Third Row Downside?

One issue I've heard of on here is...with the third row, it apparently makes the trunk's floor slope outwards so round things tend to roll out and onto the ground more easily?

I have read horrible gut wrenching stories on here where people have lost many a bottles of liquor upon opening the tailgate. :crybaby:
 
dekeman said:
47.2 cubic feet of cargo behind second row without 3rd row.
46.3 cubic feet of cargo behind second row WITH 3rd row.

That's at least a 24 of beer.
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Seems there's a lot of fuss over ~1 cfs of cargo space. My opinion is, if you have to weigh the option of the 3rd row seat, you might as well get it. Sure you lose some cargo spaces/compartments but it might come in handy for the extra passenger space for those with a big or growing family. Otherwise you face the reality of driving a minivan instead.

On the flip side, if you purchasing a used car and it's perfect except it comes with a 3rd row, again, you're only losing 1 cfs of space. On a daily basis, who packs their car from floor to roof? If you can't spare 1 cfs, might as well get a larger truck.
 
philsey said:
I've wondered how well the AC/heat reaches to the 3rd row. Also, I've read it is not well-suited to adults.
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I DOES NOT...

IN the summer my boys are burning up in the third row and in the winter they are in jackets.

heck the second row is not even that comfortable in these, but the 3rd row is in another climate zip code.


i have tried cracking the window in the back to help the air circulate to the back, but for some reason the air just does not make it back to that area.
 
I have the third row. Biggest difference is the the height loss of storage not width or length.

I use my third row all the time as I have three boys and as anyone knows you need to keep a buffer between them all or pandemonium erupts...so this works well. Other than that, no issue.

The 40/20/40 design works well for keeping the two outside seats up and sliding snowboards or skis in-between while still being able to carry four people.

As someone mentioned also, yes things slide...you have to use extreme caution when opening the tailgate after a grocery run and parked on an incline - everything will go rolling out...
 
eddiebx said:
One issue I've heard of on here is...with the third row, it apparently makes the trunk's floor slope outwards so round things tend to roll out and onto the ground more easily?

I have read horrible gut wrenching stories on here where people have lost many a bottles of liquor upon opening the tailgate. :crybaby:
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I just started to make a habit of opening the tailgate window before opening the liftgate (to check for loose items). Not ideal, but I love the truck too much to complain (still rockin the rose colored glasses)
 
philsey said:
This thread just confirms (again) that if you really need three rows of real seating, you belong in a big-assed van, or a Sequoia-type.

Besides, I don't want no stinky, whiney, annoying rug rats in my truck anyway. Bah!
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I would have purchased a Trail if it weren't for needing the 3rd row. You wouldn't want to spend a long time back there but it works when you have to haul grandparents or friends in addition to your own kids. My wife drives a Sequoia and the kids can ride all day in its 3rd row and the 4R 3rd row works when the Sequoia isn't around. Unless you have a net in the back, you quickly learn to raise the back hatch very carefully when you arrive home with groceries...the combo of a slight angle from the folded down seats and goose $*** slick carpet will causes breakable items to leap out of the back.
 
I think the 3rd row works great when used for occasional extra seating. You know, those few times a year when you have friends or family in town and would rather not take two cars someplace. I think there's plenty of legroom, since the 2nd row can slide forward (and IMO the 2nd row has legroom to spare).

As far as losing storage with the 3rd row folded flat, I can't say I'd notice an extra cubic foot. I also haven't noticed the supposed incline, and have never had anything roll out when opening the liftgate. Mine has the cargo mat, so not sure if that adds any grippiness or not. The little cubby in the load floor would be nice, but there's another storage area in the passenger side wall (same as where the jack is stored but on the opposite side); the manual makes it look like only 3rd row trucks have this? Also, there are some little cubbies in the wheel well areas. Personally, I think this truck has a ton of storage, way more than any other vehicle I've owned.

If I was in a situation where I needed the 3rd row for daily use, though, I'd probably just get a Sienna or something.
 
I use to use my third row for kids until they became a bit more taller to fit back there. What I use it for now is,when we happen to go mall crawling and have a bunch of shopping bags. I put the third row seats up and through all the bags back there. Makes it a little more difficult for theives to break a window to snatch and go. They would have to open back door, crawl in and grab. If back roll down window is broken,they would need to climb a bit higher just to reach over the back seat to grab n go(4r is lifted). But if they really really want it, they'll get it. Just a bit more difficult to grab n go.
 
With the Limited in Canada you have to get the third row. I wanted it anyway. We are a one vehicle family and we need to tow a trailer, if the Sienna could tow 5000lbs I would have bought one. We have two car seats in the second row, and occasionally when we carry a third adult we only put one of the two third row seats up and we climb in through the hatch, while not those most graceful it works well for us. With only one car seat getting in the back would be easy. The second row on the passenger side goes forward like the seats in a 4 sweater two door car to allow people to climb in. I'm 5'10 230lbs and the third row isn't that bad, no going over speed bumps really fast though.
 
lezavw90 said:
With the Limited in Canada you have to get the third row. I wanted it anyway. We are a one vehicle family and we need to tow a trailer, if the Sienna could tow 5000lbs I would have bought one. We have two car seats in the second row, and occasionally when we carry a third adult we only put one of the two third row seats up and we climb in through the hatch, while not those most graceful it works well for us. With only one car seat getting in the back would be easy. The second row on the passenger side goes forward like the seats in a 4 sweater two door car to allow people to climb in. I'm 5'10 230lbs and the third row isn't that bad, no going over speed bumps really fast though.
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That's why you put one child seat in the 2nd row and one in the 3rd. Much easier to toss a child in the back than an adult climbing in.
 
Ducmonsta said:
That's why you put one child seat in the 2nd row and one in the 3rd. Much easier to toss a child in the back than an adult climbing in.
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That would be a huge no go, there's no way the wife would allow a car seat in the third row with how close they are to the back hatch, we'll sacrifice a friend in a rear ender not one of our kids, lol. And honestly all our friends are pretty limber it takes 5seconds to jump in through the back as opposed to taking the car seat out and moving it to the third row.
 
A vote for the 3rd Row with kids

We have 4 kids aged 2-7 yrs. A Honda Odyssey is the primary kid hauler. I struggled with the decision on whether to get a 5 seater Trail which I originally wanted and the 7 seater Limited we purchased. I am very happy to have gotten the Limited since everyone can fit when needed. We have a regular child's seat on the driver's side 2nd row for the 2 yo. The 5 yo old uses a booster in the passenger 2nd row. The booster is quickly moved aside when the 6 and 7 yr olds climb into the back. The older kids love sitting in the 3rd row at this age. The high floor is perfect for them - no dangling feet.
 
The most complaints my kids had when in the third row were, it's hot back here can you turn up the ac more(ac full blast). If ac was not in use,rolled the back window down for them.Then I would hear,it stinks back here (sulfur smell from exhaust). Then the 2nd row windows would go down enough to get some air to them.You know how kids are when they aren't comfortable. It's to hot,it smells,it's to windy,can't feel the cold air anymore. Pheww. Glad those days are now over. Now I hear,can I drive, can I get that kind of car, I know can I have this truck when I can drive. You got to love it though seeing your kids grow. It's priceless.
 
The wife and I opted for a SR5 with a third row. I wanted a Trail she wanted third row. We have 2 kids 7 and 9. We have used the third row a few times and since they are more regularly wanting to bring friends along I guess it was the right decision to make. I will say I am not happy about the lose of cargo space but have yet to come across a time where it was not enough even when we packed the back with suitcases and drove down to Disneyland. I guess you pick what you can with what will work the best, if I can't fit something my TR4 I will just call one of my buddies and they can bring over there Truck. Problem solved.

I did run in to a situation where had I not had the third row it would have messed up my night, went out with friends for dinner and decided to go back to there house for drinks. Kids were at the sitters and we just grabbed them on the way to there house. I drove so thank god for the third row. Popped it up and grabbed them, away we went. It will pay dividends when you least expect it.
 
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