2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring: The Stroller Factor

But with the seat back folded down, the seat is now useless. With the child seat strapped in, that only leaves the useless center seat for a passenger in the back.
Why not look at the Hyundai Elantra Touring? The stroller could fit in the back without folding the seats down.

Thinking about people I know who have small kids, here's the trend I see:

Mom has a Highlander, dad has an Audi S4.
Whenever I see them all together, they're in the SUV.

Mom has a 4Runner, dad has a Civic.
Whenever I see them all together, they're in the SUV.

Mom has a CRV, dad has an Accord.
Whenever I see them all together, they're in the SUV.

Mom has an Accord, dad has a Land Cruiser.
Whenever I see them all together, they're in the SUV.

Mom has an Odyssey, dad has a Jag XJ.
Whenever I see them all together, they're in the minivan.

Mom has an MDX, dad has a Mazda6.
Whenever I see them all together, they're in the SUV.

If sedans are better than SUV's for families, why do all the families I know who own both choose the SUV to travel together?

My family:

Mom has a SVT Focus, dad has an S4 Avant.
Whenever we're together, we're in the wagon.

@7driver: I'm thinking that's because the child seat is already installed in the SUV, and they are a pain to keep taking out and switching from car to car.

In most families, if both parents are traveling together, one parent will be sitting next to the newborn in the back.

If the stroller won't fit in the trunk and they're not willing to place it in the front passenger seat, then the Mazda 6 is a bad choice.

Maybe Michael Jordan can point them towards the Honda Insight instead - because in this commercial culture based on marketing, you can hate on the best selling products, ignore inconvenient facts like a lack of usable passenger room and higher drag coefficients - and post some concept pictures and say "practical."

I don't get the premise - what's wrong with the 4Runner??

The S4 isn't exactly spacious either.

A trunk is fine, until you need to shoehorn 10-15 ikea boxes in that trunk.

@texases

I was thinking the same. can't fit a stroller in a 4Runner?

@carguy,

Nope, that's not it. When dad's alone with the kids, they're in dad's car. As soon as mom rejoins, it's back to the SUV for everyone. Plus, some of those parents I mentioned have full sets of car seats in both cars.

My parents are divorced yet my mom still has an SUV:

Mom: 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser / 2008 Honda Accord EX-L 5MT I4 /Navi sedan

She's 52, single, retired, owns a small liquor store and has a small antique shop. She uses the Toyota LC for her businesses. Although she needs an SUV I'm sure she could have found one with much more cargo room for much less money. That thing is built like a tank though!

Dad: 2003 Toyota MR-S / 2007 Lexus GS450h / 2010 Toyota Venza Limited

He's 50, married, a Toyota/Lexus product planner, his wife is a nurse ( I don't like his wife, even though she is my sisters and brothers mother.)

As for us, we have 5 children (2 sets of twins and a single) and bought a minivan! More practical, more usable space, more efficient vs an SUV.

@ 7 series. We generally take my Wife's MDX, because her car already has the kid friendly things that keep them entertained like books on tape and activity books. We sometimes will take my TL on overnight trips that to get better gas mileage. Shorter trips don't justify the hassle of switching all the stuff from car to car.

It also means that my car is generally cleaner and less cluttered when we are out on a kids free night or with another couple

The other justification of the taking the MDX is the third row of seats - you can take one car out to dinner if you are visiting the grandparents or another small family.

Holy crap if the stroller won't fit in the trunk of a 6 or a 4runner, than they need a new stroller. apparently they are using a shopping cart for a stroller...

Just another example of an "expert" telling the public what they should think and buy because we are not as smart as he is. I found the post very offensive. Americans like SUV so what? It is our choice and the elites hate it. We also dont like hatchbacks and wagons wich makes so many in the elite media irritated.

I saw a stroller folded up and bungied on top of an old Century's luggage rack on top of the trunk. Finally, a use for those things!

I guess in a minivan and SUV, you can have the stroller stowed vertically on its edge to save room. Can't do that in a sedan. And the SX4's trunk would be full with one stroller and a Q-tip.

Oh, c'mon bodyblue. He's saying that you don't NEED an SUV. It's still okay for parents to WANT one.

Michael's giving them more choices than they thought they had, by pointing out that a sedan can work for many families. More choice is always good, no?

Who is he to say what I need???? Why does he care what his friend buys? His post really struck me the wrong way.

He must really think Americans are stupid....look at this quote:

"since I think hardly anybody really gets the way rear seats flop and fold these days."

HUH? He is saying "look dummies, the back seats fold down, thus you dont need a car that I dont think you should drive"......

Mr. Jordan, here is a thought for you.......do your friends a favor...let them buy the car they want.

@bodyblue,

Why are you so grumpy? Did you miss Rushbo's afternoon hatefest? Don' t worry, Glenn Beck's show is on now. Time for you 'Real Patriotic Americans®' to go & start frothing at the mouth.

@7driver-

My brother and his wife actually buck that trend. They have a Nissan Pathfinder and Nissan Altima, whenever they travel they take the Altima. It's trunk fits everything they need, its quieter and smoother on the highway, plus my brother prefers driving it. They only have the Pathfinder because my sister-in-law likes sitting up high.

As for me I don't really follow a trend. My wife and I are just as likely to pack our daughter into my car as we are her wagon, just depends on the amount of gas in the tank at the time.

To fit a stroller in the 6, you need to fold the seat down? Most strollers should fit in the trunk of a midsized car without needing to fold the seat down. What's wrong with the 6?

Now that my little guy is nearly four, I'd like to impart a small thought on those new parents or parents to be: It's not the stroller that should concern you, it's the car seat. I see those pics there of the Mazda 6's folded down rear seat and all I see is that the rear seat backs have no angle adjustment and the seat bottoms appear very shallow. I don't think I'd enjoy fitting a massive convertible seat in that, nor would day to day living be much fun.

Pro tip: Take your car seat with you when you go car shopping. If the seat don't fit, you must not commit! And if the lot monkey at the dealership won't let you try it out, keep walking.

I went from a Yukon Denali to a Lexus GS Sedan...I didn't think I would be happy....I had been driving Suburbans/Yukons for around 10 years....before that, I had 5 and 7 series BMW's, in the 80's, what else did you drive? :)

All that said, I couldn't be happier. I had forgotten just how bad my SUV drove compared to a nice SEDAN...it actually handles/stops/accelerates etc....and the milage is much better too...

Wobbly.......ummm, are you ignorant or just intolerant of other peoples opinion? Why are you injecting your own political opinions in a car blog? Why not skip the politics and religion and just talk about cars? I am betting you are both.

Folding rear seatbacks definitely come in handy sometimes. Unless of course you bought a BMW and didn't pay the extra money for that "option". Ridiculous. Imagine spending $90,000 on an M5 and having to pay and extra $475 for folding rear seats?
(just trying to change the subject a little...)

whoa whoa I have a CX-7, and I tell you the CX-7 has HALF the trunk floor space of a Mazda6/Camry midsized Sedan.

The CX-7 has a _chopped_ rear for less overhang, which gives minimal trunk space.
It's not comparable to something like a Rav4 which has a long trunk.

CX-7 is not stroller friendly.
Take it from an owner, a CX-7 has HALF the trunk of a Mazda6.
Try it yourself before you buy.

don't believe the cargo volume numbers of crossovers vs midsized sedans,
The crossover "cargo volume" counts the tall space all the way to the roof, but the floor space may be substantially smaller than the midsized sedan, which, unless you're carrying a fridge or TV, floor space is what determines how much cargo you'll carry.

Unless you have something innovative like the CR-V's cargo shelf, which helps a little.
Still, if you try to fill the trunk up with smaller objects, you'll find the midsized sedans have almost DOUBLE the capacity of some compact crossovers, including the CX-7.

What does the CX-7 have over the Mazda6? Better handling and grabbier brakes. sportier with "excellent" handling, according to Edmunds reviews. Plus ground clearance for pot holey worn out roads cities.

Family friendly, not quite. That's my opinion. The Mazda6 has a much bigger back seat, and much bigger trunk.
The CX-7 is a sports car type of compromise in the compact crossover segment, stylish and more agile than even the midsized sedans, with reduced interior volume. Like a cheapo Infiniti FX.

Hey, I raised two children, both of whom rode (most often) in the back seat of a 1984 Honda Prelude that still owns my heart for its performance on mountain roads. There was plenty of room for them and for the stroller in the trunk.

For whatever reason, Americans have a love affair with very large automobiles that drive like herding sheep. If they want to pay for a gas guzzling behemoth to provide more "room" for themselves and a kid buckled into a seat and maybe even a car seat, then that's their prerogative.

As the family aged, we did need more room for the children's legs, so I moved to the best-handling sedans I could find. I like to drive, and wallowing road boats don't really appeal to me. The Mazda6 is probably my last family sedan before the final kid is off to college. Then, I'm back to small, sporty cars with a bit more zing.

As for the article, I do think there are a number of people who, like me, enjoy driving and would prefer to stick with a sedan that handles well, but somehow think they need the extra room of an SUV or minivan. For those people, I'd highly recommend going small instead of large.