Looking at purchasing an Expedition Max fairly soon. We have two kids (3 & 1) with probably another one in the future. Going back and forth on captain seats vs bench for the 2nd...any thoughts?

I have a bench in the max. I generally only have two in the middle row.

WIth kids, the captains chairs are "slightly" easier to use with car seats. If you need to use the 3rd row, you can get over and back there. With a bench, it's a lot harder to use the 3rd row and car seats.

Definitely the captains chairs - makes it much easier for one of them to get back to the 3rd row (don't have to mess with folding one chair forward). We have 3 and we always go captains chairs for the 2nd row in our SUVs.

I've been toying with getting an Expedition Max - have a crew cab Tundra but it's getting tight for 3 growing teenage boys in the back seat. Would really like the new Bronco, but that would make an even tighter back seat for them than the Tundra.

We have an Expedition and 3 kids and chose the bench more for times where we might need the full rear cargo area to haul stuff. We figured normally one kid goes to the back so there are only 2 in the bench, but I at least like the option of being able to fit 3 in a row if I need the cargo room.

My kids are a little older than your though so they can fold the seat forward if needed themselves.

We have captains and 4 kids and enjoy the pass thru.
My kids are 10,8,5,3

3 car seats/boosters would fit across the bench but you would have to remove one to fold the seat down.

By the time your 3rd kid comes along, just teach your oldest to buckle themselves in the back seat.

I would go for the bench seat. Let me explain.

We have a 2017 Expedition EL with the captain's chairs in the 2nd row. It was purchased used so I didn't really have a choice. The wife wanted captain's chairs, I was on the fence but preferred the bench. Yes of course the captain's chairs make it easier to get into the 3rd row. But I have a hard time with only being able to seat four people in such a giant vehicle when on a road trip when we have the 3rd row down for cargo in the back. Say Grandma wants to be the 5th wheel and sit with the grandkids on the 2nd row? No such luck.

In the 2018+ Expedition, the addition of the tilt & slide seats puts me firmly in the 2nd row bench seat camp. 3rd row access is a breeze now and can even be done without removing the car seat. Check out the video below.

I have 3 kids, 6, 11, 13. This is my second expedition EL and I chose captains chairs in both. It would be nice to put them all on a bench sometimes and have the entire back for cargo. Also, that 7th seat would be nice from time to time. However, I highly prefer it to be captains chairs.

Captains chairs are the best. So much space for the kids and cargo.

My vote is Captains Chairs as that is what we got in our 2020. My kids are 15, 13, and 8 so I don't have to worry about car seats. We really enjoy having the pass thru to the 3rd row.

We have had both. When kids were younger it was 2 older kids in back and wife and car seat in buckets with me driving up front alone. Worked good for my wife to get to new born and easy for her to go to back seat if two older ones needed anything. Once kids got older (7, 5, & 3) we switched to 2nd row bench and like it better.

I have a 2019 Max with the captain's chairs. If you need to have the rear seats up for seating and have extra cargo, you can always stack it between the captain's chairs and they will still tilt with access to the third row whenever that need arises. The rest of the time you get the easier access to the rear as well as the more comfortable 2nd row seating.

I have 3 kids and a bench in our Suburban. Yes, its harder to get into the back, but they rarely like to sit in the 3rd row anyway unless we are hauling their friends too (in which case having an extra seat is helpful). More importantly, however, is that we have a lot more cargo space when all 3 kids are in the 2nd row.

ATL Aggie said:

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I have 3 kids and a bench in our Suburban. Yes, its harder to get into the back, but they rarely like to sit in the 3rd row anyway unless we are hauling their friends too (in which case having an extra seat is helpful). More importantly, however, is that we have a lot more cargo space when all 3 kids are in the 2nd row.

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Your kids don't fight in the back seat? Biggest reason I'm looking to change from a Tundra is to give them space from each other.

I have 3 girls. On our second expy (a 2020) with captains chairs. The main reason is to get space between them.

3 girls max with captains, one is a newborn so captains are a must because one of my wife or I is in the third row keeping the newborn from losing her mind

We had 2 kids while owning two Expeditions as they grew up. The Expeditions had the bench seats, but I would have much rather have had the Captains chairs once they were out of the baby car seat. We were always using the third seat and it would have made it so much easier with the pass through. We always had the middle portion of the bench seat folded down anyway.

Think about if you want that extra one seat. If your wife will be carpooling in the next 10 years, you may want the bench so you can get 3 more bodies in the car. If not, then go with captains. We bought a Pilot w/ bench so if we ever need the third row we have one extra seat for someone.

We have a 2017 EL so I'm not sure this would work the same on a 2020.
We got the bench but I removed the middle section to create captains seats. There are 4 bolts to remove and it just takes a few minutes.

We have Weathertech floor mats so the bolt holes are covered up and it looks like factory captains seats but I can always re-install if I want.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1528749-bench-seats-2nd-row-middle-removal.html

We've got an Expy Max with the 2nd row bench. The 3rd row is folded down 90% of the time.

There's a reason minivans have captains in the middle row....

~egon

I don't have kids and have second row captains chairs. Wish I had a bench so my golden doodle could lay down easier.

We just bought a 2020 Expedition Max. Two kids (5 & 3), and talking about ramping up production for a 3rd. We got the captains chairs. It was mostly for aesthetics.

I got second row bench seats when I had three in booster seats. Much easier to get them all buckled in. Now that they're not in booster seats I have second row captains chairs.

We have a 2019 max, and we have the bench seat for second row but removed the middle seat so that they function like captains but with the option to flip back to bench if wanted/needed. We even bought the Rubber floor mats from the dealer that completely cover the metal pieces on the floor so you can't even tell it was a bench. Been a great solution for our family for the year or so we've had the max. FWIW, our four kids are 2, 5, 9, and 10.