SUV With Access to 3Rd Row Without Folding down 2Nd Row?

I love my minivan, and have seeing enough friends with SUV that hate it. While the SUV is stylish, minivan has all the function that very helpful to moms with (especially young) kids.
While most minivan has sliding doors, suv has a wide swing door. It's hard to get the kids in and out in a tight parking spot. Minivan will have bigger trunk too, which important when I have to take the stroller and fit the grocery as well.
who will drive the car the most ? You with the kids or him ?

I'd try to avoid compromise on this one, and actually pick the battle and try to get the minivan. I swore I'd never drive one and loved my SUV....but with the 3 kids, I couldn't ignore the practicality of the minivan. It is so nice to have those automatic sliding doors that you can open with the touch of a button and have some kids already getting in the car as your hands are full. You don't have to do gymnastics to buckle kids in the 3rd row....and most importantly, you still have lots of trunk room that you won't get in a standard size SUV. With twins, you are going to need some double strollers and they will not fit in something like a Tahoe with the 3rd seat up.

My GF has the Tahoe with twins...you have to fold down a seat to get access to the 3rd row...when the 3rd row is up - there is MINIMAL storage in the back...the seat in uncomfortable - however, with car seats - they won't notice...

If you can afford a $40K car - I would go with a Suburban or a Minivan...

GMC Acadia, and Chevy Traverse. Both have 3rd row that is accessible from second row, just like a minivan.

We have an XC90 and I can tell you it would be a major pain with two infants. The third row seats are too small for infant car seats, so you'd need your twins in the second row, and there is no way to get a child into the back without folding down the second row seat, which would mean you have to take out the infant seat. Not a huge pain, but not something you'd want to do every day. Plus, the leg room in the third row is pretty short so your third child could be smushed. Whe. We transport friends of my daughters in the third row, they go in over the back gate and frequently complain that they don't have enough leg room.

I hate to say it... But get a mini van. You will love all the conveniences like the automatic sliding doors. FYI, I also totally recommend the Snap and Go stroller with twins. I loved mine when my girls were little.

Congrats on your twins!

We were thinking about replacing our van and have looked at TONS of suvs. We have 5 yo twins and an 8 yo. The best one for 3 kids is actually a Suburban or an Expedition XL with bucket seats in the middle. The reason why is all of the midsize suvs don't have enough storage in the back. Even the Tahoe didn't have much space. We looked at so many and I don't know how anyone fits their groceries in the back. Going on a trip would be impossible unless we had one of those things that goes on top of the vehicle. (If you plan on taking trips with twins, you will have TONS of stuff to pack when they are babies. Even just driving to my parents an hour and a half away, we still had to pack a boat load of stuff if we stayed overnight.) We have given up looking for now and will stick with our van. It is still in great shape.

You need to keep in mind that you will have a large stroller to fit in the back. Even the Snap n Go (which I highly recommend with twins, btw) takes up a lot of space. When we had the twins we bought a Dodge Grand Caravan with stow and go. The figuration we have is one middle seat folded into the floor, the twins in the back, and our son in the other middle seat. It was great when the girls were infants because I had a huge area in the middle where I could sit and feed the girls or change their diapers. (We did change it up for a while and put the girls in the middle but we are back to the original arrangement.) The very back is huge and the stroller fit without a problem. I could also pile the groceries on the stroller or put them in the middle area next to my son. It is the old body style (2005). The new Honda Odyssey is pretty awesome too. When people tell you they have three car seats in a midsize suv, just remember that having twin infants is different than having kids who can get in a buckle up by themselves.

Sorry for going on and on. Hope this helps.

Get a mini van! I traded in two vehicles(after having each less than a year) before I finally bite the bullet and got my mini. I have three little ones in car seats. I found SUVs even with a third row, some don't have a latch system in the third row or there is no trunk space left with the third row up. I love the sliding doors! And I always have plenty of leg room for everyone, strollers, groceries, road trips, and our dogs, I have never had a problem with room.

My daughter has a Buick Rendevous, it has a 3rd seat that folds down completely. I'm not sure sure how user friendly it is but she has a lot of space. When she and her BF are together with his 3 kids and her 1 the 3 boys ages 2-3-&4 and a girl 8, the 3 car seats all fit in the second seat and the little girl goes in the 3rd seat. It might be worth a look.

I hope this helps.

We have an xc 90 2005 we bought it used.. In 06. Love it but to be honest I think u would be too squished with 3 young ones.. We have 2 kids so it's great and they are out of car seats.. But check out the Audi Q7 used.. Same price range as Xc 90.. My friend has one and it is way more roomy than the Xc 90.. I like it better than my car because of the org room in the 2nd and 3rd row seats.
L.

We have a Mazda 5 which is like a mini mini van. It seats 6. There are 2 seats in the middle row and 2 in the 3rd row. It is accessible without removing a seat, but it helps to be able to move up the second row chair (which you can do easily). My favorite part is that it has sliding doors. This makes getting the kids in and out so easy. No car doors hanging out in the street or bumping the car next to you. It's a pretty inexpensive car. We got ours about 2 years ago, brand new, for $18,000. It's ranked pretty highly in Consumer Reports as well. Good luck! We are expecting baby #3 in January, and we plan to keep the same car.

We got a Chevy Traverse and I love, love, love this vehicle! Ours seats 7 and has bucket seats in the middle. Did I mention I love my vehicle??

I have 3 little ones as well and I started with a 7 passenger mini-van when we only had two and I spent so much time trying to climb into the back of the van because we had the older two in back and one in the middle row...not fun at all...we are in the process of buying a new 8 passenger minivan so we can have all three kids in the second row...minivans are so much more mom friendly bc in the past when we have traveled with our avalanche i not only have to climb into the truck and maneuver around car seats but it is higher so more difficult to get little ones out esp. if you are short like me. another atvantage to a minivan is that the doors slide and with car seats in tight parking spaces it is sooooo much easier not to mention gas milage. we are getting our new odyssey monday or wednesday as soon as they are done with our upgrades. good luck with your hunt...

Ever thought about a Mazda CX-9? We put all 3 kids in the middle seat and have lots of cargo space with the 3rd row folded down. It's a sweet vehicle that drives like a car and good use of space all for around $25-30K. We love our 2009 that we purchased just months before our third child was born. My husband couldn't stomach the thought of driving a minivan and a Tahoe wasn't something we wanted to afford.

I have three kids, ages 4, 3, and almost 2. When I got pregnant with baby #3 and needed room for a third carseat we chose the Infiniti QX56. It has two captain chairs and a third row. you can go between the captain chairs and get to the third row with no problems. I could still fit my double stroller in the back of car with third row up. I like the SUV but I'm ready to trade it in for the Escalade ESV b/c it has more cargo room in back for road trips and what not!