Folded seats aren't laying flat?

[mijab]

Hi all. I've been thinking about getting a TC for a while now but have been unable to decide between a van and wagon.  I recently came across a used 2016 Titanium with an excellent price so I "think" that may be the one. I will use the vehicle for my business and need to be able to fit a couple large ice chests in there at times which is why I was thinking of the van.  I also need something easier for my dog to get in and out of as she's getting too old to climb the ramp into my Xterra...yes, I am choosing a vehicle for my dog ;-).   The van suits these two purposes perfectly, however, since it will also serve as my personal vehicle, having the extra seating in the Wagon is nice.  My concern is I went to look at the Titanium yesterday and folded all the seats down and pulled the rear row cover flap over the bucket seats, it doesn't lay perfectly flat.  There's a slight incline over the middle row seats, from what I had been reading I was expecting a perfectly flat surface when the seats were down.  Is there a 'trick' to get it lay perfectly flat? if not, will putting in a cargo mat over the folded seats help?  And do you think the folded seats could handle 150-250 pounds on top of it?

My other thought was just to remove the rear seats and get a mat to cover the area behind the 2nd row.  Does any one know the width of the cargo area behind the second row? Wondering if 42" coolers would fit width-wise.

[G B L]

The third row folds flat and the second row seat folds and moves forward and will be flat.  The space between the wheel house is 47+ inches.

Edited August 3, 2016 by G B L

[DonShockley]

I have a 2015 Wagon and it was possible to ge an almost perfectly flat floor with the seats folded properly. Sometimes the seat latch doesn't quite hit cross bar to lock in the folded position and that could cause the seat to stick up slightly. But lifting it back up and pushing slightly forward or back as you push it back down will get the latch to hit and lock.

 And 250# should be no problem in most instances. The only real weak spot was the "flip over" section that spans the gap between the second and third row seats when folded. Too much of a point load in this area could damage the relatively unsupported panel. The rest of the panels are fastened to the seat frames and seem much stronger. Although in the end I ended up removing the seats entirely, I do think the TC has one of best implementations of a flat cargo area for a vehicle that still has rear seating. The operating sequence could use some simplifying but is still very quick to switch between passengers and cargo. And if you ever need to remove the seats entirely, it's just undo 4 bolts per seat base and lift out. I did it in under an hour and most of that time was spent trying to manhandle the second row out by myself. With a second set of hands, easily under 30 minutes.

[mijab]

Thanks all!  I will try folding the seats down again, sounds like I may not have folded them properly.  After thinking about it some more, I think I will just remove the third row, with 47" between the wheelhouse that should be sufficient space for the coolers most of the time.  Plus the extra height from folded seats isn't going to be an easy in/out for the pooch. ;-) 

Don - when you removed the seats, do you cover the floor with a cargo mat?

[DonShockley]

3 hours ago, mijab said:

......Don - when you removed the seats, do you cover the floor with a cargo mat?

I installed a plywood deck and rubber matting with storage bins where the second row folds down. Here's the thread where i detailed the process, complete with photos and a pattern for cutting the plywood to fit.