Mercedes E320 Wagon

[parkerja]

We have a car with a third seat the faces backwards (so passanger is facing back window of car). My husband works for Mercedes Benz and says it's safe to put a Marathon FF in the 3rd row. I bag to differ. Any help? The 3dr row seat sits at a 90 degree angle and I just think it would be safe to put a 3 yr. old in a FF carseat. Thanks for your advice.

[southpawboston]

i assume you're proposing to use the RF belt path, and install it in the seat as you would normally for RF, except that it will be facing the front of the car. nope, not approved. hasn't been tested that way. no one could say whether it is safe or not. i believe that some carseat makers (and car makers) state that carseats also can not be installed in swivel seats unless they are in the forward position, so that would be ostensibly for the same reason.

[parkerja]

Thanks for your help! :)

I meant to say, I just didn't think it would be safe to put a child in the 3rd row.

[danasigrid]

I wonder if you could offer me some advice? We are wanting to buy a 1998 e320 wagon, but so far Mercedes-Benz Canada, a dealership in Toronto (on the phone), and a dealership here in Vancouver (in person) are unable to find where the top tether anchors are, or where they are supposed to be installed, for a forward facing child seat. We need to (eventually) fit three FF childseats in the backseat, so can't buy the car until we know there is a tether anchor in each position. Since you are using a FF childseat in similar car I thought you might know where the heck they are!

We have a toddler now, and expecting twins, and looking at the e320 wagon in desperate attempt to avoid a minivan.

And to comment on your question re rear-facing third row. I can see myself facing this issue in the future (if we manage to get the car in the first place). I'm not a tech, but it makes sense to me that a FF car seat attached normally to the rear-facing seat (thus becoming a rear-facing seat, but installed as if forward facing) SHOULD be safe. It should be perfectly well attached to the car, and rear-facing is safer anyway, therefore it's quite possibly safer! The reason the car seat makers say it isn't allowed, is presumably because they don't want to bother testing their seats for such a small market of people who want to do this. That said, I might wait until a kid is in a booster (a high-back booster, because those rear-facing seats don't seem to have any headrests), but it isn't really logical.