5 Reasons Why I Think 3rd Row MPV’s Are (Almost) Pointless

I’m sorry MPV owners, I’m hating the third row of seats in your cars.

I mean, I do enjoy the MPV as a way to lug around children on the school run. But really, I do wish car-makers would actually re-consider updating the fundamental problem with the MPV. It’s been here long enough for the seating layout to change. But they haven’t updated it. I just wish they would do something about the third row of seats. Here’s why:

#1: You Forgot Your Luggage

I mean, really. If you decided to use the seats and the luggage space at the same time, they don’t work at all. I mean, surely, whenever I want to go on a vacation in a Honda StepWGN, that “waku-waku” door may seem interesting, but I’m sure they don’t fit both people and luggage at the same time. It just doesn’t work.

Sometimes, you need to actually wonder how on earth do you actually use any of the seats. As we progress through my third-row seat rant, you’ll understand why.

#2 They are genuine safety hazards

The third row of seats are dangerously close to the far back end of the car. If the seats were facing the same direction as the back, there would be still room before the head makes contact with whatever hits it. Okay, with more chances of leg injuries. In the new MPVs, the seats are facing the same direction as all the seats. Which means there is only about 10 cm before the glass tailgate. Which is too little.

The Honda StepWGN manages this issue slightly better, but there still isn’t enough room for whatever strikes you in the back of the head. I wouldn’t be putting children back there myself.

#3 Error 404: Legs not found

This isn’t too true to some extent, because some MPVs do have enough room to actually fit an adult in the back. But then I reckon they are more for smaller passengers. I often find this a trend – there is too much room for the people in the middle and there isn’t enough room for the the third row of seats. The middle row doesn’t need all that legroom. The same legroom as a Camry would do the trick!

#4 They’re not the most aesthetically pleasing

I do admit, I am beating a dead horse around this corner, but HK has a lot of MPVs (in fact, most are Toyota Alphards). In truth, you never look cool in one, simply because it is a large van. I don’t care how much of the interior is leather, or how they’ve managed to solve the family troubles.

Nobody looks cool in one, and some of us would rather have our own car than drive a people carrier. I do admit however, the Ford S-Max doesn’t actually look that bad, but it’s got nearly all of the full list of problems in this list.

#5 Nobody really uses them (unless they’ve got more than 3 kids)

This is where all the reasons combined actually applies towards. In truth, on some occasions, I do need the seats if I need to transport people around from street to street (Hong Kong is rather small). In most scenarios though, I don’t really need the last row of seats. I would just buy a normal car.

It’s your turn now.

Do you agree with the problem with the third row of seats in MPVs? How would you change it? Leave a comment 😉

Written by Wai Ning@R.I.D - http://revvingitdaily.com/author/waininglai/