back there for even a trip to the mall.

musty hustla

That's pretty impressive. I've had 2 car seats in my TSX comfortably but I can't imagine a booster as well.

Sarlacc

I've researched those seats and they are very mixed ratings...They used to be sold under another company name but there were latch breaking issues and the following model year they were now being sold under Sunshine. This happened the exact time I was looking into these seats.

That was a red flag...not to mention after physically checking out these seats, they are heavy and much more difficult to install and move around compared to other car seats.

So, I immediately nixed them off my list.

jayhawk815

My impression after driving each was that the Sienna had a decent amount more, but I decided to look it up to verify. The Sienna actually has significantly more room.

Cargo volume behind front seats(cu. ft.): Sienna-150.0, Flex-83.2
Cargo volume behind second row: Sienna-87.1, Flex-43.2
Cargo volume behind third row: Sienna- 39.1, Flex-20.0

From these sites:
http://www.toyota.com/sienna/feature...5338/5342/5348
http://www.ford.com/crossovers/flex/...ns/capacities/

350

iTrader: (4)

So what did the guy buy?

KEG97

No such issues when I bought it so the issues were noted so they were with a model after mine. The Sunshine is a beast of a seat and quite heavy!

Let's be honest though- these seats are only going to do so much in an accident. You want them to stay in place and hopefully provide "some" extra protection, but the vehicle is going to do 99% of the work in saving your kid's life. Think about Michael Schumacher- he was skiing and wearing a helmet and is still fighting for his life.

jhumbo

iTrader: (1)

The answer was back a page. The discussion has carried on anyway.

fsttyms1

The main difference in those #s is in the height, not the length and width