Small sedan owners, come in!

berly917

My husband and I have a ford focus and a hyundai elantra, both small-midsize sedans.  We are looking at a Graco or Chicco car seat for our LO in March.  Anybody have experience with one of these in a similar car? I'm hoping to make it to BRU to try them out, but I'm getting overwhelmed at options!  They seem to have similar reviews, so I'm leaning towards what fits best in our cars.

JJ3813

Definitely make the time to go to BRU to test them in both cars. We have a Nissan versa and bought a graco snugride without trying it. It fits in the middle seat but barely. I keep the driver's seat pretty far forward (5 feet tall) and there's about 2 inches between the back of the seat and the car seat, but if DH drives my car, he's going to be a little scrunched. 

If you plan on registering for or buying a convertible that will be rear facing, try those out while you're at it. I was shocked at how big ours was when I took it out of the box.  

Good luck with your search! 

bridetobe920

My car is a Honda Civic, and we had the Chicco Keyfit 30 when DD was in her infant seat.  It fit fine behind the passenger's seat (I have long legs, so it didn't work behind the driver's seat). 

Now, she is in a convertible seat forward facing, and the Britax Roundabout fits in my car as well.

We really liked the Chicco, and will be using it again with this LO (we are pregnant again now, and due in June)

thismplsgirl

We have the Chicco Keyfit 30 and it fits great in my grandma's Elantra. The Car Seat Lady blog has a great illustration of how different infant seats fit in a car to compare sizes and the Chicco is no doubt more compact.

LittleApple

The Chicco KeyFit 30 and Britax B-Safe are more compact.

mmdd20

We had a Graco Snugride35 and it barely fit in the middle seat of my husband's Matrix (not a sedan, but a compact care nonetheless). We had to move our seat backs up to get it to fit in properly and my husband and I are both on the short side (5'9" and 5'4").  Luckily, it fit fine in my small SUV so we opted for my car around town.

 

I would definitely go in and try it out. I have heard of others with the same issue with the Snugrides.

jburdet1

I have a Chevy cobalt and with DD the Chicco Keyfit was perfect. DD now rear faces in the Britax Roundabout 55.

kitchaos

I have a Graco SnugRide30 and it fits just fine behind the passenger seat in my Kia Forte. (I'm 5'7" and I can comfortably sit there when my husband is driving.)

 

my Forte is similar in size to your focus. 

raefre

Chicco Keyfit worked well in my compact back seat (MazdaSpeed3).  We have it behind our passenger seat and, although I have long legs and am 5'10, I fit comfortably without my knees in the dash. We've gone on several 3hr+ trips in the car and I've been comfortable the entire ride.