Hi everyone,
Today I test drove a used 2020 GLS450 and loved it. It had all the features I want (captains chairs among them), drove well and looks beautiful. I’m currently in a 2018 Honda Odyssey and it’s... fine. Very functional but a boring drive and not much to look at. I have three kids (6, 4 & 1.5). I obviously realize that moving from a van to any suv means loss of cargo space, sliding doors and some functionality (the Odyssey’s second row captains chairs slide laterally for more space into the third row), but do any of you have three young kids (all in car seats/boosters) in the GLS and does it work for you? This would be a purely selfish move, besides the fact that we need a car with a higher towing capacity than our van and Jeep. I spend my entire day driving to schools, waiting in car lines, and waiting at practices and I want to love my car again. Thank you everyone!

 

I am sure you will love the 450. My only thought is do you really want captain's chairs with three little kids. If you got a GLS with a bench rear seat, you wouldn't ever have to crawl into the third row to check car seat buckling issues.

Obviously your call and maybe your kids are pretty independent, but I can recall frequent car seat buckling issue requiring my assistance and if I could avoid climbing into the third row, that would be a plus.

Whatever you decide, you'll be super comfy sitting in those car pool lines with a GLS!

 

I actually just finished this exact same analysis, although with a Chrysler Pacifica. My kids are slightly older, at 8, 6 and 3. We bought a 2017 Pacifica just before our littlest was born and dutifully destroyed it for the last 4 years. If I'm being honest, it was the perfect vehicle for us. Now that we have graduated beyond the baby phase, I tried to talk my wife into ANYTHING else, although the GLS was at the top of my list. In addition, we drove the new Escalade, Navigator, Aviator, and X7. Prior to the Pacifica, my wife had an Audi Q7, so we are very familiar with that vehicle as well. In the end, we wound up buying... a 2021 Pacifica in Pinnacle trim! At this period of our life, except for the "cool" factor, everything else felt like a downgrade compared to the Pacifica. We love the sliding doors, space, ride height, technology and safety. If I'm being honest, the face-lifted Pacifica even looks half decent. Mostly, we love the fact that we honestly don't care if the kids make a mess of the car. That is the biggest factor. It is just so easy to live with. The kids don't care if the car costs $120K or $45K, but I sure do! They're going to destroy it either way. My advice would be to double-down on minivan life for another few years (if you can make it!), and then buy something nice when the time is right and you can legitimately enjoy it without constantly worrying about the kids destroying it. I read an interesting article on Jalopnik the other day that made the point that mini-vans consistently do everything better than SUV's, except look cool. After owning both, I wholeheartedly agree! Just embrace this temporary stage of life, do the right thing, and stick with the van. My two cents!

 

I have three kids (14, 19, and 22).

When they were as young as your kids, we owned two Mercedes Wagons and all three were buckled in the second row on to their child carriers or booster seats. Given they were still small, the bench second row was perfect - and that is what I would suggest you get. As someone said here, it would be a challenge for you crawling all the way to the third row to buckle / unbuckle a child.
Now that they are bigger (and cannot stand seating beside each other), we got captain's chairs, which they love.

 

Same boat here except I'm looking for a GLS63. Agree with what everyone above says, bench in the middle row will be better. I had my oldest in the 3rd row of my Yukon and it's a PITA getting back there the occasional time her jacket is too big and she can't buckle in.