Shredderman 3.5

I drive an A6 4.2 and surf the A6 forum.

Anyway, I have a 2 year old and we just found out my wife is expecting twins. Her ML320 just won't be big enough. Will the Allroad accommodate 3 child car seats with room to spare for strollers, etc.?

I'm also looking into the XC90, Denali (probably too big for my wife to handle), Land Cruiser, and other SUVs with a 3rd row.

Any suggestions and comments would be greatly appreciated.

NYallroad

The allroad works for us nicely but there is not a lot of extra room. For sheer volume the denali will be tough to beat, but its monstrous in size.

My girls love the allroad, we go to the beach and come back to the car and picnic in the back with the rear seats down, they fit perfectly at this age.

The allroad met my criteria for: utility, uniqueness/great looking, fun to drive.

2tu®bos1mission

Those things are death traps. The allroad had a 3row option in 01-02. 3 might work. I'd recomend tryin to see if three baby seats will fit in your A6.

Bargamon

My kids now 12 and 9 and only now are we starting to get tight in the ML.

We have the 3rd row in the ML. No safer truck than the ML as you know. Its decent on gas also.

The denali 3rd row is small unless you get the xl. But its a beast.

Best compromise I have seen and am considering is a the brand new Sienna xle Limited with All Wheel Drive. Lots of room for the kids and stuff, very safe, good 0-60 performence, MPG, 5.1 surround system available, 3 great rows of seats, etc. Not high on the cool factor. That would replace the 00' ML, but we are very impressed with the ML as it has held up great after 60k and my wife loves it and the seat. The american trucks are crap in my opinion and not good values. The van is not cool, but it really is what works well for the family. We are active family with kids that play travel sports and we like to ski. good luck!

hoosier.allroad

If I was in your position, I would probably look into (gulp) minivans or car-based SUV such as the XC90 or MDX. My opinion is that the big SUVs such as the Yukon and Expedition are not that space efficient for their size. I feel the allroad is just not big enough for you needs.

ejfiii

and the Denali XL is fine for them. She drives it as her daily driver. It really drives differently than all the other big SUVs out there due to the Air suspension. We have other friends with your exact same situation - a 5 and a 3 year old and they just added twins - guess what they got. Yup, Denali XL. Wife drives it daily. No probs what so ever.

I am not a big suv fan (we just bought an ML for our first in three months - wife wouldn't pull the trigger on an AR) but the XL Denali is the ticket if you need the room and a real thrid row. Plus it can tow your race car (which would be the only other reason to get one).

I really think that after spending some time with both families, there is not going to be another option for you - except for that minivan maybe. no way in hell I would ever have one of those. I would drive a school bus full of kids before buying a minivan.

Good luck and congrats on the additions.

E. J.

PS - i drive an A6, not an AR, but I really, really, really wish I had bought an AR instead of the A6 2.7T.

Milpitas2.7T

Not sure that the allroad with 2 rear facing and 1 front facing seat will work well..

rcc

with both the rear-facing baby carseat and front-facing kid carseat installed (one in center position and one behind driver) there is plenty of room for a 3rd passenger. I haven't tested 3 seats, but suspect you'd have a tight fit, but workable. The back is free for stroller, diaper bags, and a case or two of tylenol.

Why don't you purchase the seats you plan to use early (perhaps looking for a narrower model), and head to your dealer to test them? In your same situation, my question was "do I want a sporty car that functions as a family-traveller for 2-3, kiddos, or will I sacrifice some performance for a more spacious SUV?" You can see the forum in which I ended up...

Bargamon

I should add that the allroad has less room than the ML. I really don't like big suvs at all. Now I am not so self absorbed or hedonistic to not get into to a state of the art family transport vehicle they call mini-vans. The mini van concept is really the mose efficient and some very cool offerings are planned. The SUVs are way overpriced and provide way to much profit margin for what you get. The escalade is a joke for the money. We add relience to Oil rich nations. Now if you tow a boat, trailer, race car than your life style dictates a large vehicle and im ok with that. But to just buy into the rough independent marketing of the suv is a joke.

The land cruiser is an excellent choice, but is very heavy. If you can, wait until the new ML comes out, it will be two sizes.

s.carder

IMHO, you need something bigger, w/ a propper 3rd row.