The headroom sucks in these crossovers as they try to keep up w fuel mandates.
As a tall dude you gotta appreciate that.
Completely. When we looked at the RX, we also looked at the NX. Because that vehicle isn't the family hauler, my wife could have gotten by with the smaller NX. But I couldn't fit in it. Frankly, to me the driver's seat position in the RX is still a bit cramped.
As I've mentioned, I'm actually a fan of minivans. When I was still married to my ex, we had an Odyssey, largely because I pushed her away from the SUV. It is a superb vehicle.
After getting divorced, I still had my Jeep Wrangler (2 door), which could only carry 4 people. And I met my now wife, who drove a BMW 3-series sedan, which technically holds 5 [but not really]. I knew I needed a family hauler, something big enough for two adults, 3 kids, a dog [or two, although we don't have the dog yet], comfortably, on a road trip. And I knew that given my stature, my two boys are going to grow tall, and the idea was to have that vehicle until at least one of them went to college. So I knew I needed a truly functional 3rd row seat, not one that was put in as an afterthought to claim 7-passenger seating.
I was considering minivans. But only having the kids 40% of the time, I wanted something a little more suited to me than a minivan. But most crossovers were trash. None of them actually had a functional third row seat that anyone older than 10 could crawl into much less sit in. And with the rooflines, they all felt cramped. The 3-row versions basically gave up on cargo room to have three seats. By trying to look like an SUV [and in the service of fuel economy goals] they ended up with poor utility anyway.
I ended up with the ultimate "uncool dad who thinks he's still cool" car: the Ford Flex. It's basically the car equivalent of white New Balance sneakers and cargo shorts. And I love the thing. It's like driving a La-Z-Boy down the road. And because it's slab-sided without the aggressively sloped A/B/C pillars, inside it doesn't feel like it's encroaching on my head and shoulders while I'm driving. The rear seats are incredibly roomy and comfortable, and the third row is actually functional for normal-sized human beings, which obviously excludes me. And because it's essentially shaped like a squat van, the cargo area in the back is massive.
It's not
quite as a spacious as a minivan, but it's more comfortable for me as a daily driver.
So I avoided the minivan, by getting a large station wagon.
