twoesfour

I know that rear facing seat has been debated several times in this forum. Some like it, who actually have kids, and some don't.

I'm thinking of trading in my 99 A6 with allroad and rear facing seat is a must. Basically, I need a car/suv with a third row seat (I have 3 and 4 years old kids). If I want to stay with audi brand then the only option is allroad (or S6 Avant..too expensive for the wife). Otherwise I will jump over to suv's ( I don't really like suv's).

I called my dealer this morning and was told that the rear facing will be gone on '03s...safety issue. So, I told him to look for '02 Alpaka with rear facing seat. This happened just right before a few post down below about '03 update.

Now, I'm confused....should I get allroad or get other suv's.

sal_ll

Few years ago, I saw a large Caddy's rear get crushed when a brink's armored car ran into it.

Audi4Rob

This is the first time I've heard that the 3rd seat will not be offered for 2003. I'm also thinking of a 2003 allroad and I need the 3rd seat also. That would be a bummer if that's really true.

I've had a 99 A6 Avant for almost 4 years with the 3rd seat and it works out great ferrying the little ones around. I only transport the kids back there around town and have never put them back there on the freeways.

I understand there are varying positions on the safety issue of putting kids in the rear facing seat. I'd like to think that manufacturers such as Audi, Volvo & Mercedes, with their reputations for building quality and safe vehicles, that have been building wagons with the 3rd seat as an option have done the testing to ensure a level of safety for the occupants of the 3rd seat. I'm not a engineer and haven't seen any crash test data on this, so this is merely my opinion.

I'll check in with Audi USA to see what they have to say. Good luck

Rob

UrQ

Had a '96 Avant with 3rd row seat and that was great as it was a fwd only so seat was always in car and much lower and gave real headroom and was constructed much better.

Car was hit and was a total loss, 2 kids were in rear seat and were just fine, well protected (car was hit fron the drivers side front.

Had a 3rd row seat in our '99 Avant and after a week gave it back to Audi for our money back, it was useless

twoesfour

I'll go to dealer to get '02 allroad tomorrow :-)...

RMcQ

It is a well engineered piece and it greatly enhanced utility of the car for me as a parent of two. The 3rd seat is not used daily for my kids, but when we go somewhere with another couple or have and little visitors then we don't have to automatically use two cars.

I have to think that someone, somewhere at Audi must have considered that the 3rd seat needs to be built for safety and that a crumple zone was not engineered into this occupant space. Of course anywhere in the car can be crumpled given the right collision, but my understanding is that the term crumple zone is an engineered energy dispersion area. Audi would not engineer a crumple zone where kids ride.

The rear seat is clearly the safest bet, but on an exception basis the 3rd seat has been a great enhancement to this vehicle.

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/2021/mb_3rd_seat.jpg">

twoesfour

Thanks.

Arnzo

cleaning spit-up from the rear window?

kahuna

I've got one and it's great when you have more adults to haul around (I've got two kids). A little heavy and cumbersome to carry and install but worth it.

dgo6spd

We use ours only occassionally when we have extra people to carry. But with 2 young kids (and bulky car seats), it is essential to carry more than 3 adults or even 1 extra kid. Safety? Well, that's a concern no matter where your kid is sitting - totally dependent on where and what speed an impact takes place. 3rd row doesn't seem any more exposed than the outboard 2nd row would be in a side-on collision. We waited an extra 3 months (dealer screw-up) to get an '02 with the 3rd seat, and we're happy we did.

Jeff