[coopermine]

Does anyone know whether the 2nd row split bench seat slides like the captain chairs?

 

[mitchl]

Yes it does. It is a 60/40 bench with the left and middle sliding separately from the right side.

 

[coopermine]

Awesome, I am strongly considering this vehicle just for its smart slide feature (there are other good reasons of course!). So bench is better choice, cause not only you can haul more people but it will also come out $450 cheaper.

 

[admin]

In fact, according to my dealer (so take this with a grain of salt), both the captains chairs and the bench share the exact same rail mounts. This means, in theory, the seats are interchangeable. The dealer we were working with had the exact Acadia we wanted on the lot expect for the middle row seats (it had bench, we needed capts). He first said they could swap them out for us, but when he checked, the only other 2 Acadias they had were different interior colors, so no go. Still, it's an interesting possibility that may someday help someone get exactly what they need without having to order.

 

[mitchl]

LATCH on Second Row Bench

First- to the person considering it for the smart slide feature alone-- this is HUGE!! I was looking at the Equinox when I stumbled on the Acadia and saw the sliding rear bench in it as well. We were shopping for a car with more room to get my girl in and out of her carseat as well as the added plus (if possible) of relieving by back of being pushed on by a 2 year old. As it turned out, the Equinox had the seat room too (it slides), but my wife felt it was too much of a step down from her current vehicle. Minivans gave more room and it was easier to get the kid in, but many of them still would allow for little legs to push on the back of dada's chair. Enter the Acadia- it leaves her legs dangling, it is completely comfortable for me (a big 6' guy) in the back seat.

Now my question (mine is on order with bench)-- I see from the user guide that there is a top tether in the middle position of the back seat. For the two lower anchors on the kid seat (forward facing toddler), if I put it in the middle, will both sides be able to be anchored on the 60% portion of the bench? I am wondering if putting a seat in the middle will still allow for the passenger 2nd row position to be slid up to allow access to the third row. The user manual indicates only the two side seats have the two lower anchors-- and if it was a fixed bench, this would be fine as the center could use just those anchors-- but the graphic does not indicate if there is an anchor near the split which stays with the 60% portion.

Thanks!

 

[admin]

I'm pretty sure I understand your question, but I'm going to have to guess, since I've sat in a bench Acadia, but don't own one. It would make sense to me that both anchors on the 40% portion would have to be located on that seat or the other side couldn't be moved when a childseat was in use. Which mean if you were to try to put a childseat in the middle position of the 2nd row, you'd have to use the seatbelt instead of the LATCH system. I would say, however, that most carseats are wide enough that it would block the smart-slide function of the 40% portion if you did that though. Outside seats in the middle row, middle seat of the back row for carseats only...

 

[badkarma]

All of you are having the same discussion my wife and I had about car seats in the 2nd row bench. From what we saw at the dealership, you would have to put the carseats on the outsides of the bench leaving the middle open, which in turn would nullify the smartslide seats, unless you removed a carseat. This is why we bought the one with the capt's chairs, because if you have to get to the third row and don't want to remove the car seats you can still squeeze through. The best scenario my wife and I came up with was the older kids car seat in the third row, and the younger one in the passanger side capt chair.

 

[admin]

badkarma - that's EXACTLY the reason we bought an Acadia. It's why the Capts chairs are so perfect for our needs.

 

[NY_Joe]

I only have one carseat and it will mos tlikely stay like that.

I plan on keeping it behind the passenger seat when we turn it around in 2 weeks for my son. This will still allow me to have on side to slide open without losing an extra seat for other passengers.

Although it says 8 the bench in back will really only fit 2 adults making it 7.

Capt chairs make it 6 which isnt worth it to me.

I read somewhere that forward facing should never be put in the middle of the back seat. Could be wrong.

 

[coopermine]

Since I haven't checked out the cqr at a dealership yet you guys are my best source of information. I need to put one infact rear facing seat and one booster seat in Acadia. What I got out this discussion so far is, either I use captains chair and install the booster in the third row so it is easy to slide one of the captains chair or in case of bench I could do the same, keep one child in 2nd and the other in 3rd row.

I wonder if I can install both seats on the 60 split of the bench and leave 40 available for slide feature for guests to go back in the 3rd row.

What does the manual say about a booter seat in the middle seat of 2nd row? All I need is a shoulder seatbelt to get it installed.

 

[admin]

Two infant or toddler carseats would definitely not fit on the 60% bench (not to mention no LATCH system in the middle bench seat. But depending on how narrow the booster seat is, that may actually work. If you could measure your booster seat width, maybe someone with the bench here could measure and see what kind of space you'd have available. The only thing that would stop you is the width of the carseat next to it and if it overhangs so much that the 40% seat can't slide.

 

[badkarma]

As big as childs seats are, more than likely you will have to put one in the middle position of the third row.

 

[mitchl]

In fact, according to my dealer (so take this with a grain of salt), both the captains chairs and the bench share the exact same rail mounts. This means, in theory, the seats are interchangeable. The dealer we were working with had the exact Acadia we wanted on the lot expect for the middle row seats (it had bench, we needed capts). He first said they could swap them out for us, but when he checked, the only other 2 Acadias they had were different interior colors, so no go. Still, it's an interesting possibility that may someday help someone get exactly what they need without having to order.

I was thinking this would be logical, but I did go out toa dealer today to specicially check the 2nd row bench. Granted it was an Outlook, but I am pretty sure that is the same. The rails do have different placement for the 2nd row bench. For the 60% bench, one rail is similar placement to the captain on the left side, but the other rail is under the middle section, clearly to the right of where the captain's chairs would be.

Now under the floormats, it may very well be easily changable, and I would guess that the unibody is the same, so it is a matter of reconfiguration, but it could be welded in place, and even if it is not, the dealer reconfiguring it might not get all those bolts as tight as the factory did. I would recommend if you want bench, to get it ordered or transported to you-- don't go with the dealer doing some reconfig. (I actually had a dealer suggest going with the base model if it had the options we wanted and then get the seats done in leather by a local shop to save money. No thanks! Besides we wanted MemorySeats even more than leather, and you have to go SLT2 for that)

On my question above about the lower LATCH anchors being there for the middle of the 2nd row bench,, they are nowhere to be found. If you want to put a kid seat in the middle (and it would be tight), you are going to have to use the seatbelt, oh well, my little girl won't have a center seat for the Wiggles after all.

 

[underdog]

We don't have any kids (yet), but we go places with friends. We have a bench seat and there's a great feature that I haven't seen anyone mention yet.

If you have between 1 and 3 passengers with you (besides the driver and passenger in the front), you can fold the middle bench flat and put the passengers in the rear seat. This allows the people in the rear to completely stretch out their legs and rest them on the top of the folded down 2nd row seats! This is a great position for watching DVD movies from the back! Talk about leg-room.... ;D