Infant car seat and Hyundai Tiburon?

K

kren

Guest
Infant car seat and Hyundai Tiburon?

Help! We bought a Graco Sterling LiteRider travel system with the rear-facing infant car seat, based largely on Consumer Reports' top-rated recommendation. We have a 97 Hyundai Tiburon. The car seat manual specifically says that a seat belt installed forward of the crease should not be used with this car seat. The Tiburon has such a seat belt in the rear seats, about 3 inches forward of the crease (and the 2001 car model is still made that way; I checked) I've called Graco and Evenflo, and they tell me they don't make *any* seats for such a seat belt system.

I finally called the NHTSA -- which tells me I won't find a car seat that can safely be installed in a seat w/ the seat belt forward of the crease.

Hyundai reps say the Tiburon comes with rear-deck anchors to use with a tether system and that its car meets all safety standards. My question is: from what I understand, there's only three or four rear-facing seats that can even be used w/ a tether -- I don't know if there were any even made back in 1997. I think I'm getting bad information from Hyundai, and that *no* rear-facing seat will work in this car (just looking at the physics of using a tether with a rear-facing car seat in this car gives me pause: the car seat looks like it'd flip straight up in the air with a tether).

Does anyone have any information about a Tiburon and a car seat??? We can't afford another car!

TIA,
kren
 
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C

Caviller

Guest
Some ideas

My Britax Roundabout has a ruler included in the manual, it is a guide to show the maximum distance that the belts may be forward of the back of the seat. I think it's probably about 3 inches, so this convertible may work for you rear-facing. It's not cheap, and it's not as convenient as an infant seat with a base, but it may work.

I might also suggest a visit to a local carseat technician or checkup event. While a technician may tell you the seat you have isn't recommended for the vehicle, they may be able to install it adequately until you can obtain another carseat.

Our Saturn had similar seatbelts. Our Century Smart Fit Plus and Britax Roundabout fit fine.
 
K

kren

Guest
Car seat and Hyundai Tiburon

Thanks very much for the quick reply. Yes, I've already skedded a checkup at a B R US shindig on Friday (we bought the seat there, so I guess if it's hopeless we can just return it.)

Generally speaking, though, I'm amazed as a new mother-to-be by how incredibly difficult it is to just get a seat to fit a car! It seems to me that the car manufacturers can pretty much design their car any way they want, and too freakin' bad if we can't find a seat that'll fit it. That seems really irresponsible to me.

But the impression I got from the NHTSA rep was that the govt. doesn't -- or at least, hasn't in the past -- require them to make sure car seats fit their cars. I mean, there's no crash tests they have to pass w/ car seats, right? So there's no incentive in it for them. And that's even more irresponsible.

Oh well. I'm disgusted by the whole process. (And I'm as big as a whale and one centimeter dilated and 75 percent effaced and running out of time and getting really obsessive over this and definitely more nuts than usual!)

Thanks again,
kren
 
C

Caviller

Guest
It IS a big problem

You are pretty much correct. While things have improved, there is still too little co-operation between carseat and vehicle manufacturers. The new LATCH system should help in the long run, but in the short term it will add even more confusion.
 

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