5 seats.

Please note: Some sedans advertise a sixth seat, in the center of the front row. This seat should never be used, as it is extremely dangerous since it has only a lap-belt, not a shoulder belt, and is in the front near the airbags, the dashboard, and the windshield. Without a shoulder belt to protect them, in a crash passengers sitting in this seat will suffer severe head and neck injuries.

Poor. With 2 carseats in the back seat, there is often not enough room for an adult to sit comfortably (or at all).

Total size of the vehicle is not a good indicator of the roominess of the back row. The biggest factor is how close to the doors (as opposed to the center of the vehicle) the lower LATCH anchors or the vehicle’s safety belts are anchored, as these greatly affect where the car seat must sit. Deep sculpting of the vehicle’s seat back – usually on the sides closest to the door – will force the car seat to sit closer to the center of the vehicle, leaving less room for other passengers/car seats. If you have 2 car seats and want to fit an adult in the back seat, you can maximize space by placing the 2 car seats side by side and allowing the adult to sit on the other side. While this is ideal, it is not possible to SECURELY install two car seats side by side in many sedans.

7 or 8 seats depending on model

The third row seats are usually more comfortable for bigger kids and adults than those of 6-7-8 seater SUV’s. In minivans, the seat pan is usually longer and the seats sit higher off the floor. The center rear position of some minivans still lacks a shoulder belt and a head rest, making it not the safest place for anyone greater than 40 pounds (kids under 40 pounds riding in car seats do not need a shoulder belt or a head rest).

Varies according to center row seating arrangement. In general, though, access is usually much easier than in an SUV, since you can walk through a minivan but must crawl through an SUV. This is especially important if you have older/elderly passengers who will need to ride in the 3rd row.

--With 2 separate captain’s chairs in the middle row, access to the 3rd row is obtained by walking (or stooping) in front of the middle row seat and then between the two captain’s chairs. Note that if your minivan has doors on either side, you can access the third row from either side.
--With 2 separate captain’s chairs pushed next to each other, or a 2-passenger bench in the 2nd row, access to the third row is obtained from only one side of the vehicle (whichever side does not have a vehicle seating position in the 2nd row).
--With 3 separate captain’s chairs in the middle row you must tumble one of the captain’s chairs to access the third row. In order to tumble the seat, you cannot have a car seat installed in this position. Note that if you have a car seat installed in the center captain’s chair, it may not be possible to tumble the side captain’s chair as the car seat may overhang into the side seat’s territory. This is an issue in the Honda Odyssey (8-seater version) but not in the Toyota Sienna (8-seater version).

Usually minimal behind the third row seat. You must fold down the third row seats to obtain maximum cargo space. This can be problematic, since it's often the times that you need the extra cargo space (going on vacation) that you also need the 3rd row seats for passengers. Key exceptions are the Chevrolet Suburban and its clones.

Some people buy “hats” for their SUV’s (trunks that you place on the roof of the vehicle to add extra cargo capacity) but these are likely not a safe choice, because they add to the top-heaviness of these vehicles, making an already more-likely-to-rollover vehicle even more likely to rollover.

Usually poor. Most do not have an option for a net/screen that will safely secure the cargo and prevent it from flying into the passenger area. A few 6, 7 & 8 seater SUV’s do have a barrier that has been crash tested and shown to keep cargo from flying forward into the passenger area. But again, most of these barriers cannot be used if someone is sitting in the third row seats.

The 6 seater vehicles – like the Mercedes R class, Ford Freestyle, and Chrysler Pacifica - may be the worst in terms of cargo safety, because stowing anything larger than a small umbrella stroller necessitates folding the 3rd row seats flat. Since there are two captain's chairs in the center row (instead of a solid bench like in most SUV's), it seems as if the cargo has greater access to passengers, sinc eit can fly not only above the captians chairs but also between them.

6, 7, or 8 seats.

As mentioned in the Cargo Capacity section, most SUV's do not allow for maximum cargo space and maximum seating capacity at the same time. Keep this in mind when you consider how many people and how much cargo you regularly transport.

Most 3rd row seats are not designed with the utmost of comfort or safety in mind. Older kids and adults sitting in these seats will usually have their knees in their nose, due to the placement of the seat bottom very close to the floor. This positioning can also be dangerous, because it can encourage a person to slouch forward in an attempt to be more comfortable, moving the lap portion of the seat belt off the strong hip bones and onto the vulnerable abdomen.

In addition to being less comfortable, many 3rd row seats are less safe. The safety features found in the front and middle rows of these SUV’s – including head restraints, shoulder belts, safety belt pretensioners, side airbags, which all contribute greatly to passengers' saftey - often do not extend to the third row occupants. The proximity of the rear head-rest/seat back to the back door of the vehicle can also be a safety issue in a rear-impact crash. Some vehicles – including the Toyota Highlander and Volvo XC90 - have reinforced the back of the vehicle in an attempt to prevent intrusion into the passenger’s area in a crash.
 

High. This is due to the SUV's high center of gravity and the fact that the heavier it becomes, the more unstable it becomes. Large SUV's are more likely to roll over because they are also most likely to be carrying the most cargo and passengers. Some SUV’s use technology to decrease the likelihood of rollovers.

A curtain airbag is most important in a vehicle like this, because this type of side airbag will best protect the head during a rollover.

A few have models options for metal crash-tested screens to safely keep the cargo from coming into the passenger area – these include those made by Volvo and Saab.

Typically 5. A few wagons (Volvo) have options for a third row seat. This third row seat can be problematic from a safety perspective on many levels. 1. The child is riding in the cargo area – so unless the cargo area is completely empty (highly unlikely) the child is at risk of being severely hurt by flying cargo. 2. Since this vehicle seat is rear-facing, you can not install a car seat or booster seat here. Finally, there is a maximum weight limit on these seats (usually around 80 pounds) – so many of the kids that technically fit on these seats can not ride there, because they still need car seats/boosters to ride safely.

Total size of the vehicle is not a good indicator of the roominess of the back row. The biggest factor is how close to the doors (as opposed to the center of the vehicle) the lower LATCH anchors or the vehicle’s safety belts are anchored, as these greatly affect where the car seat must sit. Deep sculpting of the vehicle’s seat back – usually on the sides closest to the door – will force the car seat to sit closer to the center of the vehicle, leaving less room for other passengers/car seats. If you have 2 car seats and want to fit an adult in the back seat, you can maximize space by placing the 2 car seats side by side and allowing the adult to sit on the other side. While this is ideal, it is not possible to SECURELY install two car seats side by side in many sedans. With 2 car seats – one on either side - in the back seat, there is often not enough room for an adult to sit comfortably (or at all). A vehicle with 3 separate LATCH positions (like the Dodge Magnum) is likely to have the roomiest back seat.

Low. Wagons are built on a car chassis, which means they have low centers of gravity and are therefore less likely to rollover than an SUV. Due to its low center of gravity, it becomes more stable the heavier it becomes.

Poor. Unrestrained cargo in the bed of the pick-up can be a hazard not only to the passengers in the truck, but also to other vehicles as it can fly out of the truck during swerving and/or a crash. There is no safe place to store cargo in the passenger area of the pick-up.

Varies greatly. Some pick-ups have no back seat with others have side-facing jump seats. Still others have a back seat that has enough leg room to fit only a child, while others have more room than in many sedans.

Side facing jump seats can NEVER be used to secure a car seat or booster. Ideally no one should ever ride on a side-facing jump seat.

The pick-ups with small back seats often do not have enough room to secure a child restraint properly and/or allow enough room for a child’s head to move forward in a crash without hitting the back of the front seat.
If placing a rear-facing car seat in the back seat of a pick-up, consideration should be given to whether the baby’s head could hit the rear windshield in a crash (as a rear-facing seat will rotate toward the back of the vehicle in a rear-end crash or the rebound from a frontal crash). Using a convertible car seat (any of the Britax or the Sunshine Kids Radian) that allows you to use the top tether in the rear-facing position and securing the tether to the floor of the vehicle will prevent the child’s head from hitting the glass, because the tether will prevent the car seat from moving towards the back of the vehicle.

Children in forward-facing carseats will be adequately protected by the shell of the car seat.

Children in booster seats will usually need to use a high back booster to prevent their head from hitting the glass.

Older kids (too big for boosters) and adults are often poorly protected in pick-ups because there are often no head restraints and when there are they often do not come up high enough to protect heads and necks sufficiently.

The width of the back row is usually ample, but the leg room, and most importantly the head room, are often lacking.

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