I was dead set against captain chairs. Traded X5 for Sienna Limited that had those. It was a good deal. I got good money from a BMW dealership that had a SIenna. I was like: well, I will survive.Those were good years. My first minivan (as a dad) had bench seats. But the second.. man I found one with captains chairs… a Gen iv town and country. Every seat in that thing was great. There seemed something rather “American” about rolling around in a slightly beat up blue chrysler minivan, like a rite of passage. True usable space. And then when they have friends, a couple more need a ride? No problem.
both of mine learned to drive in it, and riding shotgun while they had their permit, it was good for that too. Plenty of visibility, and I wasn’t concern if they dinged It up some.
minivan is also a great platform for stereo upgrades. Mine had a triple gauge pack on the dash with volts, oil pressure and AT temp. Because. And that was awesome. Old skool.
I do not want to look at a family vehicle with a second-row bench seat anymore! When I was going for an SUV, it had to have captain chairs.