Question 3 acrossed in VW Passat

[Beepers70]

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I am expecting #3 in December and need to figure out if 3 acrossed will fit in my 2003 VW Passat.

4yr: 35 pounds 40 inches in a FF Boulevard
18 month old 28 pounds 33 inches RR in an Advocate
(these seat will go into the my husband SUV)

I have really liked the britax seats. I am wondering if there are any type of Britax seats that will fit with an infant seat. I currently have a Britax champion infant seat. I know that I will need to purchase 3 new seats.
Any help or advice would be great!

[ketchupqueen]

Welcome to the board!

You may well be able to use one of your convertibles (probalby the Boulevard) with another seat if it "puzzles" well. Also, the new (redesigned) Britax convertibles are more compact front to back and slightly differently shaped side to side, so I hope someone has tried them in the Passat.

There are some other seats on the market now which are close to the Britax seats in terms of ease-of-use and other nice "bonus" features. (All seats on the market are safe; what you're paying for in the difference is generally additional features that make your life easier or are cool or fun or whatever.) If you tell us which features you particularly like, we may be able to recommend seats with similar features.

How old is your Companion infant seat? How long do you have before it expires? If you have long enough you may not have to replace it, as it's not exceptionally wide.

It's too bad you don't have the Passat Wagon; that is a great backseat to work in. But I know we have had three acrosses in the Passat before. The Successful Three-Across Thread tells me that Radians, at least, seem to fit well in the Passat. Since the Radian and the Boulevard tend to "puzzle" well together when facing the same direction, that may be one option for you, with a narrower combination seat an option for the 4 year old (an Evenflo Maestro, perhaps, or maybe a Recaro ProSPORT... Hopefully someone will have good suggestions.)

[Pixels]

The 1998-2005 Passats are all the same generation, so what fits in one should fit in another. Here's some relevant entries from the three across thread:

Originally Posted by oxeye

My three latest 3 across configurations (and I'm a tech):

2004 VW Passat

RF Radian (LATCH)
RF Radian (seatbelt)
FF Radian (LATCH)

RF Radian (LATCH)
FF Radian (seatbelt)
RF Coccoro (seatbelt, but LATCH would work as well)

RF Radian (LATCH)
RF Coccoro (Seatbelt)
FF Radian (LATCH)

Pic of the last configuration -

Originally Posted by oxeye

Here are the three across I have managed in my 2004 VW Passat -

RF Radian, FF Radian, RF Keyfit with base - no pics and not checked by a tech but all seats were rock solid. . The outboard seats were installed with LATCH, center seat seatbelt obviously.

FF Radian (LATCH), RF Radian (seatbelt), FF Radian (seatbelt). I couldn't get the third seat in with LATCH. Not checked by a tech. The only seat not rock-solid is the FF Radian seatbelt install outboard. It is an acceptable install, though. Here's a pic of that set-up -



I haven't tried it yet, but I am confident that RF Radian, FF Radian, RF Radian would work with all seatbelt or LATCH outboard/seatbelt center.

Originally Posted by livesinthecar

In 2002 VW Passat wagon:

2 MA outboard, FF, seatbelt install
1 RA center, RF, seatbelt install
all tethered

Also:

Parkway center, MA passenger FF, RA driver RF, all seatbelt installs, MA and RA tethered

changed to: Parkway passenger, MA center FF, RA driver RF, all seatbelt installs because Parkway passenger would unwittingly unbuckle RA when in center position

Not checked by tech

ETA: all seatbelts were l/s belts

[ketchupqueen]

Pixels, the Passat Wagon is significantly wider than the Passat. (I've put a Roundabout, Boulevard, and Chaperone in a Passat Wagon, but they wouldn't fit in the Passat.)

[Beepers70]

The britax champaion will expire 3-2013. I called britax and they said the seat expires in 6yrs. I hope this is correct.
Would I be able to do 2 radians with the britax infant seat?
Thanks for all of the advise.