Are the Tesla Model Y’s Third-Row Seats Worth It?
You can make the Tesla Model Y a three-row, seven-passenger electric SUV for $2,000, but is it a good idea?
If you’ve shopped for a three-row SUV, you know bigger is generally better. The smaller the third row, the less useful it is, and larger vehicles usually have more space for that extra row of seats. Our yearlong review midsize 2023 Tesla Model Y is the smallest SUV the company makes, but it’s still offered with a third row if you’re willing to pay. Is it worth it?
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Three Ain’t Free
Adding two more seats in the way back comes with two separate costs. The first is monetary, as it currently adds $2,000 to the price tag (when we purchased our long-term Model Y, it cost $2,500). The second cost is to cargo space. Even when folded flat, the third-row seats raise the height of the cargo floor and reduce the total cargo capacity. A five-seat Model Y offers up to 72.1 cubic feet of cargo space behind the first row with the second row folded and 30.2 cubic feet behind the second-row seats. In our three-row Model Y, space behind the front row drops to 67.9 cubic feet with the second and third rows folded, 26.2 cubic feet behind the second row with the third folded, and just 12.8 cubic feet behind the third row. That’s a loss of 4 cubic feet behind the first and second rows.
Tesla’s owner’s manual also says driving around with the third-row seats folded down will increase interior noise, though we haven’t noticed a difference. The seats don’t block the view out the rear window if you keep the headrests down when not in use, so you might as well leave them up until you need the cargo space.
Three for All
As you might expect, those two seats in the way back aren’t spacious. Whereas second-row passengers get 38.7 inches of headroom, 41.6 inches of legroom, 54.0 inches of shoulder room, and 50.8 inches of hiproom, third-row passengers have to make do with just 34.6 inches of headroom, 26.5 inches of legroom, 41.0 inches of shoulder room, and 36.5 inches of hiproom.
The practical implications of this are starker. Third-row passengers having any legroom at all depends on second-row passengers moving their seats forward. Simple math tells us the more room the third row gets, the less the second row does. Maximum legroom for the third row means more than half of the second row’s legroom is lost.
In practice, this can still work with real people if at least two out of three are below average height. I have short legs, so I keep the driver’s seat closer to the steering wheel than other people of my height—5-foot-9. This gives the second row a little more space to come forward and make room for the third. As a result, my 5-foot-4 mother-in-law can sit behind me in the second row and leave enough room for my 5-foot mother to sit in the third row. Stack the short people correctly, and you can make it work.
That’s not to say the third row is especially comfortable, even for a petite person. There’s no toe space under the second row, so they can’t extend their legs at all. They can’t have a long torso, or that headroom will run out quickly, and they can’t have broad shoulders, or they’re going to get real cozy with each other. The floor, thankfully, isn’t too high so their knees rest at an acceptable angle, at least. There also isn’t any room to really move around and shift their weight once they’re in their seats, so all they can do is sit straight forward. Regardless, it’s best if you keep the trips to an hour or less.
Some Three Advice
Getting to the third row, if nothing else, isn’t terrible. The second-row seats tilt and slide forward a good distance, opening up a decent amount of space to squeeze into the back. The trouble is the low, downward-sloping roofline that forces the third-row passengers to fold themselves in half at the waist to fit through the opening.
The harder part, though, is getting the seat release mechanism to work properly. First, you have to make sure they grab the button on the top of the second-row seat, not the one on the side of the bottom cushion. The one up top gets you third-row access, while the lower one just folds the second-row seat flat for loading cargo. Don’t grab the bar under the second-row seat, either; that’s to slide the whole seat forward and back only.
Once they find the right button, they have to know the trick to it. It’s an electronic release, and you must time all your actions correctly, or it won’t work. Press the button, then wait and listen for the lock to open before pushing or pulling the seat forward. Push or pull too soon, and it won’t unlock. Wait too long after you hear the lock move, and it’ll automatically relock. Getting it right takes practice, and getting it wrong is very frustrating.
Repositioning the seat once the third row is loaded also takes an experienced hand. You need to take care not to let the second-row seat slide all the way back and hit the third-row passengers’ knees, so be ready if you’re parked on a hill. Don’t tilt the seat down until you’re ready, either, because that locks it in place. If you’re good at it, you can slide the seat partway back and then tilt it down to lock all in one motion, but a better move is to tilt it down and lock it, then use the bar under the seat to move it back. Make sure it locks fully, otherwise the car will beep at you constantly as soon as you put it in drive, and it won’t stop until you make the second-row passenger get out and redo it.
Worth It?
Most automakers either make their third row standard or force you to move up to a physically larger vehicle to get a third row, so in that context, $2,000 for a third row feels like a reasonable compromise. We’ve certainly experienced even smaller third rows in this class of vehicle, making them a last-resort option, whereas this one could be used regularly if needed.
We’ve only had to use ours twice now, and it’s been clutch both times; and the more we use it, the more it will amortize the cost. On the other hand, if we planned to use it regularly, it might make sense to move up to a larger vehicle with more space in both the third row and cargo area. The price difference between a Model Y and Model X is prohibitive, so if you’re intent on staying in the Tesla family, it’ll have to do. If you’re open to other brands, the Kia EV9 has a much bigger third row and starts at a similar price to a nicely optioned Model Y.
If you’re just trying to cover all your bases, though, and don’t actually plan to use it, then do yourself a favor and save the $2,000 and enjoy the extra cargo space.
For More on Our Long-Term 2023 Tesla Model Y Long Range:
- We Bought a 2023 Tesla Model Y Long Range for a Yearlong Test
- The Supercharger Difference
- How Far Can You Tow With a Tesla?
- What Changed After The Tesla Autosteer Recall? Not Much.
Were you one of those kids who taught themselves to identify cars at night by their headlights and taillights? I was. I was also one of those kids with a huge box of Hot Wheels and impressive collection of home-made Lego hot rods. I asked my parents for a Power Wheels Porsche 911 for Christmas for years, though the best I got was a pedal-powered tractor. I drove the wheels off it. I used to tell my friends I’d own a “slug bug” one day. When I was 15, my dad told me he would get me a car on the condition that I had to maintain it. He came back with a rough-around-the-edges 1967 Volkswagen Beetle he’d picked up for something like $600. I drove the wheels off that thing, too, even though it was only slightly faster than the tractor. When I got tired of chasing electrical gremlins (none of which were related to my bitchin’ self-installed stereo, thank you very much), I thought I’d move on to something more sensible. I bought a 1986 Pontiac Fiero GT and got my first speeding ticket in that car during the test drive. Not my first-ever ticket, mind you. That came behind the wheel of a Geo Metro hatchback I delivered pizza in during high school. I never planned to have this job. I was actually an aerospace engineering major in college, but calculus and I had a bad breakup. Considering how much better my English grades were than my calculus grades, I decided to stick to my strengths and write instead. When I made the switch, people kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. I told them I’d like to write for a car magazine someday, not expecting it to actually happen. I figured I’d be in newspapers, maybe a magazine if I was lucky. Then this happened, which was slightly awkward because I grew up reading Car & Driver, but convenient since I don’t live in Michigan. Now I just try to make it through the day without adding any more names to the list of people who want to kill me and take my job.
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