5 Best Minivans With Stowable Seats | Number 5 Will Amaze You
5 Best Minivans With Stowable Seats | Number 5 Will Amaze You
Minivans with stowable seats are usually ranked higher than those without the feature because it makes them stand out. Apart from that, this feature gives people ample space in their car, without having to force things into it or attaching a cart behind your car.
The five best minivans with stowable seats are popular vehicles you must have come across already, but since stowable compartments are hidden, you won’t know. We will show you how to find stable compartments if you want to know a minivan that has this feature or not.
Here are the vehicles with stow and go seating —
- Dodge Caravan — this vehicle by Dodge has a standard stow and go seating designed in its third-row seats, and the second-row seats have an optional stow and go seating. However, if your model is before the 2005 Grand Caravan, it won’t have the stow-and-go seating. So if you’re a Dodge fan and need stowable seats, only consider minivans that are 2006 upwards. This is one of the few minivans that offer a very large cargo space. It has a space of 140.3 cubic feet.
- Chrysler Pacifica — two Chryslers offer stowable seats, and this is one of them. Its first row seats are designed with a standard stow and go seating, and on the second-row seats, it offers optional storage. After the Dodge caravan, the Chrysler Pacifica is the other minivan with large cargo space, 140.5 cubic feet. You’ll also find the stow and go feature on the eight-passenger Pacifica.
- Chrysler Voyager — this is the other Chrysler with stowable seats. However, the past models of this vehicle don’t feature this kind of seat. The best model to opt for is the 2020 Voyager LXi because this has extra space in the second and third-row seats.
- Toyota Sienna — this vehicle has a standard stow and go seating for its third-row seats. If you want to enjoy the space to its fullest, you’ll have to remove the second-row seats completely because it will take up space.
- Kia Sedona – this is a bit different in design because it is a slide and stow. This slide and stow feature on Kia Sedona is not like the stow and go. It doesn’t offer space as much as stow-and-go seats.
If you check around, these are the top five vehicles you’ll find with stow-and-go seating. You can research further on their specs before settling for any.
What are The Pros and Cons of Stow and Go Seating?
Just because a vehicle has stow-and-go seating, that doesn’t mean you’ll opt for it without looking at possible issues that can come up. We will show you the pros and cons of vehicles with stow and go seating —
Pros Of Minivans With Stowable Seats
- More space — this is the basic benefit of stow and go seating. It gives you ample space to use for any purpose. Once the seats are stowed, you’ll be able to enjoy more space.
- Automatic seat adjustment.– Minivans with stow-and-go seats have a button designed to move the seats when you press them automatically. If you’re carrying your baby or loads, you won’t have to drop it to lower the seats, just press the button. Once the seats move forward, you will have extra space, and you will easily use the stow-and-go seating.
- level surface for your cargo — Apart from giving you extra space, stow and go seats give you a level surface for your cargo. This is great because your load will not fall on the floor if you go over a bump since the surface is already leveled. This is beneficial if you put bottles or containers of liquids in the stow area, regardless of their shapes. You won’t be worried about the glass bottles breaking.
- It offers different seat configurations — this is great because you’ll most likely have a different number of cargo items or passengers at different times each time you use your vehicle. If you need a little space, putting down one seat will be okay for you.
- Storage space is available with unfolded seats — In some minivans, you’ll still get a little bit of storage even if the seats are up. You can use this to store toys, bags, or any other small-sized object or load of your choice.
- Less work — you can fold stow and go seats easily, so when you need extra space, this saves you from the hassle of having to remove the entire seat each time. Moreover, you’ll be able to get more space without having to remove the seats from the van.
- Suitable for pets — If you have large pets, especially more than two, stow and go seating will come in handy. You won’t have to cram your pets with your kids or other passengers, which will make everything tight and uncomfortable; with a stow-and-go minivan, you’ll give your pets enough room.
Cons Of Minivans With Stowable Seats
- Uncomfortabe — there are complaints by passengers who reported that stow and go seats are not as comfortable as foldable leather seats.
- Slow acceleration —there have been reports by drivers saying that the stow and go feature is making their car’s acceleration a bit slow. It’s hard to say if it was the stowable seats or another issue entirely, but it’s worth mentioning so you can know what to expect.
- limited legroom — passengers in the third-row might find their legs a bit cramped. To avoid cramp legs, it’s preferable if children sit in the third seat, while older children or adults can sit in spacious spaces.
- time consuming — it’s easy to use stow and go seat, but if you use it constantly, it can become tiring because you have to pop it out every time so that it can accommodate your passengers.
How to Fold Stow and Go Seats
This method is mostly for the Chrysler and Dodge minivans. However, you can try it on other brands of minivans with fold-down seats because it’s what most minivans use. We will be showing you how to fold both the middle and rear seats.
Middle seats
Before you start folding the seats, you need to decide how much space you will need. If you need just a little bit of space, folding the middle seat will give you that. However, if you need more space, you’ll have to fold down the rear seat, too (we will show you how to go about it)
Pull the carpet upward, then place it at one side.
If you can, place the carpet outside the car, so it doesn’t obstruct anything. Once you pull up the carpet, you’ll be able to see the cabinet where you’ll put your seats.
Push both headrests downwards.
You’ll most likely find a pull-cord, or it could be a lever that is attached to the headrest for pushing it downwards, so you don’t have to use too much force on the headrests before they bulge. Keep pulling the lever or cord until the headrests are facing downwards fully. This means the headrest will be in its closing position.
Push the seat into a folded position
Now that the headrest is in a closed position, you can easily put the seat in a folded position. You’ll find a lever at the side of the seat; push it so the seat will close up.
Push the cabinet door upward
You’ll see the cabinet floor handle along where the seats are. Push the cabinet handle from the back, then lift it and hold it. You’ll see an empty area; in this place that the seats will be stored. Make sure you keep holding the cabinet door.
Find and pull the knob
Check the bottom of the seats; you’ll see a knob on the floor. It is easy to spot so that an untrained eye will see it in no time too.
After you spot it, you’ll pull it backward. The seats will be released from their locked position; then they will fall frontwards a bit.
Push the back of the seat
Doing this will make it fall fully.
Release the cabinet door.
You can now release the cabinet door handle after the seat has been stowed properly into the basket.
If you need the space of both seats, you will repeat this process with the other seat.
Return the carpets
You’ll put the carpet back in its normal position over the cabinet door, so it’s concealed.
Rear seats
Open the trunk lid
A button is located near the dashboard; you can use it to open the trunk lid or use the key fob. Either one you use will work perfectly.
Clear the trunk
Whatever you have in your trunk, remove it so that you access the section where the seat will stow.
Find cord number 1
At the side of the seat, you’ll find numbered cords. Look for a cord that has the number one “1” on it.
When you find it, you will pull it. After pulling it, the seat will either fold onto the seating portion of the seat, or it will fold the headrest down (depending on the brand and model of the vehicle)
Find cord number 2
When you find it and pull it, it will either allow you to begin stowing the seat, or it will fold the remainder of the folded seat onto the seating position.
Find cord number 3
When you find it and pull it, it will reduce the seats’ speed to fold down flat. You’ll release the cord slowly after.
You’ll pull cord number 3 after dropping cord number 2 asynchronously. Pulling cord number 3 will put the seats in their final resting position.
If you need the space on the other rear seats, you’ll repeat this process.
Note:
You need to know about some other things, mostly as a precaution, so you don’t do things the wrong way or get confused if the stow and go seats don’t set up.
- Car seats are designed with mechanical arms, and if you aren’t careful, you might jam your fingers. So while lowering it, make sure to do it cautiously.
- in the majority of cars, the rear-row seat comprises one single seat and two seats. So in total, there are two seats, but you might find some even calling them three-row seats.
- You will most likely find the cord number on only the rear seats but not on the front seats, so don’t waste your time looking for it, except in the future if the manufacturer wishes to add it.
Can Stow and Go Seats be Removed?
Using stow and go is beneficial for most, especially families that own minivans with this feature. Nevertheless, there will be situations where you won’t need them for a while, and you’ll want to take them out.
If you want to remove these seats and place whatever you want in this space, it’s possible. All it takes is just about half an hour to remove the seats, and the best part is that you can do it yourself. However, to avoid making mistakes, knowing how the vehicle’s interior works will be beneficial.
Stow and go seats are installed in a kind of way that makes sure it works correctly. If you mess up the installation, you won’t be able to put the seats back.
If you go through forums on this topic, you’ll see posts of people sharing their cases of being injured when they attempted to remove their stow-and-go seats. This doesn’t occur all the time, but precautions still have to be taken. This is why removing the stow and go seats must be done with caution.
If you think you can’t remove it yourself, then to be on the safe side, simply take your car to an auto repair shop or the dealership where you got it. The dealership might help you remove it without charging a fee, depending on the policy there.
Conclusion
There are not many minivans with stowable seats. For most buyers, it will be hard to pick the one that will be the best for you and your family, so make sure you check the other features of the car and test drive it. This will make it easier to make a choice based on the minivan’s other specs.
