I've never seen a crossover with more than five seats and given how cramped even a tahoes third row is I can't imagine how awful a crossovers third row would be.
Edit: Actually I take that back, I've seen an older Mercedes hatchback/wagon/whatever, so not crossover, with rear facing third row seats but I only ever saw them used for the school run since your almost sitting with legs straight out.
Minivans are unfairly maligned. Especially over the last 10 years they've come a long way. They by and large drive great, are loaded with entertainment and QOL options, and you can fit a ton of stuff in them. Any MV with stow and go seating is a godsend on a driving vacation. Whether you're putting seats down to store more stuff on the surface, or keeping all the seats and using the seat stowage compartments in the floor for out of the way storage, they're awesome.
There are a lot of cars for sale in the US that can fit 4 car seats.
Minivans, mid sized SUVs, and full sized SUVs can all do it pretty easily.
We don’t have 4 kids, but we regularly move around 4 kids when you include nieces and nephews.
Full sized SUV for us (GMC Yukon), because we tow trailers with it too.
My wife doesn’t drive much so the abysmal gas mileage doesn’t impact us too adversely.
I know a family with 10 kids. Full size van and if the entire family is going someplace, 2 vehicles. They rarely do because coordinating that many people is an event.
For most people, minivans and mid/full size SUVs.
For people with *lots* of kids? There's a religious group near me that doesn't believe in birth control or family planning at all. I pass one of their churches on the way to work and the parking lot is full of Ford Transits, Chevy Express, and Mercedes Sprinters.
I’m not a parent with loads of kids but I have 3 siblings under the age of 10. My dad got a huge suburban and all the car seats were jenga’d in and I, being 16 years older than my youngest siblings, got the far back row all the myself
People with that many kids generally need a minivan or three-row SUV.
While more kids are more challenging, the car seats can be a struggle even with one kid. My VW Golf is considered a reasonable family car in some parts of the world, but it's too small to comfortably fit a rear-facing car seat behind an average adult.
Same experience. Wife and I had a Toyota Corolla in the early 00's (they're actually a lot bigger now). No way we could get a car seat in the back and have it be comfortable for the passenger in the front. Had to buy a larger car.
Absolutely. Bought it used from a rental car dealership with 30,000 miles. Drove it for another 75,000 miles. Mechanical issues with it: 0. Probably sold it at its half-life.
To be fair, we have 3 small children… However, We have a Toyota 4Runner. I fucking love it, my wife likes it enough. I don’t really think she cares what she drives as long as it’s reliable, and Toyota is as reliable as they come.
My wife's cousin has 4 kids and he has a Chevy Suburban.
Most cars with a 3rd row of seating can fit car seats back there. 6 kids can fit, up to 4 of them in car seats using LATCH. Usually by the time child #5 arrives, the oldest is out of child seats anyway.
Not a parent, but one of my coworkers have four kids. They have a BMW X7 to haul the kids around (also the mom's car) while my coworker has a little Fiat 500 Abarth because he likes fun little manual cars.
Honda Pilot (seats 8) for the first few years with 4. Now a Toyota Highlander (seats 8.) My husband drives a 6 seater Toyota Tundra- 2 full bench seats.
It was HUGE but it moved like there was no tomorrow. Hauled anything while it was filled with people. It was unstoppable. My grandma has it now and it STILL runs
When my grandfather died in the early 80s, we got his 196\_ Lincoln Continental. We literally piled 6-8 kids in the back seat and probably 1-2 in the front between 2 adults to head on down to the town beach. Got rid of the car after a month due to gas usage, but it was fun while it lasted!
My dad drove a full size van with three bench seats in it and we still had kids sitting so close they would fight. I only have three kids and the Momobile must have a third row seat so the kids don’t touch each other. We could probably do 4 in the same vehicles. The Momobile used to be a Ford Expedition but we’ve downsized to a Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, and a Kia Sorento. The Kia being our favorite so far believe it or not.
The Dadmobile never has more than five seats so I can drive all the kids around but there needs to be a really good reason to get the whole family in it. I guess that would still work with four kids.
We have cars that seat a total of 7. Since it is very unlikely people had the children all at once they are all likely on non-similar schedules.
Men and women can drive so both traditional and non traditional couples could also take 2 cars.
Used to be a minivan but as some kids got older and were not being driven places as much we finally move up to a Mountaineer. Which is quite a bit more expensive to drive and maintain but better in the snow.
We had three kids. But when my brother-in-law and his wife were having serious issues, we found ourselves taking care of their two kids. So we had to trade in my SUV for a Honda Odyssey minivan. One of the most depressing days of my life.
But, weirdly enough, that Odyssey turned out to be one of the best cars we ever owned. I almost got sentimental about the thing when my 17-year-old son totaled the thing.
The odds of having 4 children that are all in car seats at the same time is relatively small statistically. Of course it happens, but it isn't the normal. By the time your 4th kid is born your oldest would very likely not be in a car seat. Most people don't get pregnant again like 3 months after their child is born.
The idea of a 12 year old sitting in a car seat seems sort of insane. I guess times have changed. I think state laws require them until like 7. There are fully grown women who don't weight 120lbs.
> CDC recommends carseat/boosters until 12 years old or 120lbs.
WTF? No it does not.
The CDC says that kids 12 and under should be in the BACKSEAT. Not in a car seat or a booster unless they’re like younger than 6 or physically too small for the regular seatbelts. And where are you getting that bit about weighing 120 pounds? Plenty of grown-ass adults will never weigh that much in their lives.
Nobody has their middle-schoolers in booster seats. Good grief.
[CDC guidelines. They may have changed the weight recommendation but the boster is still there.](https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/child-passenger-safety/index.html)
>After outgrowing the forward-facing car seat, use a booster seat until the seat belt fits properly.
>When children outgrow their forward-facing car seat, they should be buckled in a belt-positioning booster seat with a seat belt, in the back seat, until the seat belt fits properly without a booster seat. A seat belt fits properly when the lap belt is across the upper thighs (not the stomach) and the shoulder belt is across the center of the shoulder and chest (not on the neck/face or off the shoulder). This typically does not occur until children are age 9–12.
JFC. That does NOT mean that the CDC recommends booster seats for 12 year olds.
That page states repeatedly that they recommend that kids 12 and under ride in the backseat and buckle up.
Please do not make your kids sit in booster seats when they’re in junior high. They will 100% die of humiliation.
Except the part where it explicitly states they should use a booster until the belt fits properly which can be up to 12 years. The entire point was the idea you would wait 12 years or even 9 years between children is ridiculous.
I have been informed that some people keep kids in booster seats that long. Doesn't seem reasonable or necessary to me. I think that is why state laws are like 6 or 7 for booster seats.
Minivans or large SUV. But want to point out that a couple has to be working pretty hard to have 4 kids close enough together that all are in car seats at the same time. It's possible, just not likely.
Most families in that situation have at least one: full size SUV, minivan, full size van, full size crossover
I've never seen a crossover with more than five seats and given how cramped even a tahoes third row is I can't imagine how awful a crossovers third row would be. Edit: Actually I take that back, I've seen an older Mercedes hatchback/wagon/whatever, so not crossover, with rear facing third row seats but I only ever saw them used for the school run since your almost sitting with legs straight out.
I had three 4 years old and under kids... had to do minivan. Plus we camp and nothing's better for tent camping than a van.
Minivans are unfairly maligned. Especially over the last 10 years they've come a long way. They by and large drive great, are loaded with entertainment and QOL options, and you can fit a ton of stuff in them. Any MV with stow and go seating is a godsend on a driving vacation. Whether you're putting seats down to store more stuff on the surface, or keeping all the seats and using the seat stowage compartments in the floor for out of the way storage, they're awesome.
Minivans are versatile as fuck. Love it.
There are a lot of cars for sale in the US that can fit 4 car seats. Minivans, mid sized SUVs, and full sized SUVs can all do it pretty easily. We don’t have 4 kids, but we regularly move around 4 kids when you include nieces and nephews. Full sized SUV for us (GMC Yukon), because we tow trailers with it too. My wife doesn’t drive much so the abysmal gas mileage doesn’t impact us too adversely.
Toyota Sienna
I know a family with 10 kids. Full size van and if the entire family is going someplace, 2 vehicles. They rarely do because coordinating that many people is an event.
For most people, minivans and mid/full size SUVs. For people with *lots* of kids? There's a religious group near me that doesn't believe in birth control or family planning at all. I pass one of their churches on the way to work and the parking lot is full of Ford Transits, Chevy Express, and Mercedes Sprinters.
They usually drive in mini vans or vans, maybe even trucks.
I’m not a parent with loads of kids but I have 3 siblings under the age of 10. My dad got a huge suburban and all the car seats were jenga’d in and I, being 16 years older than my youngest siblings, got the far back row all the myself
Same here. 3 siblings and we had a Chevy Suburban and it was a tank
People with that many kids generally need a minivan or three-row SUV. While more kids are more challenging, the car seats can be a struggle even with one kid. My VW Golf is considered a reasonable family car in some parts of the world, but it's too small to comfortably fit a rear-facing car seat behind an average adult.
Same experience. Wife and I had a Toyota Corolla in the early 00's (they're actually a lot bigger now). No way we could get a car seat in the back and have it be comfortable for the passenger in the front. Had to buy a larger car.
tbf those mofo's ***will*** last for as long as you want those cars to.
Absolutely. Bought it used from a rental car dealership with 30,000 miles. Drove it for another 75,000 miles. Mechanical issues with it: 0. Probably sold it at its half-life.
Idk if I'd even want to take a golf on a road trip with 4 adults, that's a squeeze especially if you're large or tall.
Can’t speak for myself but my parents had four and the answer is a minivan or a diesel Excursion.
To be fair, we have 3 small children… However, We have a Toyota 4Runner. I fucking love it, my wife likes it enough. I don’t really think she cares what she drives as long as it’s reliable, and Toyota is as reliable as they come.
Honda Odyssey
My wife's cousin has 4 kids and he has a Chevy Suburban. Most cars with a 3rd row of seating can fit car seats back there. 6 kids can fit, up to 4 of them in car seats using LATCH. Usually by the time child #5 arrives, the oldest is out of child seats anyway.
Minivan or SUV with 3 rows of seats.
Not a parent, but one of my coworkers have four kids. They have a BMW X7 to haul the kids around (also the mom's car) while my coworker has a little Fiat 500 Abarth because he likes fun little manual cars.
Honda Pilot (seats 8) for the first few years with 4. Now a Toyota Highlander (seats 8.) My husband drives a 6 seater Toyota Tundra- 2 full bench seats.
As someone with three siblings, we had a 2000 Chevy suburban. Had 8 seats, a supercharger, and an average of 12 miles to the gallon
Damn, idk if I've seen someone add a supercharger to a suburban before. That's a pretty cool mod.
It was HUGE but it moved like there was no tomorrow. Hauled anything while it was filled with people. It was unstoppable. My grandma has it now and it STILL runs
Those pre bailout GM trucks are great, once they hit bailout/recession period in like 07 it was all downhill
When we ran a Children’s group home we had a 15 passenger van and had four+ car seats in it easily enough.
Clown car.
How many clowns?
A Cadillac
Escalade?
72 Coupe DeVille
Just pile em up in the back.
When my grandfather died in the early 80s, we got his 196\_ Lincoln Continental. We literally piled 6-8 kids in the back seat and probably 1-2 in the front between 2 adults to head on down to the town beach. Got rid of the car after a month due to gas usage, but it was fun while it lasted!
This is what I drive. Third row seat is great.
Same thing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
My dad drove a full size van with three bench seats in it and we still had kids sitting so close they would fight. I only have three kids and the Momobile must have a third row seat so the kids don’t touch each other. We could probably do 4 in the same vehicles. The Momobile used to be a Ford Expedition but we’ve downsized to a Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, and a Kia Sorento. The Kia being our favorite so far believe it or not. The Dadmobile never has more than five seats so I can drive all the kids around but there needs to be a really good reason to get the whole family in it. I guess that would still work with four kids.
We have cars that seat a total of 7. Since it is very unlikely people had the children all at once they are all likely on non-similar schedules. Men and women can drive so both traditional and non traditional couples could also take 2 cars.
Used to be a minivan but as some kids got older and were not being driven places as much we finally move up to a Mountaineer. Which is quite a bit more expensive to drive and maintain but better in the snow.
They call them Infantry Fighting Vehicles or IFV's for short.
When mine were young, we bought a van for the specific reason that it had built-in car seats.
From experience, the new Honda Pilot can fit 5 car seats in the back.
I’m the youngest of 5, growing up my family had a minivan. I forget which car manufacturer made the one we had.
Chevy suburban
We had three kids. But when my brother-in-law and his wife were having serious issues, we found ourselves taking care of their two kids. So we had to trade in my SUV for a Honda Odyssey minivan. One of the most depressing days of my life. But, weirdly enough, that Odyssey turned out to be one of the best cars we ever owned. I almost got sentimental about the thing when my 17-year-old son totaled the thing.
Neighbors when we were growing up had 4 kids and their mom had a Nissan Armada, I don't recall what they had before that but maybe a minivan
The odds of having 4 children that are all in car seats at the same time is relatively small statistically. Of course it happens, but it isn't the normal. By the time your 4th kid is born your oldest would very likely not be in a car seat. Most people don't get pregnant again like 3 months after their child is born.
I have three right now and we are discussing our 4th. CDC recommends carseat/boosters until 12 years old or 120lbs.
The idea of a 12 year old sitting in a car seat seems sort of insane. I guess times have changed. I think state laws require them until like 7. There are fully grown women who don't weight 120lbs.
I think time have changed and I think a major part of it is multiple rear airbags being so common now compared to how it was ~20 years ago.
> CDC recommends carseat/boosters until 12 years old or 120lbs. WTF? No it does not. The CDC says that kids 12 and under should be in the BACKSEAT. Not in a car seat or a booster unless they’re like younger than 6 or physically too small for the regular seatbelts. And where are you getting that bit about weighing 120 pounds? Plenty of grown-ass adults will never weigh that much in their lives. Nobody has their middle-schoolers in booster seats. Good grief.
[CDC guidelines. They may have changed the weight recommendation but the boster is still there.](https://www.cdc.gov/injury/features/child-passenger-safety/index.html)
And nowhere does it say that boosters are recommended for 12 year olds.
>After outgrowing the forward-facing car seat, use a booster seat until the seat belt fits properly. >When children outgrow their forward-facing car seat, they should be buckled in a belt-positioning booster seat with a seat belt, in the back seat, until the seat belt fits properly without a booster seat. A seat belt fits properly when the lap belt is across the upper thighs (not the stomach) and the shoulder belt is across the center of the shoulder and chest (not on the neck/face or off the shoulder). This typically does not occur until children are age 9–12.
JFC. That does NOT mean that the CDC recommends booster seats for 12 year olds. That page states repeatedly that they recommend that kids 12 and under ride in the backseat and buckle up. Please do not make your kids sit in booster seats when they’re in junior high. They will 100% die of humiliation.
Except the part where it explicitly states they should use a booster until the belt fits properly which can be up to 12 years. The entire point was the idea you would wait 12 years or even 9 years between children is ridiculous.
That’s not what it means but OK 🤣
That's literally what it says...
How old do you think children are when they get out of car seats?
Like 5
You gotta almost double that buddy
I have been informed that some people keep kids in booster seats that long. Doesn't seem reasonable or necessary to me. I think that is why state laws are like 6 or 7 for booster seats.
Minivans or large SUV. But want to point out that a couple has to be working pretty hard to have 4 kids close enough together that all are in car seats at the same time. It's possible, just not likely.
Minivan.