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Carry lots of passengers?


Normagal

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I'm wondering if any of you consistently have lots of passengers in your Journey and how that's working for you. Much of the time, I am alone in it. Other times it's just hubby and me. But a time or two a week I have 3 or 4 grandkids in it, and yesterday we had 6 adults. I volunteered to ride in the back as I am the shortest. The ride in the back was fine, but getting in and out of it is hard. Maybe that's more a sign of my age than trouble with the car. Times like these I am questioning my sanity in getting rid of my larger Buick Enclave.

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They call it a CUV for a very good reason. The 3rd row is acknowledged to be cramped and not easy to get into. It is intended for youths, not adults, though as you proved, it can be done.

If this is a rarity, then it will do, but if you plan a cross-country road trip I'd suggest putting the miles on a relative's Expedition or Yukon if you are looking for comfort for six (or even 5) adults.

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My R/T is a 5-passenger since I have no need for the third row (I have more use for the large load floor storage space). I rented a 3-row SXT on a recent trip to Toronto, and when I got back to the US, I sat in the 3rd row for gits'n'shiggles. I'm 6'4" with a 36" inseam... and even with the second row seat still collapse forward for 3rd row access, I said "HAAAAIIIIL NO!" My knees were well into the second row space. Definitely designed with small children in mind and not full-size-plus adults.

Day-to-day it's just me in the car, with the occasional S/O or friend riding shotgun.

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Most of the time, it's just me (this is my daily driver). When we bought it, it became the de facto family car for the weekends (I wanted to drive it, we had the third child due in May, and there was no way I'd be using it full time on weekends after that - there just isn't enough space for three child seats, stroller, diaper bags, and the Costco runs). When we know we're not hauling stuff and just need something to get the family around for a day on the weekend, we'll use it. My oldest (5) rides in his booster seat in the 3rd row, the girls are in car seats in the middle. The easy-entry for the third row doesn't work when you have car seats strapped in, so my son goes in through the rear hatch. Which means climbing over stuff. If it weren't for the necessity of all the car seats, it would be fantastic.

Then again, this is why we have the Town and Country. It works great for family duty, hauling anything that needs hauling, whatever you can throw at it as your generic home owner/parent. The Journey is a compromise vehicle - it does a lot of things well enough for me, but would never replace a larger vehicle. It's a glorified station wagon - and that's ok.

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It is a rare event when I have to carry passengers other than the wife and a 120 lb dog.

I could have done without the 3rd row seat. The storage would have been preferable to me. But the bonus was the very nice rear

a/c system which really keeps Brutus comfortable.

For big jobs we have the 04 Durango battle wagon

:cool:

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I wanted a vehicle with third row that wasn't huge and had rear A/C. I haul my nephews on occasions and they and my kids fight over who gets to ride in the back. Kids fit very well in the back and I hope I don't have to throw any adults back there, but am sure that'll happen someday.

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  • 2 months later...

It's rare for us to carry more than four persons in our R/T (including driver) but we have had occasions to carry six: four adults, and our granddaughters, ages 17 and 6. The 6 year old has no problem scampering into her booster seat in the rear row and the 17 year old can get in without any problem (how I envy youth!). When we have had to shoehorn (and I mean that literally) adults into the rear, it's a major effort; the seating is cramped and headroom isn't great. I find it claustrophobic (I don't even like sitting in the rear seats in my dealership's Caravan shuttle van, even with captain's chairs in the centre row). We purchased this vehicle with other higher priority options and the third row seating came as standard equipment on the R/T. We always drive with the rear seats folded.

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I use my third row once or twice a week. Always youths sit there. My kids are beginning to complain if they have to sit in third row, because of little room for feet (my oldest son never sits there,because he's 6'3", and I don't want to hear him). I don´t know why Journeys (not AWD) haven't flat floor on second and third rows, that makes a big difference. The car I had before DJ was like that, and it felt more spacious, it was 7 seats too.

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Because you don't build two different unibody frames. That's cost prohibitive. If you wanted something with a big (enough) third row, you had two other Mopar options - a Durango or a Grand Caravan/Town and Country (at least on our side of the Atlantic).

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Third rows are over-rated. They are for those emergency situations that you need to haul more people. If you NEED a third row, a cuv should not be your first choice. Minivans are for hauling people. If you have 4 kids, get a minivan. Or full size van. Or a small schoolbus. The journey is what it is... A good vehicle with tons of utility and a little attitude.

Peace.

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I'm not complaining. It was just a question (flat floor) in my head. In Europe we haven't the Durango option (that would be my choice, if I could afford it), about Grand Caravan/Town and Country, we have the Lancia Voyager, it's almost the same car. Maybe it's better than DJ for my needs, but it's too expensive for me. I hope to keep Journey for a long time, it's less than 5 years now, and I want to think it hasn't reached "its middle age".

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I do not carry lots of people. My third row has never seen the light of day. I carry lots of gear. Bike wheels, backpacks, other crap. . . One minor complaint I have is that I have the dodge cargo mat overlying the third row. Its flexible, but solid plastic. What the heck would I do with it if I did need to carry more people? That thing would be a pain to fold up. I've thought of that, but the need to carry more than 5 has never materialized. Hope it never does. Ha!

Peace.

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When I need to use my third row, I pull my 2 trash containers slightly away from the garage wall and slide the mat down into this space. It will develop a "curve" if you try and stand it up by itself. I thought of rolling it in 1/2 and placing it behind the third row, but have not tried that yet. Any curve it develops will eventually flatten out again.

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  • 1 month later...

Third rows are over-rated. They are for those emergency situations that you need to haul more people. If you NEED a third row, a cuv should not be your first choice. Minivans are for hauling people. If you have 4 kids, get a minivan. Or full size van. Or a small schoolbus. The journey is what it is... A good vehicle with tons of utility and a little attitude.

Peace.

Unless you also need AWD and are unwilling or unable to pay for a $35K AWD Toyota Sienna. If Dodge made an AWD option on the Caravan we would've gone that route.
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  • 3 weeks later...

No room for AWD in the Mopar vans because of the stow-and-go seating. Prior to stow-and-go, the vans offered AWD.

Reeeeeeaaaaaaly. That's a damn shame. Stow-n-go is great but I'd gladly pay extra for the option to swap that out for AWD. I realize that would change the chassis. Still, it's a shame Toyota is the only (expensive) option for an AWD minivan.
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