2019 Subaru Ascent Mid-sized SUV - True 3-row vehicle

My kids are almost 8 and 5. The little guy is still in a high back booster. The middle seat is extremely tight by anyone older than 10 in my 11 Outback. If I sat back there I couldn’t put my arms down.

My Forester is definitely bigger back there but still not exactly third row roomy.

My wife previously drove the Legacy. The only reason we traded it was because of the car seat fiasco in our Outback so we wanted something bigger for vacations.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and to be perfectly honest there are things that I’m not pleased with with the new Forester but it is still night and day better than my Outback. I love the Foz.

I wish i had done more education and research on the Honda stuff, like the Timing Belt and VCM and DI. I also foolishly rushed into a first model year which seems to have quirks. And Honda sensing and CarPlay.

Oh well. When it bothers the Mrs I will be happy to be rid of it. Maybe she will take my Foz and I’ll get an Ascent. Or even an EV Ascent at that point

Probably depends on state, but I think most states prohibit the use of boosters until age 8 or some certain weight. If that's the case, it would still be tough for about 2+ years until one of them can be in the booster.

Law, federal I believe, requires use of a booster at least until 8 or until certain height and weight factors have been met. My daughter outgrew her safety harness long before she outgrew the car seat/booster itself. She is 5 and in either a high back booster or convertible diono radian car seat. My son is almost two and just got turned to forward facing, but he is bigger than she was at his age. It is really tough to leave them rear facing the way the seats are designed and given how little room there is in the second row of even our minivan. My wife really wants the Ascent now, but we need a few things to line up for us, mostly to get the balance on her Odyssey down to where we aren't taking a huge hit with negative equity. I do think we will be making the switch this summer though.

I really am considering a lease for a couple years, but that would mean keeping the miles down which hasn't been easy for my wife, but we could probably make do if we had to. I just don't want to start second guessing 2 years into a 5 year loan again.

If you’re leasing with the intent to purchase at the end, the miles are irrelevant.

You could also buy the lease with high miles at the end and then guaranteed trade in value it towards a new lease and then pay off the loan with a check from the dealer.

I have a coworker that drives around 30k per year and does just that. Depending on the miles you will take a hit for the GTP value though.

If you’re leasing with the intent to purchase at the end, the miles are irrelevant.

 

You could also buy the lease with high miles at the end and then guaranteed trade in value it towards a new lease and then pay off the loan with a check from the dealer.

 

I have a coworker that drives around 30k per year and does just that. Depending on the miles you will take a hit for the GTP value though.

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Law, federal I believe, requires use of a booster at least until 8 or until certain height and weight factors have been met. My daughter outgrew her safety harness long before she outgrew the car seat/booster itself. She is 5 and in either a high back booster or convertible diono radian car seat. My son is almost two and just got turned to forward facing, but he is bigger than she was at his age. It is really tough to leave them rear facing the way the seats are designed and given how little room there is in the second row of even our minivan. My wife really wants the Ascent now, but we need a few things to line up for us, mostly to get the balance on her Odyssey down to where we aren't taking a huge hit with negative equity. I do think we will be making the switch this summer though.

 

I really am considering a lease for a couple years, but that would mean keeping the miles down which hasn't been easy for my wife, but we could probably make do if we had to. I just don't want to start second guessing 2 years into a 5 year loan again.

Here they now recommend backwards-facing up to 4 or 5 years...

I wonder how I survived...

Here they now recommend backwards-facing up to 4 or 5 years...

 

 

I wonder how I survived...

The recommendation here is for as long as possible, unfortunately it is easier said than done. When we bought our Diono radian it was mostly because of its high weight rating for the child harness, up to 90Lbs IIRC unfortunately having a 3 year old even sit backwards at such awkward angles just wasn't feasible. Then my oldest outgrew the harness's bottom buckle so we moved her to a seatbelted booster position.

Here they now recommend backwards-facing up to 4 or 5 years...

 

 

I wonder how I survived...

That's ridiculous. My 5yo knees would be in his chest. He's not a particularly tall kid either.

When I was a kid my mother let my siblings and me stand up in the front seat. When braking, she would just stick out her arm to hold us.

Usually that was just around town, so speeds were lower. On the highway, we were in the back seat.

When I grew up in the islands, we were used to ride in the bed of our little Peugeot 504 pick up every single day . I loved it!!

That's ridiculous. My 5yo knees would be in his chest. He's not a particularly tall kid either.

A bit dramatic, lol. The Diono radian and other extended rear facing seats have very low side so kids can sit cross legged or hang their legs over the sides, you can also recline the rear seats in an SUV or van to give a little extra room.

I have found though comfort isn't as big a deal as keeping the kid happy enough to sit willingly in the seat. Ultimately the safest position after a certain age is the one the kid will willingly use. It won't be safe to have them unbuckling themselves during a drive, hence our kids are both forward facing now, not our preference, but it is what is comfortable physically, and emotionally, for them.

My daughter never complained about sitting rear facing, she simply outgrew the harness which made the switch necessary to FF. My son on the other hand refused to sit rear facing any longer.

Anyone having the issue of radio presets being wiped out every 3-5 starts?

2019 Limited.

Anyone having the issue of radio presets being wiped out every 3-5 starts?

 

2019 Limited.

Seems like a common issue based on Ascent forums. There seems to be an update that fixes it now.

Not a fan of the styling at all, just feels like Kia is overcompensating. Hyundai version is no better. But I'm a big fan of the Ascent styling, though it's a tie between the 2019 Highlander and the Ascent for me from the front, both are meh from the back.

Speaking of Highlander styling, I had high hopes for 2020 Highlander, but it looks like a minivan version of 2014 Highlander. It's ugly and still tiny, thus I think we'll be sticking to Ascent.

Telluride stying is semi-reminiscent of a landrover, but not in a way that makes me want to own one. If it holds true to KIA branding, wait a year or two and buy it used for a huge discount.

Agreed, they seem to depreciate really badly. I wonder if it's because Kia's are truly unreliable or people's perceptions are just hard to change.