Family Planning - Upgrade to 3rd Gen?

AWD Sienna for what you describe.

Cheaper, more room, better MPG, very safe. Good for road trips and park camping.

Add a hitch and a light trailer and you can easily haul bulky or dirty items you don't want inside.

 

I have a couple of kids and a double cab. It's a TIGHT fit with rear-facing infant seats ... anyone above 5'2" sitting in the front seat will be uncomfortable.

It's fine for every once in awhile, but if its your primary kid hauler, go 4Runner.

 

I agree with @john221us. It's more than just the car seat.

 

Grab a rear-facing seat from a friend with kids and take a trip to the dealer. Set the driver's seat where you would be comfortable and see if it works.

 

There are lots of different sizes/options for rear facing seats. We had two of the car seats with shortest front to back sizes ( a Diono Radian and a Britax Marathon at least shortest at the time). We went to a Toyota dealership and tried them in a Tacoma. Way to tight of a fit, and I am only around 6' tall. It just wouldn't work while keeping in a comfortable seating position. Now that we have front facing, not as big of a deal. Keep in mind that you are recommended to keep rear facing until at least 30 lbs, and some recommend 40 lbs. (It used to be until age 2, but now it is at least 2 and 30-40 lbs). If you have a small kid like we do, if you follow the recommendations it would be a long time before you switch to front facing.

If you are sold on a truck, an extended cab Tundra has much more room, and a crew max even more. And I really liked my Tundra fwiw. We also have a 4Runner, and rear facing was tight but doable.

 

DCSB, two kids here, 2 y.o. and 4 m.o. It's tight. Camper shell has been amazing for the strollers and crap (and necessary). Rear facing Graco jams the passenger seat all the way forward. Front facing Graco lets me push my seat all the way back as driver. Completely doable, but I'm considering a 4runner..... I'd say it's a lifestyle decision to make.

 

How tall are you/wife?

I'm 6'1" and there is no way I could drive comfortably with a rear facing seat in the back. We have 3 kids and have had a van for 7 years now while I have gone through close to 20 vehicles of my own through that time. I have had all 3 in the tacoma with 2 boosters. It's doable but still very tight.

In your case I wouldn't even consider the Tacoma if you're anywhere near 6 foot tall.

 

A taco is too small to reasonably fit a car seat. Rear facing car seats require the corresponding front seat to be moved forward beyond the level of comfort.

Forward facing cars seats do not leave enough room for the kids to hang thier feet down.

 

You’re entering the mid-size SUV era of your life... just go ahead and get to mental acceptance, then pick out a good family SUV (there’s a reason fewer vehicle manufacturers are making sedans now).

 

I like my Tacoma because it's NOT a family vehicle.

 

All my friends that have Sienna's rant and rave about them!

 

Back in the late 80's, it was the minivan (prior to that it was the station wagon). The SUV thing hadn't really taken off yet. I swore I would never drive one (as did many dads). Then along came the Ford Explorer (1990) and it all started. We had a family car that was palatable by dads everywhere. You young folk don't know how good you have... now get off my lawn.

 

Thank you to everyone for your comments and car seat brand/type suggestions. I think the best (and most logical, duh) thing to do that some of you have suggested is borrow an infant car seat and actually go and test them out at a dealer.

I am 5'11" and my wife is 5'4", not big my any means. IF this is the route I go, i would definitely get the shell on the back. I like the idea of not having to be as careful when just throwing things into the back as i would in an SUV. Obviously that is not a deal breaker. The other things is... 4Runners are expensive! More so than Tacoma's at least. We're not broke or anything, i'm just frugal, lol. If it came down to it I wouldn't be opposed to a 4Runner, i just like the look of Tacoma's a little more. Side note, my parents have a 05 4Runner with the v8 coming up on 200k and they still love it.

 

We went with a softopper. Best of both worlds. It's up 95% of the time keeping our stuff out of site. We try not to leave the expensive stroller back there.

 

You and your wife are pretty much the same heights as me and my wife. We have a 15 dcsb, a rear facing 2yo and a forward facing 5yo. We use Diono Radian seats, rear facing in the middle, fwd facing behind the passenger seat. We used the Britax that came with the BOB stroller in the middle when the kiddos were that size. It works very well for us, but there are a couple things that make it easier.

The Diono, when rear facing, can be in contact with the driver/passenger seats. This isn't always true with other car seats, so do your research.

The car seats that are in the truck stay in the truck. We have another set of seats for the car. We shuffled them back and forth three times before I said eff it and bought another pair of seats. We had multiple bases for the Britax, we had a base in each vehicle.

A canopy on the truck bed is a great help and will give you tons of storage.

I don't know if they still do it, but the back of the passenger seat on my '15 is plastic. Toyota calls it a table, and I guess you could use it like that with the seat flipped down, but it's very easy to clean off and it is in the perfect spot for the 5yo's feet.

The 4Runner is nice too. We've been toying around with the possibility of replacing our Corolla with one. The big appeal of the 4Runner is the available 3rd row. We rarely need more than 5 seats (maybe 2x/yr) but every now and then it would be handy.

 

I'd go any other option besides a Tacoma with carseats, it'll work but it wont be ideal. Even as a single guy with a DCSB I feel bad for the passengers in back most the time. I've had AC, DCLB and DCSB, if I were moving up and considering long term family planning as you are, I would think about after car seats, etc. When I test drove a Tundra besides the crappy MPG, it drove small for how big it is (great turning radius, etc.) and had a ton of room, even the 4runner as someone mentioned has more interior space, I loved my ex GFs. Good luck.

 

Keep your 2nd gen for occasional snow trips/off-roading/camping trips and buy the parent's 2005 4Runner for kid hauling duties?

 

Your wife doesn't seem that tall so you'll probably be fine even with your AC if your baby is behind the passenger seat. It's safer to put em in the center but when you want one of those infant carriers that pop on the base, you'll see that a passenger seat is way way easier on your arms and back.

I have 3 kids and still cram them all in my Taco.

I got a hard shell and Decked for all my storage needs. You won't be able cram what I crammed into an SUV unless it's a Suburban. Be sure if you consider to stack stuff in a SUV that you either have some sort of cage deal or keep it lower than the seat back. You don't want that stuff being a heavy projectile if you were involved in a collision.

You can keep what you got for now and see if it works or doesn't work later when you have your baby. 2nd gen tacos hold tremendous residual value so you won't lose out whenever you're ready to make a move.

 

It sounds like you don't really need a bed so get a 4Runner. They are a much better built, higher quality vehicle. They are also much more capable off road if you get the correct model.

 

I have a 3rd gen and two kids: 2 year old and 5 year old. They fit great, and we were able to road trip just fine with all 4 of us comfortably in double cab. Rear-facing car seats fit fine also, but not pics of that one since we are fully front facing for both our boys now.