Dodge Stratus

Jonah Baby

New member
The Child-Restraint-Installation-Vehicle-from-HELL.


Are you imagining or recalling such an install in one of these lovely gifts from Dodge? Ok, now try to imagine doing it while 38 weeks pregnant...and with a very large carseat.
 
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BeckC

Well-known member
I have a Dodge Stratus. I haven't had any nightmares. In fact we used my car in my certification class and we didn't come up with any incompatibilities. I think the only carseat I haven't tried in there is the Regent. The only problem was that two of my lightweight locking latchplates busted. :rolleyes:

What were you trying to install? Did you get it? What is/was the problem?
 

Maedze

New member
I have one, and tend to concur with your assessment. The locking latchplates are really, really unpleasant.
 

BeckC

Well-known member
Oh yes, I hate the latchplates. But since mine are busted I don't bother with them anyway. Plus I have 3 rear LATCH positions so that's always nice.
 

Jonah Baby

New member
My Mother's is a '99.

No LATCH (but there is TA 3 across.)
Center lap belt doesn't lock.
Buckle stalks...must be the longest freaking buckle stalks I've ever seen in my life.

I had to put a Wizard in there.
 

Maedze

New member
Yeah, that's a tough combo. (Ours is a 2000). Where it tends to be difficult is that the locking latchplate comes at a weird angle near the LATCH bar on the Wizard, making it annoyingly difficult to tighten correctly. Twisting the female end down does help some, but then of course puts the whole seatbelt at an awkward angle, once again making it difficult to tighten against the latchplate.


A word of advice about that vehicle/seat combination. Make sure Mom is really vigilant when she has J in there. When M was about the same age, riding outboard driver's side in that Wizard, he reached up, grabbed the shoulder belt and wrapped it around his neck. Nearly strangled himself before I realized what was going on.
 

Jonah Baby

New member
Hmm...
With such a potential scenario happening in, literally, the same seat and vehicle -
if the lock-offs on the seat are used, can I lock the belt retractor as well?

I've been thinking the answer to that is no - one or the other - and who wouldn't want to use the built-ins?
But, then I thought I remembered you locking the retractor AND using lock-offs in the Subie...

And, man, those Britax seats are just a joy to get in there. I went for outboard first, 'cause some pregnancy-effected portion of my brain thought that it had LATCH and that would be the easiest being this pregnant. Well, duh, it doesn't have LATCH, so next I went center. Well, I also failed to recall that Dodge blessed this vehicle with a non-locking lap belt. I DID remember that you could flip the buckle one turn to get it to hold tight, so I did...but then I couldn't get my hand next to the tall Britax shell to pull the belt at such an odd angle...10 minutes later I gave up and went outboard (which was the hardest with the roof curve and my non-conforming stomach. So, I get it in there, locked, tight, attach the tether and check the tightness one more time...and its loose. WTF? The super-long belt stalks were trying to mate with the LATCH bars. Out comes the belt, twist it, fall over backseat and tear a muscle, buckle and try to tighten the thing back down with that belly smooshed into the hard shell and my head against the roof...
It was much more dramatic and "colorful" in person, but you get the idea.
 

Maedze

New member
Unfortunately, the belt does not lock at the retractor, so there's no way to prevent it happening in the Stratus, but yeah, that's why I locked the belt in the Subaru...it's just too danged easy for a kid to grab a loose shoulder belt.

I love the description, and I pretty much felt the exact same way throwing the Wizard in the Dodge when I was 9 months pregnant with Bean the Third.

Here's something to make you feel better. It's even more annoying rear facing! *zombie face*
 

Jonah Baby

New member
I can only be thankful that it could have been worse...

I could have been using a seat that didn't have the built-in lock-offs.


Its kind of amusing to me now that for SO long I installed seats in that car and couldn't figure out why they wouldn't stay tight. Now that I know, its just an annoyance....
 

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