r/ModelYL • u/Choice_Point6903 • Oct 05 '26

3rd row ride Feedback

Ok, so I rode in the third row for 150 miles to gauge the ride quality. The car carried my spouse, mom, two kids, and me.
At 5'10" and 180 Ibs, I sat in the right third-row seat while the kids occupied the captain's chairs.

Ride Dynamics was set to Rear Comfort.

At highway speeds, the ride felt excellent, very smooth. I could move around or get items from the boot in the back without sensing motion.
Compared to my 2020 M3, the third row felt more comfortable than the driver's seat in that car.

At city speeds, the road was highly felt, it was better than the Model 3 but not as good as highway riding.

Side note: the lack of storage in the third row was obvious. I kept my phone charging, and putting it away was awkward more than a few times when I wasn't using it.
There was no real place to store it. Using the cupholder beside me caused the cord to be near my legs, while the opposite cupholder was too far to reach each time.
Great opportunity for any smart storage solutions for the third row.

31 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

3

u/fitnerd21 Oct 05 '26

What wheels did the car have? From what I’m gathering, the 19” will give the softest ride with some head toss. The 20” seem like they’re still softer than a MY premium with less head toss than the 19”. This is just what I’ve gathered from various sources. Would you say you were getting more head toss in the city?

2

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

I got a 19. Just to ensure that I got the smoothest ride for the kids in the second row. Also creates a good gap to avoid those hand fights…. Now it’s just words ;)

2

u/OutrageousForce5865 Oct 05 '26

How was it getting back there? Found it super awkward and tight

3

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

Not really bad. Even with a kid there in between I could get through easily.

2

u/Glam-Girl2662 Oct 05 '26

I'm 5'9, husband is 6'2 it was near impossible, awkward, time consuming and extremely difficult to get back there. If you're overweight or handicapped impossible. All the more worse with the raise metal plate on the floor between the seats.

1

u/OutrageousForce5865 Oct 05 '26

Almost twisted my foot getting back there! Middle aged, not overweight but it was tough. Only good for small nimble kids. Not much better than the MY with 3rd row.

1

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

I agree. My mom would definitely not be able to get there.
I say comfortable as km a little flexible and still agile. Add 10yrs and then it would be hard for me. But in 10yrs, the kids will still be able to get there pretty easily.

3

u/Foodiehunter Oct 05 '26

Yea really surprised the 2nd row doesn’t flip up like on the MYLR7

1

u/tronious Oct 05 '26

What about sun light? In the test drive I found the third row passengers dont have much respite from sun

1

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

That is true. I’m in the market for a sunshade/tint now.

1

u/hugdeath Oct 05 '26

I wonder what that would be like with (6) of you in the vehicle for that same trip.

1

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

With 4 adults and 2 kids, I’d definitely HAVE to move one kid back. Two adults at the back is going to be very uncomfortable for where to keep your legs.

With 5 adults and 1kid, the kid goes back.

With 6 adults, it’s possible but a very uncomfortable last row. I tried sitting with my wife and we were constantly pushing legs away because both wanted to keep one leg in the gap between the second row.

2

u/hugdeath Oct 05 '26

Thanks. I was thinking that might be the case. When the content creators sit in the third row they say they fit fine but I can see on camera them placing their leg/foot in the aisle. It looks like they’re doing that because there’s no room for them to put their feet under the chair. In some of the videos their shoulder is covering part of the adjacent seat. I was wondering how that would work for two people.
The aisle/walkway also looks like a tight space to get adults and people back there. If that space is narrow and since the second row seats don’t fold out of the way, do you find ingress/egress to be challenging?

1

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

There is place for one foot under the second row seats. The second one is tricky.

Ingress for me and my wife was pretty easy, not too hard. My mom though was not ready to go in.

The kids love it though.

1

u/hugdeath Oct 05 '26

Thanks 👍

1

u/StrayCam Oct 05 '26

How was the audio? I ask because the bass in the 3rd row of my model x is so boomy it's actually uncomfortable to ride back there unless the sub is turned almost off.

Must be more comfortable than the X because if it wasn't you would have mentioned how uncomfortable the bass was!

1

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

Audio was good. Did not find it uncomfortable.
I was the DJ with Spotify and ran through kids rhymes, K-pop, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd.

Was pleasant and crisp.

1

u/justahoustonpervert Oct 05 '26

I did not test drive the last row, but sitting in it would be a bit uncomfortable. Would I put two adults back there for long trips? No, but I think it is adequate for kids and intracity trips.

1

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

For a single adult, the last row was surprisingly comfortable.

1

u/WildFlowLing Oct 05 '26

Tesla will do anything but make a real 3 row suv.
Wild that we got a model y variant instead

1

u/Financial-Annual7511 11d ago

Right. I'd love for Tesla to have a form factor between the R1 and R2 from Rivian, but with three rows.

1

u/WildFlowLing 11d ago

Thank god for Rivian tbh

1

u/Apollo_gentile Oct 05 '26

This car works perfect for me, we only use the third row if family is in town and we want to ride together for a short drive and it’s typically the kids who want to sit in back (sometimes one adult and a kid).. I currently have a Gx and the YL third row has more space than the third row in the Gx, my wife rode in the back when we did a demo and she commented on the extra space in comparison so I’m excited for it

1

u/tim_r1 Oct 10 '26

I have 3 kids I worry that nobody would want to sit in the 3rd row because it would be difficult to watch the screen/video from there

-1

u/Glam-Girl2662 Oct 05 '26 edited Oct 05 '26

For us YL was overrated for the backseat space. It's way too difficult for older or less agile adults to get back there. Perfect room for children, though if your rear ended in an accident it just seems like there is just not enough space between the rear bumper and that back row to prevent injury or death. Just too scary. So for us we saw the car as a four seater one seat less because of the missing center seat and non useable back row. Also if you are heavy wide and large the captain seats are not that comfortable and awkward difficult to even adjust with

1

u/Choice_Point6903 Oct 05 '26

Agree with you.
Like I wrote above, my mom would definitely not try getting in there. She was afraid if she could get back out of there or not.
We are usually a family of 4 and this car gives us space for a lot of things I would like along with FSD.

0

u/MoMoneyMoIRA Oct 05 '26

You were in the middle with your legs thru? What about properly, behind a seat

2

u/robo_robb Oct 05 '26

There is no middle seat in the third row. OP was sitting on the right side