Cars that don't fit car seats well.

[Hula1974]

Recently I've heard a lot of talk about people who have a hard time fitting their car seats in their cars. Sometimes it only impacts rear facing, sometimes both.

In some cases, though it fits, you have to "rig" it.
In some cases, the passenger seat has to be so far up no one could sit there.

If you have had a bad experience or know someone who has - please let us know what kind of car or SUV it was.

TIA!

[ManteoChik]

No kids for me, but my best friend flew to see me with her daughter who was then 4 months old. I drive a Chevy Malibu (2003) and it was a bear having her in there. I've always thought my car had plenty of room...until I put a car seat in there. The front passenger seat had to be up as far as it would go, and the seat incline had to be pretty much straight up to fit the car seat behind it. My best friend had a Malibu for the first two months and now she has a Trailblazer. After having her Trailblazer she said she doesn't know how she made it with the Malibu. The normally spacious trunk was completely taken over by the stoller....you could hardly fit anything else in there.

I like my Malibu, but it's not exactly baby friendly. I tote my little sister and her friends around (they are 6) and it's just fine.

[linda_loo]

My dh's Saturn SL1 (I think that's what it is, it's like a '95) was hard to fit the Evenflo Triumph, we certainly couldn't put it in the middle, which is the safest position.

I'm not sure if this will directly answer your question, but if you have a car in mind, you can look it up in the Car Seat Compatibility Database (http://www.carseatdata.org/database.html)and see how various seats fit.

[BooeyJ2]

REAR facing only - Audi A4. The seat pretty much has the all the way up (a.k.a knees in the dashboard) and it doesn't help to put the carseat in the middle because the driver and passenger seats are pretty close together and the carseat would touch BOTH seats.

The carseat thing won't be an issue when she's forward facing though.

FWIW, infant car seats and car seats rear facing take up a lot of room period. My sister and BIL have a 7 series BMW and a Ford Expedition and have no problems at all though, both of those cars have LOTS of leg room.

[usafwife]

My SIL has a Chevy Malibu and they have no trouble fitting my nephew's car seat in there (he's 3).

[lorbo]

rear facing was a problem with both of our cars when we had DD-i had a Saturn SC1 and DH has an Acura Integra-98 and 97. we sold the saturn(i'm still whining about that-that car had wonderful gas mileage:( so we have a honda accord and both car seats fit pretty well!

[Brady]

Ditto the Saturn. I had a '96 Saturn SL1, and like Linda.. the passenger seat practically had to be in the dashboard to get the base and seat to fit. My husband is 6'2" and I am 5'9", so needless to say.. it was a nightmare driving in it. We had better luck with the infant seat in my husband's Altima.

I sold the Saturn before we had to put the convertible seat in, but with the Graco Snugride, it was practically impossible on an older model Saturn to fit in the passenger seat if you were over 5". :rolleyes:

I think I am now probably one of the few people under 60 years old driving a Buick LeSabre (it was a gift from my MIL);) , but heck- it fits the convertible seat great! Tons of legroom! I heart the LeSabre.:D

[kindermom]

Saturn Ion with a Snugride behind the passenger seat. A tight fit but still doable for my 5'9" DH.

[SaphirimalMei]

Saturn Ion with a Snugride behind the passenger seat. A tight fit but still doable Ditto. I am 5'7" and DH is 6'4". It would not have worked if DH was the passenger, though :p
Once DD transitioned to the convertible seat, legroom has not been an issue. DD is still rear-facing.

[NYN]

the graco snugride (w/ the base) fit fine in my VW Golf GLS. we had it in the middle. rear-facing, the Alpha Omega Elite is a problem but do-able (though i do have to sit in the back seat when DH is driving b/c it pushes the recline on the passengar seat up too straight and my back can't take it.

we will be fine once we can put it forward facing.

as a side note, the problem w/ VW's is that the seats slope so you have to put a wedge beneath the seat in order to get it to recline correctly. the safety station does this for you.

[Hula1974]

bump

[Sevilla]

We have a Scion Xa and the Graco Safeseat. It has been a bear to install, and it fits best in the middle (though it still touches the front seats). We could make it work behind the passenger seat if we pushed it up all the way, but that would be really annoying. The Safeseat is larger than the regular infant carseats though b/c it goes up to 30 lbs./32" tall. Once the baby moves to a forward-facing seat after a year we shouldn't have a problem with space though.

[lil_geek]

I drive a Chevy Malibu (2003) and it was a bear having her in there. I've always thought my car had plenty of room...until I put a car seat in there. The front passenger seat had to be up as far as it would go, and the seat incline had to be pretty much straight up to fit the car seat behind it. My best friend had a Malibu for the first two months and now she has a Trailblazer. After having her Trailblazer she said she doesn't know how she made it with the Malibu. The normally spacious trunk was completely taken over by the stoller....you could hardly fit anything else in there.

I like my Malibu, but it's not exactly baby friendly. I tote my little sister and her friends around (they are 6) and it's just fine.

Funny, we have a 2003 Malibu and can EASILY fit my GF's (yes, no kids here either!) infant carseat in with PLEANTY of space! We have even had it in the middle with 2 larger adults in the back and had space.

I drive an Acura Integra and it fits great in there too. Only the middle seatbelt is JUST long enough to use without the base.

[DianeCourt]

Our 2006 Dodge Durango & Cadillac CTS aren't terrible, but I had to use foam swim noodles with the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio, Britax Marathon, & Britax Decathlon to achieve the proper recline angle. Also, the Durango doesn't have a LATCH anchors in the middle of the backseat, which annoys me.

[ks_piper]

2004 Honda Element - great for forward facing (we have two Marathons), not so easy for rear-facing in terms of getting baby in and out, but it worked until DS was over a year old. Overall, I think the Element is a terrific family vehicle. :D

1995 Chevy Corsica - fine, not the best fit or easiest install since it lacked latch, but we managed to fit a Marathon and Evenflo bucket without a problem.

[neenbean]

Anyone have experience with a Mitsubishi Galant and the Graco Snugride and/or Comfort Sport (forward facing)???

This fall, I will begin driving DH's Galant and will have both car seats in the car. They will be placed on the driver and passenger sides to fit them both. I looked on the Car Seat Compatibility Database website, but no one has posted their experience with a Galant or even a Diamante (slightly larger).

Thanks in advanced!

[K&H's mommy]

My DH has a Jeep Wrangler and I couldn't ride in his car for almost a year because when DS's seat was rear facing, he had to put the passenger seat all the way to the front - absolutely no room for anything. We also had to take a couple carseats back because they wouldn't fit.

[jcharley]

I have a 2005 Dodge Magnum and had heard that the LATCH was very hard to find and use, but I installed the base in minutes! Our carseat base has a level and a recline adjuster that made it super easy to level as well.

[losthoosier]

I used to have the Nissan Exterra. Because of the hump and they way the seat reclines the infant seat would sit wierd and the baby would be sitting straight up, and since they have no head support would fall forward. Because of this we went and upgraded to the Nissan Murano when she was 4 weeks old.

[madmartian]

I wasn't happy with the graco Snugride in my pontiac grand prix. Becuase of the deep seats in the back seat, the Snugride was just a little too upright (even with the pool noodle wedged underneath). I had the carseat installed by our local police so it was installed correctly, but I think DD would have been more comfortable if she was slightly more reclined. We didn't have that problem with a Britax Roundabout thanks to the RF tether. I'm not sure how the seat would fit FF because we sold that car.

[LILRTL]

Graco Snugride was horrible in the Saturn Ion. No one could be the passenger in our car. Same with the rear-facing Graco ComfortSport. Forward-facing should be fine.

Also in our Mitsubishi Outlander - supposed to be a small-SUV. Again, no one could be the passenger in the car. Well, they could if they wanted to ride in the dash.

Our Honda Accord is FABULOUS rear-facing. No room troubles at all!!! We have an Evenflo Triumph in there now.

Before we traded for the Accord, our Mitsubishi Montero Sport had a ton of room for the car seat. Just a sh!tty, sh!tty car. :p (Ours - not the car in general.)

[daisysue62]

The Graco Snugride fit in both of our vehicles no problems, but the Britax Marathon doesn't fit either of our vehicles very well. We usually have it in our Ford Escort station wagon and we have to have the passenger seat pretty far forward so it's not comfortable to sit in that seat and I wind up in the backseat next to dd. The Marathon doesn't fit the Nissan Xterra well AT ALL. We haven't tried the Marathon forward facing yet, and will be replacing the Escort very shortly :)

[yby1]

I had a 2000 Ford Mustang. It's definitely not meant for babies, I didn't even attempt to get a carseat in there. :p I got a 2006 Nissan Sentra instead and we put an Evenflo Triumph in there. It fits great and there is no problem with room.

My parents have a 2004 Ford Focus and we put a Graco Comfortsport in there. There were no problems either.

We also have a 2004 Mazda6 wagon which has a Combi Connection infant seat, it fits beautifully. We are going to upgrade the seat to a Marathon soon, so we'll see how that fits. :)

[neenbean]

After we made a decision NOT to buy a new car this year, we are now rethinking our plan and are considering the Chrysler Pacifica.

The 2nd row seats are pretty deep, so I am concerned our carseats won't fit well. Anyone have experience with either the Graco Snugride and/or Comfort Sport (forward facing) in the Pacifica?



I currently drive a Chevy Equinox and we are very happy with the carseat fit, but are turning the vehicle in after a 2-year lease.