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View Poll Results: Usage
No, I hardly use third row for accommodating people. 197 54.27%
It’s a mixed bag, let’s call it 50/50 118 32.51%
Yes, I regularly use third row for accommodating people. 48 13.22%
Voters: 363. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 25th April 2023, 05:09   #76
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

A car with a third row is always preferable for me if possible and here are my points

- Occasional third row use for passengers – I try to avoid renting a car when my Parents/In-laws/Friends visit us

- None of the two-row SUVs gives as much space as a third row folded – Very useful while camping trips for carrying tent, cooler, Stove, sleeping bags etc.

- We use to sleep in the car with second and third row folded so that I don’t even need to carry a tent during road trips/Overlanding.

If there was a forth option available I would have preferred that since I was using that space to carry stuffs too during our road trips.

Last edited by arunrajk81 : 25th April 2023 at 05:11.
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Old 25th April 2023, 07:05   #77
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

I planned to switch from my Creta in 2021 and thought of buying a new Creta in automatic just because I was so much impressed with the car, the power of 1.6L engine and the peace of mind ownership it had for, say 5 years. My family said we need a 3 row car as there is a little one and sometimes the maid or someone is to be carried along so I thought of going in for the Alcazar or at max the Crysta as we had already been owning Innovas before.

The next day there was an ad in the newspaper for the Carnival. My mom said, see it's looking good; ask for a test drive. I did and the same day the person came, my dad drove the car first and when he got down, he gave me a thumbs up and everyone else who was in for a drive was blown away. We were very clear in our mind that now the Carnival is going to be home.

3rd row usability: Having a big boot that pretty much takes in everything; my 3rd row is always open. We have been on 2 trips where the car had 7 occupants including the little one, my wife and have been there for 500 odd km and no complaints at all. But in shorter city runs there have been very limited chances that the last row is used. I go to the office alone so only the driver seat is used and the rest 7 are empty. But driving the Carnival is an amazing feel, the ride is superb
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3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?-img_20220830_1619012.jpg  


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Old 25th April 2023, 12:26   #78
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

I own an XUV700 7 seater and had done 14500kms in 7 months. I have been using it with the last row folded from day 1. I had brought an AX5 5 seater's boot mat and is using it so that I can load the boot without the worry of getting the light-coloured seats soiled. I brought this car for the engine and not for the purpose of 7 seats, so it doesn't bother me much if I am using it or not. Till now I have used the third row only for a few short runs and one 300 kms round trip once. I think barring the ingress and egress issues, shorter folks are happy there, a sliding middle would have increased the usability to a higher extent.

For me, I enjoy the flexibility of having a big boot and the ability to offer two additional seats in an emergency is something good to have but not a must-have.

Fun fact: The accessory guy at my nearby showroom was too adamant to my idea of using AX5's boot mat in AX7. He was so sure that 5 seater's boot mat won't fit into AX7 !!! He did not have the boot mat in stock and was not even willing to place an order even after me offering advance payment. At last, while on a Bangalore trip, I called up all the dealers in Bangalore for boot mat availability and picked it up from Anant Cars which was near me at that time.

3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?-unnamed-2.jpg

Random boot utilization pic.
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Old 25th April 2023, 14:44   #79
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

I voted for Regular use third row. My family size is 5 and I have an XL6. Though my choice was always a bench seat like in Ertiga. However the additional features and tyre size made me go for XL6. Also I am not very comfortable with the additional middle seat that is available as an accessory. I use a travel bed which I insert in the free space on third row and it does help my daughter sleep a little more comfortably and I feel its safe too as she stays within the seats in case of any sudden braking.
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Old 25th April 2023, 16:18   #80
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

How practical are the 3 row SUVs/MUVs for an outstation trip with 6 occupants atleast and all of their luggage? I have seen roof top luggage in such cars often on highways.

My observation of such cars in India has been it's either occupants or luggage (eg: airport pick up) till I got to travel in some huge American SUVs/MPVs which have a proper boot after 3 rows of seating!
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Old 25th April 2023, 18:45   #81
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

We recently got our XUV700 delivered. It is a 7 seater. We are only a family of 3, the little one just being 8 months old, thus we did not really need a 7 seater. We were initially looking at the Harrier, then moved to XUV.
The difference in the boot space compared to our other car in the family (Creta) is huge. We can easily accommodate both our child's stroller as well as our grandmom's wheel chair.
Since our parents and grand mother, sister and her family are all in the same city I'm sure there would be many occasions when the 3rd row seats will be used. With the baby seat occupying one of the middle row seats, accommodating 2 more adults in the middle row becomes a squeeze, so the 3rd row comes in handy. If the car has the space to accommodate a 3rd row, then why not go for it. With the seats folded down, there is no compromise with the boot too. The only thing I miss is the parcel tray which was really convenient to keep small things handy. With the XUV, everything has to go in the boot.
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Old 30th April 2023, 08:52   #82
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

I have been using my 8 seater Innova for 17 years, now. I agree-don’t t remember many occasions where all 8 seats were deployed. But do remember a few occasions when we had travelled to Mysore and Nandi Hills and the like fully loaded- it was a lot of fun. And occasional jaunts to bars and pubs with friends and a driver.
When kids were small both used to occupy one row each. So it provided flexibility and served a purpose. But every single time especially on the highways- Safety of the third row occupants was heavily weighing on my mind - I always felt they are the most vulnerable as even a mild rear ending could hurt them.

So now I have permanently folded the third row and using it as 5 seater. I would not dare to take it in a drive in Mysore expressway fully loaded in the current times. But still keep using for intra city travel as an extended family..
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Old 4th May 2023, 00:25   #83
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

I have a 2-year-old Crysta with captain seats. In the Crysta, the usage of 3rd row I would say is 50% of all my travels, that is when my mom accompanied us (2+2+1). But I choose a 3-row MPV with "captain seats" for another reason - comfort for 2nd-row passengers. You can recline the 2nd-row seat back to a comfortable angle or almost flat depending on your needs and then it is "Bliss". This is not possible in any 2-row SUV or Sedan.
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Old 6th May 2023, 22:03   #84
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

I own an Innova Crysta with the captain seats for the last 5 years and 1,13,000 kms. Hardly the usage would be for 10,000kms. But the times when we use it are unavoidable and it's a blessing that the car had this feature.
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Old 30th July 2023, 08:57   #85
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

In the last 14 years in India, I owned 2 cars Scorpio VLX with opposite facing 3 rd row seats and Crysta Z auto Diesel with 2nd row captain seats and 3 rd row facing front. If I remember correctly, I hardly used it for a couple of times. I wonder on how the automobile companies are leveraging this human weakness and minting money by introducing station wagon versions of their popular models with 3 rd row which is hardly used by end users in real life.

In my father’ s generation, cars are rare and who ever have it are used by the extended family for transportation and hence 3 rd row becomes very handy. I remember we having a Morris Marina station wagon in early 1970s
and the third row was very useful.

In the present circumstances, every adult owns a car. Just look at the front of any town house in USA, if you see 5 cars parked, it means that there are 5 adults living in that house. There is a very remote chance that all would go in one car even once in a year. Just look at the special lane given to cars which are occupied by multiple people in USA metros because most of the traffic is because of single occupancy of cars.

I think we are not too behind USA in terms of number of cars and traffic.
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Old 30th July 2023, 23:59   #86
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

We got a 3 row car just so we could take our pup on road trips with us. 😊

3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?-img_3107.jpeg
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Old 31st July 2023, 05:31   #87
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain View Post
My daughter’s child seat is also set up in the third row.
Have not yet owned a 7 seater but have plans for it in future. What interested me in this post is this child seat. Can you share details of this one?
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Old 1st August 2023, 11:39   #88
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Re: 3-Row SUV & MPV owners | How frequently do you use the 3rd row?

I recently purchased a new KIA Carens 7 seater version and I bought it mainly for the 3rd row seat. A usable 3rd row (by adults) was a top priority for me and hence cars like Mahindra XUV 700, Tata Safari, MG Hector Plus, Hyundai Alcazar were ruled out.

The only other alternative that I considered was the Toyota Innova Hycross. The Toyota Innova Hycross was more spacious and had better boot with three rows up, but both 2nd and 3rd row seats were set a bit lower and one had to sit in a knees up position, especially the 3rd row. Even in the 2nd row, one had to sit in a slight knees up position as you cannot slide your fit under the front seats thanks to the hybrid battery kept under the front seat.

Coming to the usability of the 3rd row, I find it to be very usable especially when I go for outing with mine or my wife's parents and my sister. Everyone can sit very comfortably and not on anyone's lap. And every single person can have his own temperature zone thanks to the AC vent for all seats. The 3rd row has received a huge thumbs up from everyone who has traveled so far in our Carens.
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