Can a Jetta be a mommy car??

[lcarlson90]

I currently have a 2003 Honda Pilot but I am considering getting rid of it and buying a 2006 Jetta. I bought my Pilot before DS was born and I thought I would need a big car. It seems like I don't have as much stuff as I thought I would, mainly just the stroller.

My DH has a Mini Van (Company Car) and we drive that most of the time because he gets free gas :D . Anyway, does anyone have a Jetta or know someone who has one and has small children. My main concern is that when we have another baby we will have trouble fitting a rear-facing car seat.

TIA

[maplekitty]

I come from a VW family....;)

4 door Jettas as quite spacious actually! I don't think you'd have any problem fiting a rear facing carseat.

What about a hatchback? Like a 4 door Golf? WE LOVED our Golf (DH traded up to a Passat)....we called it "car-truck" because you'd be amazed at the things we fit in that car!! (dressers, 100 folding chairs, hot tub cover, couch, to name a few :p )

[katmg]

I have a VW Passat that will be my mommy car. It may not be quite as easy to fit a car seat into it as a SUV would be, but since I'm only 5'-0" tall, I'm more comfortable driving a sedan than I am driving an SUV.

I know many people that have sedans and they manage to fit their car seats into them. I know there is a website on the car seat thread that will tell you which carseats fit into which cars.

One of my journal buddies is a Jetta owner and she just had a baby. She didn't mention having any troubles...

[DisneyGirl]

I don't have a jetta , but my mom does and I can tell you that I have borrowed her car a few time and I think its way to small if you ever decide to have two kids especially with a rear facing car seat. I say that because when the seat is rear facing you have to put the passanger seat totally upright and everytime someone is in the passanger seat they are very squished. However, my older child is front facing (has a marathon carseat) and his seat fits fine with no real problems. I have a friend who also owned a Jetta and has two kids and traded it in becasue she also felt it was to small once the second child came.

[Ilovemygeek]

I have a Jetta and was wondering the same thing, especially as I am trying to convince DH that I need to upgrade to the Passat. I have heard that with VWs you need to level the slanted seats in order to get the carseat in properly (does that make sense?), but I am not sure how. Anyone have experience with this?

[jesseybell]

We have only installed the base in the middle and with it the seats have to be all the way forward. DH is probably driving too close to the steering wheel for his comfort and 9 months pregnant I am miserable with the car seat all the way forward - we definitely won't be taking our Jetta on long car rides.

Our base has an ajustable piece of plastic to help with leveling.

I can't imagine what it is going to be like with a rear facing convertible car seat and I think we'll have to upgrade before we have #2 because I don't think an infant seat would fit very well behind either of the seats.

But the good thing is the trunk is huge - we'll be able to fit lots of stuff in there if need be. But our Grand Cherokee (next year will be a Highlander or Sequoia) will be our main family car.

[moderngal]

Yes, a Jetta is a great mommy car.

We're big VW fans. :) At the moment we have a Passat that fits DS's rear facing Britax Roundabout very well. We also have a Beetle that fit the infant seat well, too, but that isn't as practical, so the Passat is the primary mommy car until next week (when I can take delivery of my new car).

A friend of mine has 2 children in car seats and has a Jetta. She said it's a little tight now, but will be better when the younger one turns forward facing.

And yes, you do need a leveler for the infant seats. We bought one at BRU for 10 bucks and it works well.

[amtaylor]

My Jetta is wonderful!

I have a 2003 and it works great. Since the latch system is only on the seat areas and not the middle, her car seat rides on the passenger side. You do have to slide the seat forward a bit, but neither of us are uncomfortable when riding. We take it on long trips to the grandparents with no problems.

We had a Graco Snugride as well as a rear-facing Evenflo Triumph, which both fit perfectly without buying a leveler. I did choose the Triumph based on its small profile. My husband has a Graco ComfortSport and I doubt it would fit and still allow a front seat passenger.

I know that the newer Jettas have a larger passenger compartment than mine, so you may have no trouble at all. I definitely wouldn't let this stop you from buying one if that's what you want. I will continue to buy Jettas as long as they are made!!

[aidensmommy]

jetta didn't work for us...loved that car, but traded in for a passat when the car seat wouldn't fit comfortably (front passenger seat was squished up front). we are on the taller side, so maybe that's the problem.

i would def recommend trying your car seat in the car before buying.

fyi...i love my passat wagon (feels just like my Jetta, but a tad longer).....

[lml41981]

We have a Jetta. It's been fine. The slanted seats gave us trouble with our Britax Companion. The base of the carseat hangs off the edge of the seat. It did that in *every car I put it in* though. The carseat inspector said it wasn't a problem, though. But it worried me. I haven't tried our Boulevard in the Jetta, but I suspect it will be fine.

[mel7dog]

We have a 2005 Jetta that we bought shortly before we decided to TTC. I love the car, but I would've bought something with more room if I had planned better. We have the infant seat, rear facing, in the middle and this prevents the front seats from being able to be pushed back all the way. DH can just fit in and drive (he's 5'11"). We haven't tried anything but an infant seat rear facing since DS is young, but there is no way you could fit 2 car seats back there IMO. We plan on getting something bigger when it's time for #2. For one I think it's OK size wise, but if I had the option to buy something now I wouldn't get a Jetta. (Even though I LOVE then and this is my 3rd :D )

[Natrat80]

We had a 2002 Jetta and I drove it most of the time until we sold it in Feb/March. It was fine if it was just me and DD since I'm only 5'3". DD's Snugride was in the center back seat (rearfacing of course) and the car seat almost touched front seats. DH is just shy of 6ft. Whenever he drove he couldn't scoot the seat all the way back and it was very uncomfortable for the 3 of us to ride in. I LOVED that Jetta-it was my first new car. I think we could have made it work until baby #2 came, but we sold it to pay off some debt and got an older model Honda Accord. Oh and we had a problem with the car seat never being level too.

Can you test drive the Jetta, take your car seat and borrow another one to see how it fits before you buy?

[DisneyGirl]

I would also suggest putting in the car seat before you buy the Jetta. I forgot to metion in my above post that our infant car seat was never level and made me a little nervous.

I do agree with one poster who said the trunk space is great.

[ginadc]

I agree that it totally depends on the height of the parents. We have a Jetta and it's a great "mommy car" for me, at 5'3", but it's a little rough on my husband at 6'4". When we drive together, he has to be the driver, because sitting in the passenger seat means his knees are up at his chest. It usually works fine for us, but I know we'll have issues when we have a second child, so our ultimate plan is to get -- hee -- an additional vehicle, something like a Honda Pilot, both because of that and because of the fact that we want room to drive with both our big dogs and the kids. We'll keep the Jetta mostly for me, because I love it and it's a great tooling-around-town car.

[jenniferlynne]

I have a Jetta and love it. It was a little tight when DS was rear-facing because we did have to move the front seats forward a bit, but that probably depends on how tall you are. (I'm 5'7" and DH is 6'1", so I was comfortable, he was not!) If you and your DH are on the shorter side, it may not be an issue. I've never had trouble fitting all our baby gear in the trunk, even for a weekend away, which meant a stroller, all our luggage and the Pack N Play.

With that said, we are considering a slightly larger car now that baby #2 is on the way. I'm really reluctant to give up my Jetta, though, because I love it.

So, overall, I'd say for one baby, the Jetta is great! We never had problems with our carseat being level either.

If you're worried about the car seat fitting, maybe you could take it along when you do a test drive?

[yby1]

What about a hatchback? Like a 4 door Golf? WE LOVED our Golf (DH traded up to a Passat)....we called it "car-truck" because you'd be amazed at the things we fit in that car!! (dressers, 100 folding chairs, hot tub cover, couch, to name a few :p )

The Golf is now called the Rabbit. Again. :) It's great little car. The Jetta would make a great mommy car, but if you could swing a Passat wagon, I would recommend one of those. :)

[ktdelsur]

No firsthand experience here, but...

My best friend had a Jetta when she had Baby #1. They eventually sold it and got a Taurus - now they have Baby #2 and a Jeep Cherokee. The Jetta wasn't enough room for a rear-facing infant seat and a front-facing toddler seat, and any other adults besides one up front. If you ever had friends in town and wanted to take them somewhere, you'd have to take two cars. LOL

Personally we are going to be in the market for a new car soon and I'd love to be able to afford a Pilot!!!!!!!!!!!!! DS doesn't take up a lot of room but my current trunk is not going to be big enough for a bigger stroller!