# 2nd row.. bench or chairs for 2 car seats??



## dtmprojk (Apr 2, 2001)

looking into the routan, need opinions on whoever has experience with this. 

i have a 3yr old and and 1yr old. 

is it better to have the bench as the second row for the car seats or the chairs? 

thanks


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## Tax Consel (Apr 21, 2010)

Our Routan is now one month old and we have two children, a two-year old and a five-year old. 

When shopping for this vehicle we discovered that we liked the second row captains seats because it places both children closer to the doors. With the bench seat one child would sit in the middle of the van, off-set about 1' from the door opening. That distance forced us to bend over to reach them. 

BTW, upgrading to the SE also gets you power sliding doors.


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## dtmprojk (Apr 2, 2001)

thanks for the reply! 

question, do the captains seat slide? can you put your kid into the seat, and then slide the seat in more towards the center of the vehicle?


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## Tax Consel (Apr 21, 2010)

No, although comfortable, the captain's seats are not that flexible. They fold forward to allow easier third row access and are removable (weight about 70 lbs each). 
TC


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## routancan (Aug 8, 2009)

Please note that when you have car seats placed in the captain's chairs, they will no longer be able to fold forward all the way for easy access to the third row. We have car seats on each of the middle row captain chairs, and our oldest boy in the third row. Usually, he will either enter the van before one of the other kids are in their seats, or he will jump up through the tailgate (his preferred method, not his parents preference though).


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## rmbalisa (Jan 17, 2002)

go use the original configuration with the captain chairs in the middle for two car seats. even for three, which what I will have next month, we will have the oldest sit in the 3rd row and enter the same way routancan said...though preferably not through the tailgate either


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## dtmprojk (Apr 2, 2001)

thanks all... 

so everyone is enjoying their routans?


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## haunted reality (Apr 18, 2001)

dtmprojk said:


> thanks all...
> 
> so everyone is enjoying their routans?


We're enjoying ours so far, I hope to get it back on Friday. The A/C is still not right, they had to order another part. They did give us a rental though. I really wanted to hate the Routan, being a VW fan and all, but I really do like it. It drives so easy and is smooth on the road. We're taking our first road trip in ours at the end of the month, I can't wait to see how it does. btw, we have the S so it's a benchseat, only 1 child but the next one is on the way. I think we'll be fine with the benchseat.


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## dtmprojk (Apr 2, 2001)

congrats on the one on the way... 

you have the sportwagen too.. was lookin into that too... you got room for two carseats back there? or is it kind of tight? i'm kinda tall so my driver seat would be back all the way.. so that leaves a car seat in the middle and behind the passenger seat, like how i have it in my treg now. wifey wants more space which is why we're lookin at the routan.


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## haunted reality (Apr 18, 2001)

dtmprojk said:


> congrats on the one on the way...
> 
> you have the sportwagen too.. was lookin into that too... you got room for two carseats back there? or is it kind of tight? i'm kinda tall so my driver seat would be back all the way.. so that leaves a car seat in the middle and behind the passenger seat, like how i have it in my treg now. wifey wants more space which is why we're lookin at the routan.


I've been through too many cars lately, all I can do is laugh! :rofl: We had Mazda 5, which neither of us liked. We traded it on the JSW back in December. I liked the JSW, it's not too bad on room, though the back seat is a bit small. It was going to be our family hauler. My GTI was leased and my wife really started wanting a minivan again, even before we knew #2 is on the way. I wanted to go used and I knew I'd have the best chance of trading my GTI in early at a VW dealer. That's what I did. The Routan has way more room than the JSW. I think you would have room for two car seats in a JSW, it would be tight. If I get a chance, I'll snap a picture of the one car seat I have in the JSW. The big issue will be if you have rear facing childseats, they might cause the front seat to have to be up too far for you. It depends on the car seats you are using. I will say that the JSW does have a lot of trunk room though, more than you would think. The JSW we have is also a 5 speed so it's relatively fun to drive. I'm still getting over getting rid of my GTI, but it's a sacrafice I had to make.


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## dtmprojk (Apr 2, 2001)

dont worry about the jsw car seat pics... went to the dealer and wife likes the space in the routan.


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## haunted reality (Apr 18, 2001)

dtmprojk said:


> dont worry about the jsw car seat pics... went to the dealer and wife likes the space in the routan.


:thumb:


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