Car shopping with rear-facing car seat in mind

[meerkat]

deleted

[Schnurr]

We have been working through a very similar situation, so hopefully this helps/gives you some ideas. We have a 9-month old and just bought a new car, and are about to buy a convertible car seat this week (currently using an infant seat we borrowed from a friend). I don't think that buying a car to fit the car seat you already have is the right approach. You should buy the car that is optimal for your needs and budget, see if the car seat fits, and if not, get a better car seat. This will be cheaper than buying an otherwise less-than-optimal car just to fit the car seat.

Our requirements for a car were hatchback, manual transmission, and less than 20k (preferably a lot less). We ended up with a 1.5-year-old VW Jetta Sportwagen (26,000 miles; $14k out the door) and love it. Larger passenger and luggage compartments than our previous car (2001 VW Golf 4-door), but still pretty compact. The infant bucket seat fits comfortably.

Which convertible car seat do you have? We are now switching to a convertible car seat and are about to order a Diono Radian RXT seat with the optional "angle adjuster." We found this website to be very helpful (even though we are not trying to fit three car seats across, we are definitely looking for a slim seat that does not take up too much room front-to-back either). They also have a separate page that compares convertible car seats based on the amount of leg room they take up.

I'll update if I have any further insights once I install the RXT this weekend.

[NoStacheOhio]

Start here: http://csftl.org/

There's also a Facebook group where you can ask about specific cars and seats, get install advice, etc.

You may be better off with a different seat, car vs. seat interactions are pretty specific. Our giant Recaro fit fine rear-facing (with a pool noodle) in DW's Civic and CR-V, but not in a CX-5. Test fit before you buy a car, obviously. The Graco MySize fit fine rear facing in two different Civics (LX and Si), the CR-V, an Equinox, a Mazda3 hatch and several airplanes, but still not the CX-5. We're forward-facing now, so it does get easier.

[FrugalFan]

The cost of a car is much greater than the cost of a car seat, so don't buy a car based on this requirement! Even if you have to splurge on a new car seat, choose the right car for you. We love our Diono Radian seats. You can buy an inexpensive angle adjuster that makes them take up less space when rear facing. They are also narrow enough that you can fit 3 in a row in most cars (or squeeze in the backseat with two car seats if you need to). The best part is they also convert to booster seats for when the kids are older. So while our 33 lb 2-year-old has already outgrown the Britax that should have fit him until he was 65 lbs, he will fit in the Diono Radian for years to come. Wish I had realized that earlier!

[naners]

The combi cocorro is small and according to amazon review many people have had luck with it in small cars.

[serpentstooth]

Start here: http://csftl.org/

There's also a Facebook group where you can ask about specific cars and seats, get install advice, etc.

Thanks! I'll look into those. I also came across two other guides for rear facing car seats:
http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/2015/07/best-rear-facing-convertible-car-seats-for-leg-room.html/
http://carseatblog.com/22818/the-ultimate-rear-facing-convertible-space-comparison-review-size-matters/

The car seat we have is the Safety 1st Guide 65 which surprisingly got a B in the most reclined position and and A- in the less reclined position on the Car Seat Blog link, which leads me to think that there may not be a lot of room for improvement (pun not intended).

I did chat with Amazon and since the car seat came from our registry they'd be willing to let us return it if I can provide either the order number or tracking number. That's incredibly nice of them considering they're taking my word for it at this point that it's still in like-new condition. I don't know if it would be worth the cost of shipping (or finding a box to fit it in for that matter) but it's nice to have the option so I don't feel like I'm stuck with a (possible) lemon. Even if we're stuck with it, I may be able to sell it to a coworker or something if it absolutely won't work for us. I agree that it doesn't make sense to buy a car based on a car seat, I just had to get over my buyer's remorse.

I also forgot to mention that we have a dog, so if we do have a second kid we need room for five butts in the vehicle. Editing my original post real quick.

The car crash detective also does a lot of posts on three across installations with various seats. We were in an accident and now need to replace my daughter's seat, and we are buying based on which seats he says work best for three across and extended rear facing in a compact vehicle. I believe the Clek Fllo is going to be be your best bet for being compact and short, with a very long lifespan. We're also considering the Diono Rainier. They're unfortunately very expensiv,e but if it means you can buy a cheaper car, it pay be worth the extra couple hundred dollars on the seat.

[jac941]

I believe the Clek Fllo is going to be be your best bet for being compact and short, with a very long lifespan.

We have a Clek Fllo & while I like it, it's not compact front to back -- especially if you use the anti-rebound bar. Our Britax Boulevard is more compact front to back. The Fllo is great side to side (fitting 3 across) -- much better than the Boulevard. But if you're having a front to back issue, I would try the Clek Fllo before you buy. It is a great seat for extended rear facing though. My 4 year old is nowhere near outgrowing it.

For the dog, I'd recommend a hatchback with a dog crate that's strapped down. My dogs are super tolerant of my kids, but they'd be in special place in doggie h*ll if stuck between two car seats in the back seat of our car for any length of time. Also, dogs are really dangerous projectiles in the case of an accident -- something that might concern you if you're the type to consider extended rear facing.

[tobitonic]

Yup, you're looking for a seat that doesn't take up much front-to-back room, and it's hard to get shorter than a certain length since the seats need to recline. We've got a minivan, so we can fit pretty much anything there, but in a small car...boy howdy, it can be hard. But yes, definitely consider extended rear-facing. We just bought a 50 pound rear-facing seat (the Extend2Fit) and are looking forward to using every last pound of it before turning forward, presuming it's not outgrown by height first.

[Venturing]

We have a maxi cosi pria 85 car seat specifically because they don't take up as much space when rear facing. I've used it in all sorts of cars and never had a problem. I wanted a seat that would fit in other people's cars when we travel etc which the pros does.

Personally I would change the car seat rather than restricting your choice of car. You can always sell your current seat to recoup some of the cost

[Ceridwen]

I was going to post the carseatblog link and I'm glad that someone beat me to it.

We have a Mazda 3 and have a Britax Roundabout rear-facing.  It's tight but we're managing.  Less than a year to go now until we can forward-face.

I would have bought a Maxi-Cosi for sure had they been available in Canada :(

[I'm a red panda]

I actually hate the sight lines of the thing (it's not the rear blind spot, the columns create a forward blind spot), so I don't think I'd buy it again, but I bought my Elantra for its ability to 3 car seats in the backseat, and easily fit infant seats. 

I don't know what seats I fit in, since I borrowed them from neighbors, but I had an infant seat and two rear facing convertibles in there when we tried it.

I replaced an old civic and wanted a 4 door since we had planned to start a family.

[QueenV]

We had a similar problem and ended up buying a newer Nissan Versa.  We have a sedan but they also sell hatchbacks.  I don't know if any of them have a back up camera though, we didn't look at the higher end models.  In the Portland, OR area you could find a 2013 with about 30,000 miles for about $13,000.  They get good gas mileage and the trunk in our sedan is HUGE.  Seriously, crazy huge cargo space for a compact car.  Rear seats have very good leg room too.  We have a Graco 4 Ever car seat in there and it has plenty of room to rear face.  I'd recommend checking the Versa out, we've been very happy.  And even the new models should be well below $20,000. 

Other posters have posted links to the Car Crash Detective blog.  I also found that blog to be very helpful as I was researching our options.  I especially appreciated this post:  http://www.thecarcrashdetective.com/2015/07/best-rear-facing-convertible-car-seats-for-leg-room.html/
This was the only resource I found that talked about the front to back measurements.  When you google "small car seats" you'll find lots of resources for narrow seats that fit 3 in a backseat, but that is a different issue than the one you have.

[GorgeousSteak]

I think theres more options if you're really trying to save money, it depends on what you're willing to sacrifice.  For instance, if this is your first kid, you can push the front seat all the way forward and have one of the adults sit in the back with them.  In two years (or whatever date you plan on doing), when the kid flips around, they'll fit in pretty much any car.  If one of you is fairly small, with an optimally chosen car seat, even in a small car they can probably still fit in front.  It might be a little less luxurious for a couple years, but thats the tradeoff.  If you don't plan on taking alot of long road trips (which most people don't with young children), it'll probably be fine.  We have two kids, and have a Prius V and a 2 door VW Golf, one still rear facing.  Obviously we generally take the V when its a longer trip, but it is possible and we have taken the Golf with all 4 of us, and my wife just whines for a minute or two.  It just depends on what you're willing to put up with.

[OOBER]

My wife and I just went through the same situation. We had a 4 door Maxima and my '00 2 door accord which was pushing 180kmi. We literally went to carmax with a carseat and base then tossed it into any vehicle that was a possibility. Based on how far forward we had to move the front seat we were able to rule out most vehicles. My wife and I are not super tall at ~6ft but needed a comfortable vehicle for road trips.

We found that SUV's are large, expensive, and didn't gain much leg room if any. We didn't want a car based vehicle since we already had a 4 door car. Long story short we replaced my Honda with an '11 Chrysler T&C with ~80kmi on it for ~$13k and freaking love it (pic). It just works... gets 20-23 mpg, has plenty of space, drives like a car, has a backup camera, remote start, and power remote doors (probably the most convenient feature in the history of vehicles). It is my daily driver.

I don't have to move the front seat forward...at all, to put the rear facing car seat in. We started out with a Chicco infant seat but have moved up to a safety 1st convertible seat similar to this one.

The Kia vans were also surprisingly nice, but didn't come with the extra creature comforts and gadgetry. So if you can get over the fact that it is a van (seriously, nobody cares) they area actually really nice and convenient. We had an awesome time taking a full van load of people to the bar the other night, only one DD required.

[I'm a red panda]

I think I'd rather drive two cars to dinner six times a year than drive a van daily when it isn't needed.

[Jen]

I had similar requirements as you when our baby was born and I bought a Prius V (station wagon version of the Prius).  It's worked out great so far, and now there are two kids.  You'd have to buy used to get under your $20k budget, but that's definitely an option. 

[MrsDinero]

We now have a Honda CRV but when we were carseat shopping we had a Ford Focus Hatchback.  We found the Chicco Keyfit 30 was perfect in the backseat.

We also have the Graco 4 Ever for Mr. D's truck.  We put them side by side before installing them and the Graco only seems a little bit bigger than the Chicco.

[Tawcan]

We ran into similar scenario when our 2nd one was born. My wife insisted rear facing for both kids, even though our oldest is 2.5 year old now. Where my wife comes from (Scandinavia), it's not usual to see kids rear facing until they are 4 or older.

We had a 4 door Civic and it could have worked with 2 rear facing convertible car seats. If you use Diono Olympia you can probably fit them side by side. Diono car seats recline quite a bit but you can put rolled up towels on the bottom to reduce amount of recline.

SUV's not only take more gas than a sedan, they don't really provide that much rear leg room. From the limited car research we did, we found that VW Passat had the most rear leg room to accommodate two rear facing seats. 

[OOBER]

So MeerKat, make a decision yet?

Everybody has different preferences, that is why there are so many types of vehicles to choose from.

I went from a 2 door accord to the minivan and don't feel like it is that much bigger. I have owned everything in size from my accord all the way up to a 4 door crew cab long bed diesel truck and in my opinion the number one factor for how 'big' a vehicle feels is how much fear bubbles up when you go to pull in a parking spot. There was a lot with the crew cab, but the van turns so sharp it is hardly any different than my accord was.

As an update on the gas mileage on the 2011 Chrysler T&C. I turned ECO mode off and my gas mileage went up to ~23 in town which is just 1-2mpg shy of what my 2000 Accord v6 was getting.