Stroller behind 3rd Row?

Laostuh

Member
:
2016 Infiniti Q50 Red Sport 400
Hello guys,

I've been trolling many Mazda forums and Acura forums as my lease is coming to an end this December.. Looking to replace our 2015 GS350 F Sport for a family hauler. I have a 1.5 year old son, my wife, her sister, and 2 in laws that occasionally we'll take trips to San Diego. Kinda tired of having to take 2 cars everytime we want to go on a family trip. I test drove the CX-9 Signature a couple months ago.. I was really impressed with the interior but really turned off by the lack of cargo room... I couldn't fit my sons stroller in the back with all 3 rows up. Granted, I won't use all 3 rows constantly but what are you experiences with this? DO any of you guys actually use all 3 rows? IF so, how do you deal with the lack of cargo?

Thank you in advance for any insight.

Stroller is a Graco with attachable car seat by the way.
 
Hitch cargo carrier is what I use on my Sorento. But same applies to all 3 row crossovers with less than 18 cuft of space. Strollers waste a lot of space anyway. If you still want them to fit look at atlas, explorer, enclave or a minivan.
 
Only way to have a "lot" of cargo space while 3 rows are utilized by humans is to go Chevy Suburban segment or god forbid, full size van. Even minivans can't hold 7 people's worth of stuff for a family vacation trip. Which is why so many 3 row vehicles are seen with car top carriers.

OP, not sure why you couldn't get the stroller in the back. Were you trying to lay it flat? I can get two full size strollers into the trunk of a Corolla, same cu ft.
 
Hello guys,

I've been trolling many Mazda forums and Acura forums as my lease is coming to an end this December.. Looking to replace our 2015 GS350 F Sport for a family hauler. I have a 1.5 year old son, my wife, her sister, and 2 in laws that occasionally we'll take trips to San Diego. Kinda tired of having to take 2 cars everytime we want to go on a family trip. I test drove the CX-9 Signature a couple months ago.. I was really impressed with the interior but really turned off by the lack of cargo room... I couldn't fit my sons stroller in the back with all 3 rows up. Granted, I won't use all 3 rows constantly but what are you experiences with this? DO any of you guys actually use all 3 rows? IF so, how do you deal with the lack of cargo?

Thank you in advance for any insight.

Stroller is a Graco with attachable car seat by the way.

I rarely use the 3rd row but I've used it a few times having 6-7 people in total and yes while cargo capacity is an issue then we just try to make do with what we have (granting I don't put strollers in the back) with some passengers having some stuff on their laps. If there are say a total of 6 of you for example, then you can just fold half of the 3rd row seat so you can put on your stroller and other stuff while other seat is for a lone passenger. All I can say is it all depends on your priority and if cargo capacity is a major consideration for you then you'll have to look at other SUVs like the Honda Pilot or VW Atlas that have better 3rd row cargo area. If these are still not enough then the best would be a minivan for your needs esp having a young one. Unfortunately the CX9 isn't the best in the cargo capacity and it's in the same boat as the Hyundai Santa Fe & Kia Sorrento with limited 3rd row cargo however Mazda prioritized the driving dynamics, low end torque with good fuel economy, design fit & finish over utility. I guess you can't have it all...
 
Let's not exaggerate the CX-9's limitations. Did you know the Pilot only has 2 cu ft more space behind 3rd row? 16.4 to 14.4. The biggest is the Atlas and it has 20 cu ft., just 25% more while looking like a tank. Highlander has less than CX-9 and sells like hotcakes at iHOP on a Saturday morning.
 
Let's not exaggerate the CX-9's limitations. Did you know the Pilot only has 2 cu ft more space behind 3rd row? 16.4 to 14.4. The biggest is the Atlas and it has 20 cu ft., just 25% more while looking like a tank. Highlander has less than CX-9 and sells like hotcakes at iHOP on a Saturday morning.

Regardless of the figures whether the pilot and atlas have 2.0 cu ft or just a bit more than the CX9 the bottom line is that they are still larger than the CX9 and was not exaggerating the 9s limitations...just stating a fact. You also have to consider the shape of the rear cargo-tailgate of the pilot and atlas that have more of a square shape than the 9s sloping angle thus affecting how you can store stuff. That was why I recommended a minivan if cargo space and utility were really the priority. Agree though that those models look more like a tank...
 
Hello guys,

I've been trolling many Mazda forums and Acura forums as my lease is coming to an end this December.. Looking to replace our 2015 GS350 F Sport for a family hauler. I have a 1.5 year old son, my wife, her sister, and 2 in laws that occasionally we'll take trips to San Diego. Kinda tired of having to take 2 cars everytime we want to go on a family trip. I test drove the CX-9 Signature a couple months ago.. I was really impressed with the interior but really turned off by the lack of cargo room... I couldn't fit my sons stroller in the back with all 3 rows up. Granted, I won't use all 3 rows constantly but what are you experiences with this? DO any of you guys actually use all 3 rows? IF so, how do you deal with the lack of cargo?

Thank you in advance for any insight.

Stroller is a Graco with attachable car seat by the way.

You can't turn it sideways instead of laying it flat? This seems like a solvable problem if it's your only complaint about the CX-9.
 
You can't turn it sideways instead of laying it flat? This seems like a solvable problem if it's your only complaint about the CX-9.

Yes I tried that the wheel doesn't clear the rear window so trunk won't shut.

Thank you for all the replies. I feel like Mazda could've taken some space from the front to to extend the back.. really can't have the best of both worlds.. If it weren't for the lack of cargo space with all 3 rows up the Mazda would be the definite winner.

Pilot - Not a fan of the look
Explorer - Not a fan of Ford

I'm leaning more towards an MDX Hybrid.. But the Mazda's price point is attractive which keeps bringing me back because apparently Acura doesn't like to sell cars.
 
Yes I tried that the wheel doesn't clear the rear window so trunk won't shut.

Thank you for all the replies. I feel like Mazda could've taken some space from the front to to extend the back.. really can't have the best of both worlds.. If it weren't for the lack of cargo space with all 3 rows up the Mazda would be the definite winner.

Pilot - Not a fan of the look
Explorer - Not a fan of Ford

I'm leaning more towards an MDX Hybrid.. But the Mazda's price point is attractive which keeps bringing me back because apparently Acura doesn't like to sell cars.

An MDX is no better on space.
 
As I said CX9 is an box with too much of empty space. With almost 200 inches of length it should have had atleast 85 cuft of interior volume and not 71. Even a CRV and rogue have 71 cuft.

Even a mazda3 has more center console space. Where did all the CX9 interior space go? What's there between the sheet metal and the interior plastics?
 
As I said CX9 is an box with too much of empty space. With almost 200 inches of length it should have had atleast 85 cuft of interior volume and not 71. Even a CRV and rogue have 71 cuft.

Even a mazda3 has more center console space. Where did all the CX9 interior space go? What's there between the sheet metal and the interior plastics?

I agree. I feel like they wasted a lot of space on the front even though the long hood looks good... But they could have shaved off a few inches and put it in the back..
 
Regardless of the figures whether the pilot and atlas have 2.0 cu ft or just a bit more than the CX9 the bottom line is that they are still larger than the CX9 and was not exaggerating the 9s limitations...just stating a fact. You also have to consider the shape of the rear cargo-tailgate of the pilot and atlas that have more of a square shape than the 9s sloping angle thus affecting how you can store stuff. That was why I recommended a minivan if cargo space and utility were really the priority. Agree though that those models look more like a tank...
The shape is still surprisingly capacious. The glass is further out than many think.

Note though still too close for the OP.

Being as
1. You should not leave infants in their car seats for long periods of time, you should transfer to a stroller seat. Better for hip development.
2. They are not an infant forever and grow out of the bucket in ~6 months.
3. Vacations are often car centric

I'd suggest it's not the car that's the problem but the stroller. Those graco ones fold huge. My sister could not fit one in the trunk of a Vw Polo.

So a Britax Marathon type car seat. Rear faces for the first up to two years and forward facing until 49 inches 65lbs (though honestly you'll be on a Frontier Clicktight before then and likely a Clek Ozzie)

And a smaller stroller. A Maclaran Volo (alternate for more recline -Triumph) is what we take on Vacation. Fits with room to spare. Our heavier duty stroller is the babyjogger city mini which reclines flat for naps and does not tip and folds flat for the car and long haul travel.

Even a snap and go solves your short term problem. Cheaper than buying an MDX instead. The current MDX interior is so plastic a pilot looks more upscale.
 
Maybe you need to adjust the seat`s height and take off the car seat from stroller and put it to the seat for you baby, Graco`s car seat seems can be taken off from stroller.
 
I do agree this is a very stroller dependent problem.

The price difference between the MDX and CX9 can buy you MANY other strollers. Maybe you can get an umbrella stroller that you can dedicate for roadtrips.

Our Nuna Tavo can fit behind the 3rd row. Just had to take off the front wheels, which is thankfully pretty easy to do. Here's a pic for reference:
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This is how big it is when behind the 2nd row.
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So... this is sort of up my alley. We recently had twin girls, and at least once a month we travel to the in-laws, with our dog and cat. So, my wife and I up front, the two girls in their infant car seats in the second row, with the cat in her carrier between the car seats, and our dog (60 lbs) takes at least one of the seats in the third row. Now, with twins, our stroller is very long (48" in length when folded). Initially we would just put one of the third-row seats down and try to wedge the stroller in at an angle. This sort of work, but we didn't like the fact that it really cramped the space for our dog (we're talking almost a 2 hour drive down, so our dog needs adequate space). Even when we were evaluating our options between the CX-9, Pilot and even the Chevy Traverse, we knew that the best solution (outside of a Suburban) would be to purchase cargo/roof box. Throw the stroller in there, some bags, and that leaves plenty of space for the dog, and even another passenger if need be..plus still maintains all the space behind the third row if we're packing a lot of crap for a vacation or going down to the in-laws for Christmas.

Yeah it's another $500 purchase, and yes it's a bit of a pain taking it on and off, but it sure beats having to use two cars! They can store a LOT of stuff!!!

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I have 2 kids (ages 7 and 9) and a dog and the CX9 has been enough room for us. We use the third rooms a fair amount for quick drives but never for drives when we'd need true cargo room. But today I hauled 3 kids and 3 adults (including me) from a baseball game with the third room in use and was still able to fit 2 pair of kids skis, 2 pairs of ski boots and a back pack full of baseball gear behind the third row. And there would have been room for more. We had room for one or two more people as well.

Third rows comes in very handy and get a lot of us when your kids get to a certain age and they start taking friends places and you start carpooling.....but you are a lease or two away from that.

I know for sure that certain strollers would fit in the cargo area with the 3rd row in use--the smaller umbrella strollers that fold up small. Best thing to do is go to a dealer with the stroller and try it...I did that with bags etc to get a sense of how things fit. Cubic measurements are one thing, but doing it is another.....

Good luck in your search.
 
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