three seat wagon to haul grandchildren

Discussion in 'The Welcome Wagon' started by chrisbayley, Jul 5, 2010.

  1. chrisbayley

    chrisbayley New Member

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    Some time in the next year I want to buy a 3 seat wagon with rear facing seat in the "way back" for hauling grandchildren who are now in car seat and toddler age. I already have classic wagons from 40s and 50s but want a car with seat belts that the parents will approve! I don't know when full seat belts were standard probably late 50s to early 70s before cars shrank. I have time to be picky so will want original (not rodded) and low mileage.
     
  2. GN300

    GN300 Tipmaster G

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    Buy a minivan it's safer.
     
  3. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    Or at least get a wagon where the third seat faces forward. The third seat is more comfortable, safer (I think), and the kids won't get carsick. We had a rear-facing third seat in our '90 Taurus wagon, and our kids didn't like to sit in it because it made them carsick facing the wrong way. Plus, facing the wrong way is fun for about the first five minutes, and then they wanted to sit somewhere else.
     
  4. The Stickman

    The Stickman Well-Known Member

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    Blasphemy. Where is the burning at the stake icon? I know most 80's fullsize wagons had the rear seat with seat belts/ But I know with the GM B-Bodies the 3rd seat wasn't in all of them. Guess it was an option. And if it didn't come stock you can upgrade to the rear seat but the places for the bvelts aren't there.
     
  5. GN300

    GN300 Tipmaster G

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    I'm pretty sure that you couldn't safely secure a car seat in one of those.

    My inni van has built in baby seats.
     
  6. Fat Tedy

    Fat Tedy Island Red Neck

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    Go find me some thing to beat you with and it better be heavy!

    Safer you say, OK I'll call you out. Lets meet half way, in the praries on the Trans Canada. You drive your Crystler mini van at 100k and I'll drive my Buick at 100k head on into each other......lets see who is safer!
    Would be just like picking bugs out of a radiator, my radiator!:rofl2:
     
  7. Fat Tedy

    Fat Tedy Island Red Neck

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    If you remember your mini van was when new was recalled after how many deaths??, and still makes the news now and then because if rear ended the rear seat with children straped to it breaks free and flys out the back because the gate breaks open. Yup, Just what a family man wants.

    In 99 I could'nt afford a new wagon, and needed a new family car. I bout a GMC Saffari Mini van as a city puddle jumper for my now wife. The reasons above is why I could'nt be bothered with a Crystler.....and the fact they are notorious for breaking down.



    Forgot my manors.....:Welcome: Chris
    70_polara_monaco.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2010
  8. GN300

    GN300 Tipmaster G

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    The issue is not me or you but the grandkids.

    Would you rather have them strapped in a factory designed child seat or bouncing around the back of the station wagon?
     
  9. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    Tedy, he's not saying that a minivan is safer than your '87 Buick wagon, he's saying it's safer than the "late '50s to early '70s" vintage station wagons that chrisbayley, the guy who started this thread, said he was looking for, and he's right. Safety has come a LONG way since the early '70s and before.

    Also, head-on collisions, such as you're talking about, are not the only issue regarding safety. There's side-impacts, rollover protection, vehicle controllability, and more. There's such modern amenities as anti-lock brakes, traction control, and front and side-curtain airbags, to name just a few, that are pretty much standard equipment on cars and minivans nowadays that weren't even dreamed of back in the early '70s and before.

    So, yes, on balance, chrisbayley's grandkids WOULD be safer in a 2010 minivan from any manufacturer than in, say, a 1972 Ford Country Squire station wagon with or without a rear-facing third seat. Is this to say that it is UNSAFE to ride in the Country Squire? Of course not. Everything is relative. The Country Squire is safe. The minivan is safer.
     
  10. GN300

    GN300 Tipmaster G

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    Actually the child seats are in the middle seats i'll bet they were designed for max safety.
     
  11. Fat Tedy

    Fat Tedy Island Red Neck

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    So your only betting they are safe?

    In 99 I was all over the internate consumer reports when trying to decide what mini van to by, sorry GN but I do remember your van was the worst. The best was the Honda mini van, but if I could have afforded that I would have bout a Caprice or Rodie.
     
  12. Blackfoot

    Blackfoot Wagonless Soul

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    AMEN! Lets see a Chrysler minivan product make the 173,000 miles my Roadmaster has and not be rotted out and on its 3rd tranny and 2nd motor. I agree on the head on as well Tedy, Minivan's, pishhhhh. Gotta give it to the guy, he has balls for posting that up on a Wagon forum.
     
  13. Fat Tedy

    Fat Tedy Island Red Neck

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    Hell, I'll even give him the option, you choose GN, the Buick or the Cutlass!

    Do they even have mini van forums and if so........?!:rofl2:


    EDIT>>> Black, OMG they do!?! GN, we found you a place...

    http://www.chryslerminivan.net/

    :lolup:
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2010
  14. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    In 1999, you couldn't have bought a new Caprice wagon as they stopped making them in 1996. If you had bought a '96, you would have bought a car that had experienced 8 safety-related recalls.

    http://www.motortrend.com/cars/1996/chevrolet/caprice/recalls/index.html


    If you had tried to buy a Roadmaster, you would also have been limited to a '96 or earlier, and the '96 Roadmaster experienced two safety-related recalls, one of which dealt with the airbags.

    http://www.motortrend.com/cars/1996/buick/roadmaster/recalls/index.html


    Your '87 Buick wagon experienced 5 safety-related recalls, one of which dealt with a fuel system problem that could have led to a vehicle fire.

    http://www.motortrend.com/cars/1987/buick/lesabre/estate_wagon/657/recalls/index.html


    I'm not saying the 2000 Dodge Caravan didn't have recalls, too, as it certainly did. But it wasn't the only vehicle that did.

    http://www.motortrend.com/cars/2000/dodge/grand_caravan/recalls/index.html



    Let he who is without sin cast the first stone!
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2010
  15. jaunty75

    jaunty75 Middling Member

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    Who cares? Vehicle longevity isn't the issue here.
     

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