Buying a Minivan- Quad Seating or Bench Seat?

I'm a grandma who babysat her grandkids, at one time I had one in a car seat and 5 in boosters LOL. I bought a 2004 Toyota Seinna, the selling points for me where the automatic doors, the fact that there are doors on both sides of the van and that the middle row has two captains chairs that can either sit side-by-side or apart. Most of the time mine are apart, so the kids can see the DVD player. As for the lady that said she couldn't see out of the back of her car, I've never had that problem.
It's the best thing we've bought, it's close to the ground so it's easy to get into, the doors open before you get there, the back opens up so if it's raining you don't get wet, it gets great gas mileage and it's super comfortable. We just came back from a trip and I think my brother in law is thinking about getting one, he said it's the most comfortable car he's rode in and my mother in law raved about how easy it was to get into! They don't have kids but often travel with another family member who does. When we travel we have the DVD playing (kids have headset so we don't have to listen), my 16 year old plugs the computer into the outlets in the car and does things on the computer and we listen to books on tape, oh the joys of being wired!! LOL!!!!!

I have a 07 dodge caravan. It has the middle row bucket seats. Back is bench with the 60/40. My kids are 8, 6 and 2. We bought it right after the 3rd child. I love the bucket seats in middle. the baby has been behind me since birth and the seats are so easy to get in and out. My older girls get in on the passenger side and i put the baby in on my side. so easy. plus, we take a week vacation in summer and drive with all the luggage, some food, and brought stoller, high chair and everyone was comfy. It has the stow n go compartments. Lots of room, we love it.

I have a Dodge Grand Caravan with bench seats in the back. And I have had two kids in carseats along with two big kids riding in it... My parents had the same van with bucket seats and it was a hassle to get carseats in it... So I personally like the bench seats with kids.

GOOD FOR YOU S.!!! I have an 07 Dodge Caravan. I had a 2000 Chrysler T & C before that. I will NEVER be without a van!!! And I am 28 years old and have two kids. My friends used to make fun of me.....but everyone wants to ride in the van if we go anywhere:)! And a lot of them are starting to come over to the van side now, lol! Anyway to your question, I have always only had the bucket seats in the middle. That's my pick. I think it best b/c then you can have both car seats in the middle but the kids aren't directly side by side. They still have their own space. Why have a van if your kids carseats will be touching?? And I think it just looks better;)! More symmetrical. But that part doesn't really matter. I would suggest getting leather also. I had leather in my last two vans. And with kids, it's a must! Hope you find the one for you! The 08's are my favs. That's what I went to get. But we got an amazing deal on this 07 that we couldn't pass up! Now is the time to buy!!! And BTW, I've had Chrysler products and they never given me any problems!!! Never once. Yes, HOnda's are good vehichles but the best vans are Chysler/Dodge. But that's just my opinion. You get what YOU and your family wants. And I've always heard they are the safest.

We have a Dodge Grand Caravan with the Stow and Go...ours has the two captains chairs in the middle and we like that. It keeps the kids close but far enough away from each other. And it was easier to get the carseats out or put them in when they aren't so close together. At one time I had a car seat in the very back and a booster in the middle and then had enough room for two other kids in the very back and one other in the middle. I took care of kids and had plenty of room with the captians chairs. They were also helpful if we had to move something or go on a trip with extra stuff. We would just stow one seat and pop it back out when we got to our destination. You can't do that with bench seating. Good luck with your search and God Bless.

S.,
As someone with a 7 and 11 year old go with the Quad!! We had the bench seat with our old Caravan and once the kids got older it was constant fighting! When we bought our new one the quad was a requirement. We didn't even look at the bench seats. The quad is sooo much nicer!! The kids don't fight nearly as much since they each have their own seat and space.

Buy American!!! I have a 2006 Town and Country and I just love it. We bought it after our 3rd child was born! We have 2 pilot seats and bench seat in the back. There is plenty of room for everyone and the older kids have their space if they want. The storage is awesome, right under the foot rests, auto sliding doors, stow and go seats. The 2008 models look awesome, they have the seats that can be moved in reverse with so many new features. Go for it and good luck with your new American vehicle purchase. We have had great luck with our previous Dodge model cars and now with our Chrysler. Have a great day!
V.

I bought a Suburban and went through the same question. At the time I bought it I had two of the large car seats (up to 40 lbs) that stay strapped in. I wish I had gone with quad seating. Sometimes we put the boys in the back (when we went on vacation our 15 year old and my father in law sat in the middle seat) and sometimes we would have them in the middle row (around town driving, etc) and it was a pain to keep moving the car seats (fold the middle seat down, unstrap and take the car seats out and set them down, fold up the middle row seat, hook the car seats up). With the quad seating you can move one at a time and stay dry if it's raining. Also, if you have a tv that hangs from the ceiling it's better to have quad seating because if somebody sets in the middle seat of the middle row then their head blocks the tv for the people in the third row. I agree with the others who suggested taking your car seats with you when you go car shopping. We almost bought a Chrysler Pacifica but the shield on the car seats didn't raise all the way up so we went with a Suburban.

i'll echo what someone else said, i took my carseat car shopping. with two it would be more of a hassle, but if they want to sell you the car (and believe me, they do!) they won't complain. good luck!

I just got a Kia minivan with two separate seats in the middle and I have a 3 year old and 7 month old in carseats in each. I like it b/c I have the center aisle down the entire vehicle if I fod the back 60/40 split bench seat into the floor & the kids still have their seats undisturbed. Also, you may want to look at the Kia vans, they have great deals on thier 2008 models and its the safest minivan ever crash tested. We picked ours up for $14,500!

I have a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan with Quad seats with stow and go best thing that ever happen to a mini van. extra storage and you can stow the seats if you need to to haul something.

A little about me :
Working Mom Mother of four 17,14,10,8 and a dog.

Its all on your preference. Test drive them both out and see what is going to work out better for you. The first van I had was captain chairs and when the kids sat in the back I had to climb into the middle of the van to help buckle them. Now I have a bench instead of captain chairs and love it. Now I dont have to climb into the van to buckle them I just have to lean into the back from the side of the van.

We love the space available when pulling out the quad seats--when needed.

First of all, don't buy a Chrysler product. They have awful repair records plus if there is a company that is going under it is them. Sure you want a car with no warranty?

If you are going minivan, quad is best though I have a bench in my CRV and my kids never fight. It is strange, they fight all the time, just not in the car. Go figure.

We like the separated seating in the middle. Our Dodge Caravan has the stow-n-go seating, which is super awesome. Especially at Christmas time, we can hide presents under the seats when we go out of town. :-)

I almost bought a caravan last year. If you feel like you have to put both kids in the middle, you will have to get bench seats. Put one in the middle on the 2nd row, and one in the middle of the 3 row. But my parents have a Town and Country and fishing a child out from the 3rd row is NOT fun. I had an easier time getting my daughter out of the back seat of my old mustang. But if you get the quad seating you could put both kids on the 2nd row and have wonderful access to them from both doors, no climbing all the way back there breaking your back. I know they say they should be in the middle, but the Town and Country and Caravan have side curtain airbags, and if you get a good carseat I think it would be fine.
And Im sure you already know this, but quad seating is an option and more expensive. But they are SO much more comfortable than bench seats.
I ended up getting a 08 malibu because they wouldnt even budge on the prices for the Vans. So both of my kids are on the sides, but my malibu has side airbags too! And NO they dont hurt children if they are on the side, its only front airbags that they worry about.
It my sound cheesy, but I brought my carseat with me car shopping, I had to make sure it fit right! OK enough already? Good luck!

I have a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan with the quad seat and stow and go. I love it. We bought it before our 5 month old was ever thought about (LOL) and we have a 10 year old. There is plenty of room for a car seat and ADULT passangers are comfortable. I have NEVER had any problems with my van. I say go for the quad seats.

we have a toyota sienna and it has 2 bench seats and if i was doing it all over again it would be bucket seats.

I bought a Dodge Grand Caravan early last year, also have two car seats. My second row are actually captains chairs with a full bench in the third row. It is wonderful. You can let those that want to sit in the far back in first and they walk down the aisle and then the ones that want to sit in the second row get in and off you go!! I don't think I would want to go through moving seats all the time to get to the back back!! We also have the automatic sliding doors that let the kids get in by themselves and close the doors or I can do it when I get settled. I am also about 5'1" and don't have any problems seeing anywhere, there aren't any blind spots and of course my bunch has the DVD players going at all times!!
Hope this helps T.

The first thing we did after our marriage was to buy a mini-van before kids. Then the girls came along we kept the mini van all the years they were growing. They were three years apart and we had to use two seats- we had the Dodge Twn & Country it was great to put bot girls together in the middle seat in their seats. We had the back bench then and I just do not see how we could have ever put one all the way in the back. The middle seat was the shrt one and it worked fine because it was not close to the opener and they could see each other when we went out. Th only ting we did different was to downsize to a CRV it still seats 5 comfortably but they have their own cars now and e are waiting for grandkids and es they will ride just fine in the back seat. See if the dealer will let you try your seats in the van and drive around with the seats to see if it feels good to you.

I don't do minivans...but having said that when we went after our new Suburban we opted for the 2nd row Captain's chairs instead of the bench seating...we may have given up the middle seat but it sure makes it easier to get to the back row. It's also much nicer to sit back there as an adult in the Quad seating rather than the bench.

My BFF has the Chryler benches that can both come out of the minivan. She absolutely LOVES it...I think the neatest thing about her minivan is the built in carseats (the back rest folds down and has a seatbelt latch system for toddlers). Totally rocks when you have an extra kid or two and no extra car seats!

OH and BTW...if you're getting one with the build in DVD, the one's that hang down in the middle are a pain in the butt because it makes it virutally impossible to use your rearview mirror. Never considered the factor until AFTER we bought our car...all we'd ever had before was the installed DVD which we attached to the back of the headrests. Best of luck to you! You certainly have a buyers market!

I would suggest Quad seating. If you have carseats to put in the middle, you don't want to have to tilt a seat to let your older child in the back seat n don't want them to climb over the seat and damage it or get it dirty. Besides, you wouldn't be able to tilt the seat w/a carseat on it. You'd have to take it out and tilt the seat, then put it back in. Too much work, especially when you have three or more kids. Trust me, I have a 5 yr old, 3 yr old, n 1 yr old.

I had a dodge caravan. and I know other people have had Chrysler/ dodge. and they are lemons. Ford. Bench.

I've not had a van with the middle bench seat, so I can't weigh in on the pros and cons of it. I've had two minivans that had quad seating, and I like it. We have 4 kids, so it easy access for my older two to get to the back, or if I have to pass something back to them, just the little things you don't notice every day that are small conveniences. Since my youngest two are still in carseats, they use the middle seats. I like having enough room to put both seats in, and knowing that my 4 year old can't reach my 7 month old to bother her! :-)

S.,
I had a two door cavalier and it broke my back to have to put my daughter in the middle of the back seat. So,I went out and bought a mini conversion van with quad seating and a bench for third row seating. It was wonderful! It just so happens I sell equipment for a living and cars are a part of the equipment list. Email me and we can discuss the details of how you pick the car, drive the car, and we buy the car that you want and still keep it reasonable. Good luck.