- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Indiana Babies
Car Shopping
First a vent: went car shopping yesterday for the 2nd time. It's hard for us to find a car that we love that will fit 2 rear facing car seats (contenders are Chevy Equinox, GMC Terrain, Ford Edge, Honda CRV, Toyota Highlander, Madza CX9--in case you were wondering) but we thought we'd check the Kia dealership in town to see if any of their small SUVs would work. The guy working basically told us that if we weren't planning on buying today, then don't waste his time b/c he is busy. WTF? I sent an email to his manager but I am still ticked about it this morning.
Anyway, the real point of this post is to ask you about cars...it turns out that you can't really look at the outside of a car and assume that it will fit 2 car seats because some of the ginormous cars don't. I listed some of our contenders above but do you know of other SUVs that I should check out? Any recs?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Car Shopping
It makes me happy, for once, that Abe and I are so short because we can fit rear-facing seats behind both thr driver and passenger seats in my Malibu Maxx. Is it that you can't fit a seat behind the driver's seat in your current car and others you've looked at? You and Shawn are both pretty tall, right?
So true. I've heard, for example, that the Honda Pilot is virtually possible to put RF seats in.
Have you checked out the Toyota Venza? For some reason I feel like I heard it has a huge back seat. I also think it's not cheap, and because it's a newer model probably doesn't have many used options (are you guys going used or new? Lease or buy?).
Otherwise, I don't have any recs. Our Saturn Vue works great for one seat, but there's no way it would fit two. On the other hand, my Honda Accord fits our Britax Marathon super easily, with room to spare. I don't think I'll have any issues getting a 2nd seat, even RF, in the back.
I also think it depends on which car seats you have/choose. Obviously I'm no help because we drive a Yukon XL (basically a suburban) and I don't think you're interested in going that big, but for instance the Radian carseats are supposed to be more forgiving, space-wise, or if you wanted a Britax, you could go with Roundabouts instead of the larger Marathons, etc.
I think you are absolutely right in saying you can't tell from the outside of a car what will work. My SIL could fit 2 Boulevards easily in her BMW 5 series sedan, and only one of them would fit in the Lexus SUV they got. They took the SUV back asap.
Maybe post this on the bigger boards (possibly the 2 under 2 or Toddlers 12-24, or multiples boards) to get a better sample of opinions. Good luck!!!
I don't have any other suggestions, but we really love our Equinox and I would love a new one or the new Terrain.
So those get my vote.
We've had a Britax Marathon, a Graco Safeseat and a Radian XT SL rear face in it at various times, so I know 2 would fit.
Oh and I think 2 would fit in a Nissan Rogue - my brother has that and it's pretty nice.
Other than what's been suggested, I'd highly recommend consider the Honda Odyssey. It probably isn't what you want to hear (it's a minivan) but my in-laws have one and it's really nice and roomy. We're hoping to buy theirs used when we're ready for a larger vehicle.
We're in the same boat--my eclipse isn't exactly baby friendly! It was pretty entertaining watching the police officer put the seat in. I'll drive Todd's Audi more until we get something new--he kind of wants to wait until after I go back to work since roughly 1/2 of my 9 weeks I'm taking off won't be paid.
One of my grad school classmates has the CRV, and loves it. She said the nice thing is the doors open 90 degrees so it's easier to get things in and out.
I had the same thing happen at the oldsmobile dealer when I was debating between my eclipse and an alero--he said if we weren't buying hat day, he didn't have time for a test drive. My dad told him, listen son, that's no way to treat a customer, and his reply was I feed my family just fine!
Thanks for the input girls. Shawn gave a big hell no to a mini van and neither of us really like the look of a wagon so we are sticking with SUVs.
We have a Britax Roundabout 50 for Maya and the baby will spend the first year in a Snugride 32. The plan is to leave Maya rear facing until 2 years. Both seats fit great in the middle of our cars but neither one will fit behind the passenger or driver (I'm 5'10" and Shawn is 6').
We are definitely looking to buy used. Shawn is a SAHD so new cars are not in the budget!
Just to add to what I said I'm 5'10" and Jeff is 6'2". So the 'nox is probably a good option for y'all.
The nice part about our 'nox and I imagine most since we have a pretty basic model is that the back seat slides forward and backward so you can move it if you need more cargo room, or in your case, move it back for less cargo space and more carseat space.
And Beth, if I remember correctly, you have mad love for your Equinox because it saved your life, yes?
YES! I will never drive anything smaller because of that, haha. Our car was almost (like seriously thisclose) to being totaled. We would have bought a new 'nox had that happened.
We have a Ford Explorer and Chevy Trailblazer and can fit our two carseats in there with no problems and still have room. I am also 5'10 and DH is 6'1. I have fit 3 seats in my explorer before and they all fit.
GL car shopping!
We have an Acura RDX, the Acura version of the CRV. We had to search through 6 different carseats that would allow me to sit comfortably in the passenger seat with a RF carseat behind me. (We ended up with the Evenflo Symphony 65).
There is no way we could do 2 RF seats because DH's legs would be in the dash. Neither of us are that tall either (5'7" and 6'). so, the CRV may be off your list. I know you didn't list it, but the backseats of the Nissan Murano slide, so they may go back farther to allow for more carseat room. The Rogue may have that feature too.
my friend has a Saturn outlook with twins and it works nicely. The GMC Acadia is the same. It's quite roomy. I'd love one. We have a Nissan Pathfinder and I don't think we'd be able to fit two RF, well we could but the driver or passenger would be in the dash.
BFP #2 11/4/12 EDD 7/20/12 missed M/C 12/13/12 @8w5d D&C 12/21/12
DX 2/7/13 with an alloimmunity + for anti-paternal antibodies started Lovenox daily & BA
BFP 2/16/13 EDD 10/28/13
love my equinox, and like beth said, the back seat moves to allow for more room.
a friend has the pilot (honda?) and 2 toddlers that fit comfortably in it. oh and a yellow lab in her crate fits in the back.
We also have an Equinox and we love it for the exact reasons that Beth has posted. We've had it for 4 years now and I'm so glad we purchased it. Our friends have a Tahoe and every time we're in it, we say how much we like our Equinox better because of the storage. When it's time for an upgrade, we'll definitely be looking at the new models!