What vehicles will fit 5 car seats?

[Saramomofmany]

I'm wondering which vehicles will fit 5 car seats? We have a 7 year old in a Britax Regent, an almost 6 year old in a Britax Regent, a 3 year old in a Britax Boulevard a 7 month old in a Graco Safe Seat 1, and we found out we are expecting a little surprise next April. We aren't going to have a lot of money to get something, and I don't think we can get a loan(bad credit). So I'm guessing we might have $2,500 if we are lucky...could be a tad bit more, or a tad bit less. So a tall order I'm sure.

From what I've looked at, minivans seem to be recommended here more than SUV's or larger vans...but I'm curious if the minivan seats 5 in the back, are you really going to get 5 car seats in there, especially when the 2 Regents are HUGE!!

Thanks so much. We aren't getting something right this second, but need time to figure out what we need, what it will cost, and get money saved up.

Sara

[Tiffanie]

Congrats on your new addition :D My Neighbor can fit 5 carseats perfectly in her 92 Ford Aerostar that runs like a champ. Sadly my 99 Windstart cannot so we always use her van when we take all of our kids somewhere. Her seats are pretty bulky. I couldn't even tell you what they are, one is even an OHS. We fit 3 in the back and in the middle bench 1 FF and 1 RF (for my DD). It's not even difficult to get them in her van which shocks me. And an older Aerostar is going to fall in your price range. I think an older Astro van might work well for you too; :)

[hapaness]

With $2500 you could probably go to an independent car dealership with in-house financing as long as at least one of you is working.
With the two Regents it might be difficult to find any vehicle that fits them. We had a Chevy Astro that seats eight..they are fairly cheap if you get them used..it ran until 130,000mi and then the engine blew but it had 2 previous owners. Perhaps a used full size van would work also.

[bobandjess99]

do you not have a minivan now? With 4 kids already, and 2 adults, that is 6 people...how is it that you do not already have a minivan or other large vehicle? You might need to get different carseats, for exmaple, in any regular 7 passanger vehicle, you will have to fill both rows of sets, 2 in one row and 3 in the other...for the 3-across row, you will possibly need to get narrower seats..perhaps a Radian for the new babe?

And, of course, i HATE saying this...but maybe the 7 yr old could go into a booster? you could save about 4 inches width-wise, using a booster over a regent, unless the child is in the extended harnessing seat for physical or other issues which make it imperative s/he remain in the harnessed seat.

[Saramomofmany]

do you not have a minivan now? With 4 kids already, and 2 adults, that is 6 people...how is it that you do not already have a minivan or other large vehicle? You might need to get different carseats, for exmaple, in any regular 7 passanger vehicle, you will have to fill both rows of sets, 2 in one row and 3 in the other...for the 3-across row, you will possibly need to get narrower seats..perhaps a Radian for the new babe?

And, of course, i HATE saying this...but maybe the 7 yr old could go into a booster? you could save about 4 inches width-wise, using a booster over a regent, unless the child is in the extended harnessing seat for physical or other issues which make it imperative s/he remain in the harnessed seat.


Hi, we currently have a 2006 Jeep Commander, but we are going to be filing bankruptcy and losing that in the bankruptcy(not like that is a big loss!! :D ) Most impracticle vehicle I've ever had.

My 7 year old will be about one month shy of age 8 when the new baby is born. She used to be in a Parkway booster, but due to the recommendations on here, we bought her a Regent car seat because they told how much safer they were than a booster. There is nothing wrong with her that she couldn't technically be in a booster.

This all makes me wonder...is it safer to keep them harnessed in a Regent and have to get a bigger vehicle such as a Suburban or a larger than a minivan van(astro, safari, montana), etc.? Or to get her in a booster and fit into a minivan which is supposed to be safer...!!

Oh the decisions. Doesn't seem like there's going to be a great way to do this at all.

Anymore ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks!! Sara

[hapaness]

Hi, we currently have a 2006 Jeep Commander, but we are going to be filing bankruptcy and losing that in the bankruptcy(not like that is a big loss!! :D ) Most impracticle vehicle I've ever had.

My 7 year old will be about one month shy of age 8 when the new baby is born. She used to be in a Parkway booster, but due to the recommendations on here, we bought her a Regent car seat because they told how much safer they were than a booster. There is nothing wrong with her that she couldn't technically be in a booster.

This all makes me wonder...is it safer to keep them harnessed in a Regent and have to get a bigger vehicle such as a Suburban or a larger than a minivan van(astro, safari, montana), etc.? Or to get her in a booster and fit into a minivan which is supposed to be safer...!!

Oh the decisions. Doesn't seem like there's going to be a great way to do this at all.

Anymore ideas are greatly appreciated. Thanks!! Sara

Would you WANT to keep the vehicle? We were able to keep our minivan after filing bankruptcy..we just left it off of the BK...if you dont want to buy a new car then I would talk to your attorney/paralegal/car dealer.
On another note...we had a Ford Expedition which I LOVED but had to get rid of it because it wasnt affordable. That would easily seat all of your children and they did get great safety ratings.

[Saramomofmany]

Would you WANT to keep the vehicle? We were able to keep our minivan after filing bankruptcy..we just left it off of the BK...if you dont want to buy a new car then I would talk to your attorney/paralegal/car dealer.
On another note...we had a Ford Expedition which I LOVED but had to get rid of it because it wasnt affordable. That would easily seat all of your children and they did get great safety ratings.

No, we wouldn't want to keep the Jeep. We owe about $43,000 and it's worth maybe $20,000!! :eek: :eek: :eek: We're paying $700/month and it's just killing us. It's the #1 reason we are going to file bankruptcy...if we didn't have that, we could probably dig out of the credit card debt.

Thanks for the head's up on the Ford Expedition...not sure if we can afford one, but we'll see what happens when the time gets nearer.

Thanks again, Sara