[popac]

Hello all,
I am zeroing down on Pacifica limited, however, have some doubts about having the car seat on the 2nd row seat. When I am comparing Pacifica with other minivans, it seems that the 2nd row seat legroom is kind of tight and since the seat are fixed and don't go fore/aft, putting a car seat on those seats will make it quite tight.

I appreciate any comment on this issue and it would be great if you can share your thoughts/experience.
Thx

 

[Bluesfox]

We have a forward car seat for 3yr old in 2nd row. Enough room for boys to squeeze between back of front chair and the kid seat. No issue with driver seat fully back and no kicking issue yet.
We do prefer the sienna for the sliding chair, but the stow and go is really great. We run with the 2nd row behind passenger stowed most of the time which keeps everything in the back nice and open for boys in 3rd row (2-1-3 config front to back).
Btw, the kids seats stay in place when 2nd row tilted forward for rear access which is kind of neat. We don't need it, but could be handy for some situations when 2nd row is fully occupied.

 

[1984 Sheepdog]

Using either the stow and assist button or if manual seats, sliding front row seats forward, there should be quite a bit of room to squeeze past a 2nd row forward facing seat.


Right now, I've got a pumpkin seat on passenger side (rear facing, of course), and a convertible seat forward facing on driver's side. With the pumpkin seat, you can easily just lift the seat out of the base then tilt the 2nd row to go behind, or just slip through in front and use the aisle. Forward facing seat is installed with the belt, so there is no tilting that one.


I really like the idea that Bluesfox mentions about stowing one of the 2nd row bucket seats. When I finally get to go on a road trip with wife, 2year old, and baby, I think that might be the configuration I use so that someone can sit next to the baby in the back if he needs comforting during the trip. It will depend on how much luggage is involved though.

 

[lionhoho]

It is a little tight. My two years old son likes to kick the screen behind the driver seat so I'm using a seat back protector since I won't let him to watch any screen before four.

 

[generaltso]

Lots of good info and pictures in this thread:

http://www.pacificaforums.com/forum...ear-facing-child-seats-here-3.html#post112609

 

[JillWill]

We have 2 front facing (full size) car seats in the 2nd row -- there is enough room, but if feels a little tight - I guess I was thinking that the kiddos could hop up in the van on their own and crawl right into their seats - there isn't enough room in front of the seats to do that - they could probably do so from the middle area in between the seats ... I wish the 2nd row seats had the option of being moved back.
The finance manager from Chrysler that we worked with (with 3 kiddos) said they often stow one 2nd row seat and put car seats in the 3rd row - that does make sense - except then they can't see the screen on the back of the seats as well.

 

[1984 Sheepdog]

We have 2 front facing (full size) car seats in the 2nd row -- there is enough room, but if feels a little tight - I guess I was thinking that the kiddos could hop up in the van on their own and crawl right into their seats - there isn't enough room in front of the seats to do that - they could probably do so from the middle area in between the seats ... I wish the 2nd row seats had the option of being moved back.
The finance manager from Chrysler that we worked with (with 3 kiddos) said they often stow one 2nd row seat and put car seats in the 3rd row - that does make sense - except then they can't see the screen on the back of the seats as well.

Why wouldn't they be able to see the video screen?

 

[JillWill]

Why wouldn't they be able to see the video screen?

I probably should have clarified that the screen won't be "directly in front of them" when they are riding in the 3rd row.

 

[popac]

Thank you all for great response.
I would have loved to have those 2nd row seats to go back a bit since I have no use of the 3rd row and it seems that that space is really wasted cause 2nd row seats are fixed.

Two questions:
1) I guess other minivans (odyssey and sienna) have much bigger space in the 2nd row cause they move fore/aft. Any experience with those minivans? Is my thinking correct?
2) Pacifica hybrid 2nd row seats are completely different; they move fore/aft BUT are no longer Stow & go. That being said I guess if you leave the car seat on those then the 3rd row access will be restricted to some extend. What do you think?

 

[Gohawks1224]

Why wouldn't they be able to see the video screen?

I have four kids. Two in second row, two in third row. 8 seater too. They all can see the screens. Also, there is ample room to "crawl" under the rear facing seat and about 6 inches between the front and rear facing seat with the front seat all the way reclined. Third row kiddos age 6 and 3. The 6 year old can and does put his feat on the seat in front of him, but I have back seat covers installed. No big deal. He has a lot of room.

 

[Gohawks1224]

not sure if this helps but there they are. I ended up moving the oldest to the second row. the 3 year old wanted to sit next to her brother.

 

[popac]

not sure if this helps but there they are. I ended up moving the oldest to the second row. the 3 year old wanted to sit next to her brother.

Awesome! thank you

 

[Red MC]

Thank you all for great response.
I would have loved to have those 2nd row seats to go back a bit since I have no use of the 3rd row and it seems that that space is really wasted cause 2nd row seats are fixed.

Two questions:
1) I guess other minivans (odyssey and sienna) have much bigger space in the 2nd row cause they move fore/aft. Any experience with those minivans? Is my thinking correct?
2) Pacifica hybrid 2nd row seats are completely different; they move fore/aft BUT are no longer Stow & go. That being said I guess if you leave the car seat on those then the 3rd row access will be restricted to some extend. What do you think?

We just went through some of the same thoughts during our buying process.


We have two young kids, age 1 and 3, and ended up installing one rear-facing child seat behind the driver and one forward facing behind the passenger. So far, the lack of fore/aft adjustment hasn't been an issue. I am 5'10" and when I'm driving the vehicle I don't have to compromise my driving position to accommodate the rear facing seat behind me. If I were over 6' tall, I would just swap them around and put the rear facing seat on the passenger side. We have 7 passenger seating and there is enough room to pass in front of a forward facing car seat and then go through the middle to get to the back row. So the rear facing car seat can go on either side.


It gets harder if you have two rear facing car seats. In the 8 seat configuration, you can't access the 3rd row without taking one of them out, or folding down half of the 3rd row and entering from the rear. In the 7 seat configuration, if you're small you might be able to squeeze under a rear facing car seat and go through the middle. Or if you're flexible, you might be able to step over the console from the front seat and go through the middle. That's where other minivans with an adjustable 2nd row have a bit of an advantage. In the Sienna and Odyssey, it looked like you could adjust the second row to fit a rear facing car seat in the third row if you needed to. In the Pacifica, I don't think a rear facing car seat will fit in the third row (ours can't) unless you stow the seat in front of it, and then you don't have an anchor point for the tether.

 

[Gohawks1224]

We just went through some of the same thoughts during our buying process.


We have two young kids, age 1 and 3, and ended up installing one rear-facing child seat behind the driver and one forward facing behind the passenger. So far, the lack of fore/aft adjustment hasn't been an issue. I am 5'10" and when I'm driving the vehicle I don't have to compromise my driving position to accommodate the rear facing seat behind me. If I were over 6' tall, I would just swap them around and put the rear facing seat on the passenger side. We have 7 passenger seating and there is enough room to pass in front of a forward facing car seat and then go through the middle to get to the back row. So the rear facing car seat can go on either side.


It gets harder if you have two rear facing car seats. In the 8 seat configuration, you can't access the 3rd row without taking one of them out, or folding down half of the 3rd row and entering from the rear. In the 7 seat configuration, if you're small you might be able to squeeze under a rear facing car seat and go through the middle. Or if you're flexible, you might be able to step over the console from the front seat and go through the middle. That's where other minivans with an adjustable 2nd row have a bit of an advantage. In the Sienna and Odyssey, it looked like you could adjust the second row to fit a rear facing car seat in the third row if you needed to. In the Pacifica, I don't think a rear facing car seat will fit in the third row (ours can't) unless you stow the seat in front of it, and then you don't have an anchor point for the tether.

you can still tilt fwd a rear facing seat, just hit the button for stow n go

 

[vdubpower]

ive got 3 across middle, recaro proride, prosport and a radian....its tight but its in sold, kids have more leg room than in the 2006 yukon

 

[gb1728]

We have two young kids, age 1 and 3, and ended up installing one rear-facing child seat behind the driver and one forward facing behind the passenger. So far, the lack of fore/aft adjustment hasn't been an issue. I am 5'10" and when I'm driving the vehicle I don't have to compromise my driving position to accommodate the rear facing seat behind me. If I were over 6' tall, I would just swap them around and put the rear facing seat on the passenger side. We have 7 passenger seating and there is enough room to pass in front of a forward facing car seat and then go through the middle to get to the back row. So the rear facing car seat can go on either side.


It gets harder if you have two rear facing car seats. In the 8 seat configuration, you can't access the 3rd row without taking one of them out, or folding down half of the 3rd row and entering from the rear. In the 7 seat configuration, if you're small you might be able to squeeze under a rear facing car seat and go through the middle. Or if you're flexible, you might be able to step over the console from the front seat and go through the middle. That's where other minivans with an adjustable 2nd row have a bit of an advantage. In the Sienna and Odyssey, it looked like you could adjust the second row to fit a rear facing car seat in the third row if you needed to. In the Pacifica, I don't think a rear facing car seat will fit in the third row (ours can't) unless you stow the seat in front of it, and then you don't have an anchor point for the tether.

Im 6'3" so we did the swap sides. 3y/o is behind the driver. I keep the screen up at all times to avoid him kicking it or trying to left it with his feet. The 1y/o is rear facing in a convertible behind the passanger, there is plenty of room even for me when I sit there. The 3y/o can climb under and through the opening from the passenger side if he feels like it. His seat tilts to allow access to 3rd row with plenty of room even if he's strapped into the seat haha.

We just went on a long trip. The 1y/o was moved to the third row rear facing behind the passenger seat. No issues.

We have Diono Rainer seats and the rear facing seat uses the angle adjuster pad.

 

[Red MC]

Good info. Our convertible seat which didn't fit rear-facing in the third row is a Britax Marathon ClickTight.

 

[Gohawks1224]

the strain on your back loading a child into the rear facing seat in the third row must make some chiropractor happy.

 

[gb1728]

the strain on your back loading a child into the rear facing seat in the third row must make some chiropractor happy.

Wasn't bad and was only for our trip. I would typically climb in then have my wife hand the baby back. Even if I did it myself it wasn't terrible at all. The forward tilting seat allows for plenty of room to maneuver.

Although I would not recommend this as a long term solution unless you have triplets haha.

 

[gb1728]

Good info. Our convertible seat which didn't fit rear-facing in the third row is a Britax Marathon ClickTight.

We love the Diono's. The Rainer is a full metal frame and they are slim. The seat can be folded up for storage/travel and you could fit 3 across in even a Jetta or smaller car if you needed to.

They are a little pricey but in my opinion totally worth it for their crash/safety ratings.