[jonesanto]

I have been using Innova for a year now, recently I had an interesting chat with a friend who owns 2018 Crysta and owned Innova before. It started with why we Indians simply love the Innova and then he pointed out, he hardly ever had to use the last row for seating purpose. His old Innova and Crysta combined he could surely tell, not more than 15 times last row was used for accommodating people.

Then I had to do my count, till then I never ever thought about this, I used last row 4 times in one year. It is not that we never travel with more than one family, 4 adults and 2-3 kids are fine, but if more adults are involved, we simply prefer taking another car. Then we checked the cases of other 7 seaters from our known circle and most Toyota’s hardly use their third row for seating purpose, my brother owns Innova and Fortuner, same case with him too.

Think this is an interesting observation and it’s mainly applicable to Toyota 7 seaters. Because if you purchased any other company 7 seater you sure would have had the use for it, but not with Toyota, many like me, my brother and my friend simply purchased a Toyota 7 seater because of the reliability, space and comfort it offers. It is easy to own, easy to service and easy to sell if required.

How about you? Did you buy a 7 seater because you actually need a 7 seater or bought it considering other factors (white board of course)?

[Silverfire]

Interesting point Thankyou for this thread.
This is an open question for many who would like to upgrade up from the mid-SUV segment (Creta, Seltos, Duster) which have been super popular in the last decade. Many of the logical upgrades viz XUV700, Innova Hycross, Skoda Kodiaq etc are 7 seaters, which come with the downside of being larger to drive around in cities.

I feel a 7 seater ends up giving you more flexibility. We have a baby and a dog in our family, and our current car the Creta fills up with Couple + Baby in the baby seat and Dog. The Pram takes up a lot of space in the boot leaving very little for luggage. A 7 seater I feel may give flexible seating and storage options. Additionally 7 seaters offer captain seat options, which is an upgrade for rear seat passengers over the benches in 5 seaters.

Net-net I feel the 7 seaters are worth it for the flexibility, extra storage and improved rear seat comfort over the 5 seaters, even if you are not hauling 7 passengers around.

[narayans80]

We brought a "7" seater because we needed 5 3-point seat belts. One of which had to hold a convertible child seat.

Majority of the "5" seaters have lap belts purely as hogwash. Your actual seating capacity is the number of 3-point seat belts in the car, occupant size permitting.

Even if it had 3 3-point seat belts in the rear, other 2 occupants will feel like Amala-Kamal duo in Valayosai travelling footboard on 41C.

I was so tempted to buy a petrol Crysta last year, but the thought of spending 8-10 Rs/km on fuel wasn't a very rosy looking.

[rx100]

I booked Creta, but ended up with Alcazar, mainly because the delivery delays in Creta and nice instrument cluster and 360 camera in Alcazar. We hardly use third row except when visiting parents place. But still we think we made the right choice given the features.

[SmartCat]

I've paid Rs. 2.5 Lakhs per seat and I make sure all seats are used extensively used -> for city travel & outstation trips (with in-laws) and even school runs (car pooling).



The roof rack + roof bag too is being used extensively. I'm actually on my second roof bag, because the last one had minor tears at places.

However, it has done just 55,000 kms in 7 years. That's because it is a "second car" and is used only when needed.

[MaanSingh]

I needed a good 5 seater comfy AT SUV and narrowed down on Seltos, but did not buy it because of 3 star crash rating.

Ended up buying XUV 700 in the end, find it little big sometimes, but still very happy with my choice -
1. 5 star crash rating
2. Good SUV looks - as compared to Crysta which I considered when moving to 7 seater segment
3. Diesel automatic was available in XUV 700 as compared to MG Hector.
4. Jeep Compass 2nd row not that spacious for five adults and Jeep had closed dealership in my hometown.

[Vtach]

Requirement: refined, monocoque 5 seater with AWD/4x4, LARGE boot & tested GNCAP 5* safety features upto 25 L +/- some. Preferably diesel.
XUV700 AWD came closest; which happens to be a 7 seater and an AT. If AWD was available in AX5/manual transmission I would've definitely gone for it. Would take delivery next week hopefully!

[GTO]

There are many SUVs & a few MPVs I'd buy, not because I absolutely need a 3rd-row of seats, but because I love the vehicle. Examples = XUV700, Kodiaq, Innova Crysta & Hycross, Carnival, Scorpio-N, Carens & Mercedes GLS.

We are 4 siblings & roam around a lot with our families. A 3-row SUV & MPV will definitely help, even if we use that 3rd-row just once or twice a month. Kids can jump on the backseat. That 3rd-row can many times be the difference between all having fun travelling together, or being forced to take a 2nd car along...thereby splitting the group.

3-row SUVs also usually have amazing boot space for hauling cargo. I like big cars and naturally gravitate toward the longer variant. E.g. I love the Safari more than the Harrier.

[RSMM]

Originally Posted by GTO

There are many SUVs & a few MPVs I'd buy, not because I absolutely need a 3rd-row of seats, but because I love the vehicle. Examples = XUV700, Kodiaq, Innova Crysta & Hycross, Carnival, Carens & Mercedes GLS.

We are 4 siblings & roam around a lot with our families. A 3-row SUV & MPV will definitely help, even if we use that 3rd-row just once or twice a month. Kids can jump on the backseat. That 3rd-row can many times be the difference between all having fun travelling together, or being forced to take a 2nd car along...thereby splitting the group.

3-row SUVs also usually have amazing boot space for hauling cargo. I like big cars and naturally gravitate toward the longer variant. E.g. I love the Safari more than the Harrier.

I agree. I opt for a 3 row MPV more because of comfortable and large boot space. 3rd row was an added bonus only. 3rd row also offers great flexibility of configuring boot space depending on how many are travelling

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by jonesanto

Did you buy a 7 seater because you actually need a 7 seater

Absolutely. We are a family of five, and my kid is always in the car seat.

There is no car that seats two adults and a car seat in the middle row comfortably. Sure, you can have just about sufficient space but when you want to do long road trips (~ 6-10 hours/day), you want to travel in absolute comfort, i.e. no rubbing shoulders, adequate leg room and so on.

Eventually, we realised we'd need a three row car just due to this. Sold off the EcoSport and got the Crysta. Had we not be using the car seat for the kid, even the EcoSport would have sufficed, albeit at a significant compromise for the middle occupant and child's safety (no three-point belt for the middle occupant).

Furthermore, when getting the Crysta, there was a confusion regarding getting the bench variant vs. top variant (most safety features) since the top end Crysta only has captain seats. Decided to get the top variant since even if we had a bench middle row, we'd still use the third row anyway, and safety has always been THE deciding factor on variant/car.

[Shreyans_Jain]

My Hexa’s third row is used pretty often. The seats are almost never folded down, always up and ready for use. The fact that this is the most comfortable third row in the business has played a big part in this, for no one has ever been apprehensive about getting in there, even if it is for a few hours. My daughter’s child seat is also set up in the third row.

The car retains a proper usable boot even with the third row up, and that has been the crucial part of the practicality equation.

[TROOPER]

Back in Oct-Dec 2019, it was a strong contest between the Hexa and the Octavia. I know most of you must be bewildered with the polar opposite choices, but we needed a car capable of touring and the Hexa came out on top because of better reliability and the toughness helps on the Indian terrain.

Plus we went for the 6 seater with captain seats and that simply blows most cars out of the water as far as comfort is concerned. I've sat in the latest pseudo Safari and the captain seat version felt congested in comparison.

So 2-4 people in the car and the third row down, the Hexa is excellent for touring. And if needed, the third row is actually comfortable, unlike many MPVs, unless you are extremely tall.

[chandrda]

Though more than 50% of the time I don't use the 3rd row, but it's very useful and convenient when needed.

1. Can take the entire family (parents or in-laws) on trips without the need for the 2nd car. Traveling together is very fun
2. Have transported luggage without the need to hire a mini van.
3. My teenage son jumps to the 3rd row with his headset when we become unbearable to him. 3rd row is his "Me Time".
4. The flexibility it provides to accommodate people or luggage is tremendous.

Regards

[Iyencar]

We got our BRV precisely because we needed a third row plus luggage space since a child seat, adult and a dog together won’t fit in any 5 seater. Having said that even without my specific requirements I would have gone for a three row car simply because of that one last minute fun trip where an extra person tags along and makes your purchase paisa vasool. I would rather not use the third row when not needed than not have the flexibility when needed. Plus the difference in FE is negligible between the three and two row variants anyway.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by jonesanto

he hardly ever had to use the last row for seating purpose. His old Innova and Crysta combined he could surely tell, not more than 15 times last row was used for accommodating people.

Then I had to do my count, till then I never ever thought about this, I used last row 4 times in one year.

most Toyota’s hardly use their third row for seating purpose, my brother owns Innova and Fortuner, same case with him too.

Originally Posted by Silverfire

Interesting point Thankyou for this thread.
This is an open question for many who would like to upgrade up from the mid-SUV segment (Creta, Seltos, Duster) which have been super popular in the last decade. Many of the logical upgrades viz XUV700, Innova Hycross, Skoda Kodiaq etc are 7 seaters, which come with the downside of being larger to drive around in cities.

I feel a 7 seater ends up giving you more flexibility. We have a baby and a dog in our family, and our current car the Creta fills up with Couple + Baby in the baby seat and Dog. The Pram takes up a lot of space in the boot leaving very little for luggage.

There are two distinct categories of cars here. We have the likes of Kodiaq, Meridian, Hector+, XUV700 and Scorpio N where the third row is clearly an afterthought. It was never designed to accommodate adults for any semblance of time. These cars work best as genuine 5 seaters with the practicality of huge boot, for luggage or for canines.

Then we have the Fortuner, Crysta, Carens, XL6 and Safari. These cars have more comfortable third rows in terms of seating position and space. However, they either have zero boot space with the third row up, or a suspension that positively sucks when you are stuck back there, or both. When we talk about ride comfort, it is mostly about the front row, sometimes the middle. Hardly anyone talks about how the ride is directly above or behind the rear axle, unless they are actually relegated back there. Cars like Carens and Crysta are very comfortable to sit in up front, but it gets very choppy and bouncy in the third row.

I can only think of 4 modern cars that actually have what large families need - a genuinely usable 3rd row from both space and comfort perspectives, along with a minimum acceptable usable boot. Mahindra Marazzo, Tata Hexa, Kia Carnival and now the Innova HyCross. Three of them are not on sale today.