Question Rav 4 Carseat Questions

My husband and I are looking at buying a new car in the next few months. We currently have 2 kids - 5.5 months and 2.5 years. Not sure whether or not we'll have another one but want to get a car that will accomodate 3 in case we do. If we have another one, it would be in the next 1.5-3 years. We're looking at the Rav4 with the third row and trying to figure out if it would work for 3 kids. My 2.5 year old is on the smaller side (currently 28 pounds) so can probably be in a convertible seat for awhile. Here are my questions:

Would any carseat work in the third row of the Rav4? There are no latch or tethers. If we have another child, I was wondering about rearfacing our RA (with our currently 5.5 month old) in the third row with seatbelts and using the seat in front of it to attach the tether, until our older son was ready for a booster, and then putting the booster in the third row (although I think the poor rearfacing kid would be quite lonely back there), my second in the second row and the baby (if we have one) in the second row, as well.

I can't believe the way that they did the seatbelts in the second row - I think there would be plenty of room for 3 across if the center seatbelt wasn't in the middle of the seat.

Currently, we would all fit just fine in anything. The only reason we want the extra room is for when family comes from out of town - it would be nice to have an extra seat so we don't have to rent a car. If we stick with 2 kids we're fine, if we have 3 we have a problem. We're also looking at the Mazda5 but are concerned that folks have said it lacks power and we often drive over a fairly steep incline to get out of LA and to see family.

Thanks for any insight you might have.

No idea about the RAV4, but we had a Mazda5 for the first week we were in Seattle. If you've never been here, downtown is very much like San Francisco. STEEP. We had a base model automatic transmission Mazda5. And I would leave tire marks and they would spin to a start when we were going up a steep hill. Power, not a problem. That was a zippy little car. Zoom zoom as Mazda says.

The third row can be problematic for carseats, but I think they've redone the seatbelts back there. I had Piper in the back in her Ride Safer Travel Vest and it worked fine. We didn't have any other seats with us at the time to play with, or I could let you know about our others. But there are people here with a Mazda5. It'd be super easy to put two rear facing kids in (I'm assuming since you said your 2.5 year old was small and in a convertible that he's rear facing yet).

It does only seat six, though. So if you have you, your hubby, and your three kids, that just leaves one seat more for grandparents, not two.

The Mazda5 is actually #3 on my list of cars that I'm looking at now. The Toyota Prius/Honda Insight are tied for first and second right now. We'll probably get one of them. But if we don't I like the Mazda5 best.

Wendy

I know that the new CR-V fits 3 across. I don't know what Toyota was thinking with the belt/LATCH placement in the RAV-4, obviously the designer d/n have children.

I've heard the third row can be difficult to install a lot of seats in, though I have no first-hand experience. I know it's kinda cramped, space-wise. I do have experience in the second row, and it's not a pretty sight, especially for rear-facing seats but even for forward-facing. And if you use the middle or driver's side seat of the second row, you can't use the other; that's basically a 2 seat second row because of the criss-crossing seatbelts.

Is the second row (Rav4) difficult for carseats even if you are only using 2 and using latch?

I have an 06 RAV4 with no third row. Though when I was buying I did look at them with third rows. I just remember that third row being so tiny. I can't imagine a seat fitting front to back in that row. In my RAV now I have the second row all the way back and have installed both the True Fit and the Boulevard rear facing in the "center". Center actually means offset to the driver's side because of the way the seatbelts are (you have to center the seat between the seatbelt points to get a solid install). My driver seat is right at a comfortable position and it just barely cleared the True Fit. The Boulevard gives me a bit more clearance. I'm only barely 5-4, and I have short legs.

So what I'm getting at is I can't imagine a seat rear facing fitting in the third row.

Personally, I wouldn't consider the RAV if I was looking when I had a family. I don't consider it a family car. It suits me fine with just my daughter as far as room. With a bigger family though.... But I also have issues with the crash test results. Honestly, if I could, I'd get rid of it....

MomE said:

I have an 06 RAV4 with no third row. Though when I was buying I did look at them with third rows. I just remember that third row being so tiny. I can't imagine a seat fitting front to back in that row. In my RAV now I have the second row all the way back and have installed both the True Fit and the Boulevard rear facing in the "center". Center actually means offset to the driver's side because of the way the seatbelts are (you have to center the seat between the seatbelt points to get a solid install). My driver seat is right at a comfortable position and it just barely cleared the True Fit. The Boulevard gives me a bit more clearance. I'm only barely 5-4, and I have short legs.

So what I'm getting at is I can't imagine a seat rear facing fitting in the third row.

Personally, I wouldn't consider the RAV if I was looking when I had a family. I don't consider it a family car. It suits me fine with just my daughter as far as room. With a bigger family though.... But I also have issues with the crash test results. Honestly, if I could, I'd get rid of it....

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What are your issues with the crash test results? They looked pretty good for the 2009, but safety is definitely a priority. Any other issues with it? We are basically looking for something with good fuel economy, room for kids and stuff and not too expensive.

Thanks!

wendytthomas said:

No idea about the RAV4, but we had a Mazda5 for the first week we were in Seattle. If you've never been here, downtown is very much like San Francisco. STEEP. We had a base model automatic transmission Mazda5. And I would leave tire marks and they would spin to a start when we were going up a steep hill. Power, not a problem. That was a zippy little car. Zoom zoom as Mazda says.

The third row can be problematic for carseats, but I think they've redone the seatbelts back there. I had Piper in the back in her Ride Safer Travel Vest and it worked fine. We didn't have any other seats with us at the time to play with, or I could let you know about our others. But there are people here with a Mazda5. It'd be super easy to put two rear facing kids in (I'm assuming since you said your 2.5 year old was small and in a convertible that he's rear facing yet).

It does only seat six, though. So if you have you, your hubby, and your three kids, that just leaves one seat more for grandparents, not two.

The Mazda5 is actually #3 on my list of cars that I'm looking at now. The Toyota Prius/Honda Insight are tied for first and second right now. We'll probably get one of them. But if we don't I like the Mazda5 best.

Wendy

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I'm glad to hear the Mazda5 was zippy. We have one grandparent who lives out of town, so it would actually be perfect, if we can get a carseat in the backseat. Are the seat belts difficult to use back there? I know they have the back tethers, but not latch, but I'm thinking they are meant for carseats since they have tethers on the third row?

My 2.5 year old is actually forward facing but I know he should be rearfacing. He's in a Graco Comfortsport, still under the weight limit for RF but his shoulders come above the 2nd shoulder strap, not sure if that is a problem, plus it is hard to fit 2 rearfacing inour '96 accord due to the incline - I think I can do it though, if I move our RA to the driver's side and put the comfortsport behind the passenger.

Any ideas or input would be great.

I'd skip the Rav4. The second seat only seats two, the third seat doesn't really seat any. It's too small for real humans.

I wish I had bought the Mazda5 when I was looking (~2 years ago). But it had not been independently crash tested, it was the first model year, and the next model year was not out (at a time when other manufacturers had had their 2007 models out for months) so I was worried it would be a one MY only thing. The first MY was actually underpowered as well, IMO. Fine on level, but uphill and merging I was having issued with just two people and no cargo on the test drive. If I were buying now, though, I doubt there is any other vehicle I would even consider.

Unregistered said:

What are your issues with the crash test results? They looked pretty good for the 2009, but safety is definitely a priority. Any other issues with it? We are basically looking for something with good fuel economy, room for kids and stuff and not too expensive.

Thanks!

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You have to actually read the details of the ratings. My issue is what I see in the IIHS ratings: "A high head acceleration occurred when the dummy's head hit the steering wheel through the airbag, indicating that head injuries would be possible."

I was in a side impact crash in October which left me with very minor brain damage. I can't afford to have another head injury. And I don't want to go through that ever again. My baby was in the car with me and I passed out. I want to avoid (as much as I can) any possibility of being in that situation again.

Just my issues with the ratings, but you have to decide for yourself if you can live with them.

Unregistered said:

My 2.5 year old is actually forward facing but I know he should be rearfacing. He's in a Graco Comfortsport, still under the weight limit for RF but his shoulders come above the 2nd shoulder strap, not sure if that is a problem, plus it is hard to fit 2 rearfacing inour '96 accord due to the incline - I think I can do it though, if I move our RA to the driver's side and put the comfortsport behind the passenger.

Any ideas or input would be great.

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Put the harness in the second slot, and it's fine RFing. That's how my DD currently fits in her ComfortSport. The straps need to come from at or below the harness slot when RFing, and the bottom two slots are both allowed for RFing.

We have a 2008 Rav4 with the 3rd row seat. We are able to put our 4 1/2 year old twins ff in Radians in the third row without any issues. We also put my niece who was 5 3/4 in the third row in one of the Radians. My niece rode one day in her booster a few miles in the third row and my 8 year old nephew rode in the 3rd row for a short trip.

My DH tried to install the Decathlon car seats on the third row and I didn't like the fit. It wasn't sitting on the seat well and it wouldn't have allowed much if any leg room.

We use the 3rd row for occasional use and it has suited our purposed extremely well. When my in-laws were visiting, we had the kids in the 3rd row and the first two rows had the grown ups. That said, I personally would not want to use the third row in our Rav on a daily basis though. It's definitely more tricky to get the kids in and out of their car seats and the 3rd row eats up a lot of the cargo space.

HTH

Melanie

Jan06twinmom said:

We have a 2008 Rav4 with the 3rd row seat. We are able to put our 4 1/2 year old twins ff in Radians in the third row without any issues. We also put my niece who was 5 3/4 in the third row in one of the Radians. My niece rode one day in her booster a few miles in the third row and my 8 year old nephew rode in the 3rd row for a short trip.

My DH tried to install the Decathlon car seats on the third row and I didn't like the fit. It wasn't sitting on the seat well and it wouldn't have allowed much if any leg room.

We use the 3rd row for occasional use and it has suited our purposed extremely well. When my in-laws were visiting, we had the kids in the 3rd row and the first two rows had the grown ups. That said, I personally would not want to use the third row in our Rav on a daily basis though. It's definitely more tricky to get the kids in and out of their car seats and the 3rd row eats up a lot of the cargo space.

HTH

Melanie

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There aren't any tethers for the FF carseats in the third row, are there? Did you find that to be a problem?

I guess we'll take our carseats to the dealer to check it out. The third kid is only theoretical at this point, but we don't plan to buy another car for a very long time and want to make sure to get something we can use even if we have 3 in carseats - a minivan would be perfect but are over our price range and we want the better fuel economy.

Thank you for your help!

You can get 3 in carseseats in most cars. You just have to have the right carseats. We have 3 in a Corolla. I've put 3 in Camrys, Accords, we have a whole thread on this site dedicated to 3 across scenarios and many of them are in smaller vehicles.

Really, I don't like the Rav4 for so many reasons. The seatbelts don't fit any adult woman I know right, either. I'd buy something else, even if it's a sedan or a compact.

I have a 2008 Rav4 (no third row), and the seat belt situation in the backseat is very annoying. But for 2 kids, using latch shouldn't be a problem. I have my daughter outboard using latch, and installation isn't bad. I'd really prefer for her to be in the center, but that is impossible (well, I haven't heard of anyone yet that can install there). We love our Rav4, but if I had more than 1 child, I would probably get something else.

marjen said:

II'd really prefer for her to be in the center, but that is impossible (well, I haven't heard of anyone yet that can install there).

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It is very easy to do if you know how to do it. I've installed the SS1, the True Fit, and the Boulevard there. The SS1 was rock solid. The True Fit had 1/2 inch of movement, and would have been rock solid had the lockoffs been in another spot on the restraint. The Boulevard has very, very minimal movement.

First, the seat will be offset towards the driver side, but still closer to middle. You have to center the restraint between where the belt comes out of the seat and the buckle. That's what makes it offset. The buckle is very long. So you have to twist it three times. I wish I could twist it more, but I'm told that's the max. Just for fun I tried to see how many times I could it. I counted 7 twists. But I only use 3. Those two tips (centering and twisting 3 times) will get a good to rock solid install. But you have to decide if you can live with the offset seat. No one will be able to sit behind the driver. So you lose a seat. It works for me cuz it's mainly just my daughter and me, and occasionally her father in the front passenger seat.


I agree with you, if I had more than one child, I'd get rid of this car in a heartbeat. I want to get rid of it now, but I just can't afford it at this time.

MomE said:

It is very easy to do if you know how to do it. I've installed the SS1, the True Fit, and the Boulevard there. The SS1 was rock solid. The True Fit had 1/2 inch of movement, and would have been rock solid had the lockoffs been in another spot on the restraint. The Boulevard has very, very minimal movement.

First, the seat will be offset towards the driver side, but still closer to middle. You have to center the restraint between where the belt comes out of the seat and the buckle. That's what makes it offset. The buckle is very long. So you have to twist it three times. I wish I could twist it more, but I'm told that's the max. Just for fun I tried to see how many times I could it. I counted 7 twists. But I only use 3. Those two tips (centering and twisting 3 times) will get a good to rock solid install. But you have to decide if you can live with the offset seat. No one will be able to sit behind the driver. So you lose a seat. It works for me cuz it's mainly just my daughter and me, and occasionally her father in the front passenger seat.


I agree with you, if I had more than one child, I'd get rid of this car in a heartbeat. I want to get rid of it now, but I just can't afford it at this time.

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Hmmm...now I want to go outside and try it! I'm always up for a good challenge We only have 1 child (and probably will stick with just 1)...so the lost seating is no biggie. It's not like we can fit 2 people beside her while she's outboard either. Thanks for the tips!