3 across with 2 Apex65s?

We currently have a Plymouth Voyager and have both our 3 1/2 year old and our 5 year old in Apex 65s. The size of the seats was never an issue so I didn't consider it when I bough them. We also have an 11 month old who is in a Graco Safeseat at the moment (next seat is undecided) We are planning to down size vehicles because we need something more fuel efficient. I share custody of my oldest son with his dad and I drive him twice a week 1 1/2 hours roundtrip for his weekend visitations at his dad's. $50-$60 a fill up and 18mpg is really getting expensive (not to mention we live 30 minutes from town besides the visitation trips) Has anyone ever gotten 3 across with 2 Apex65s in the backseat of a car? I'm thinking a Hyundai Sonata, Honda Accord, something similar? What would be the best option for the baby's next seat to help with a 3 across install? From what I've come up with probably a RF Radian. For the record I have installed the two Apex65s and the Safeseat in our '05 Silverado Extended Cab just fine but that has a 54 inch bench seat. Any other tips or "rules" for installing 3 across safely would be appreciated as well.

not that I know of... they are the widest seats I know of... but the cars you are mentioning are pretty small.

My advice would be to take the current seats you have when you go car shopping and try them out with the seats to find which would fit and which wouldn't.

of course, your best bet would probably be to get Radians for the two little ones and keep the Apex for the oldest until he's too big for it, then move him to a booster.


I'm not sure what your budget is, but what I'd do is consider getting an Evenflo Maestro/Safety 1st Complete Air/SK Radian for the 3yr old, putting your 5yr old in a Graco Turbobooster if the Apex won't fit with the two more narrow seats I'm suggesting, and the baby in a Cosco Scenera/Safety 1st Onside Air/Safety 1st Complete Air/SK Radian (wanted to be sure to cover the spectrum for budget)

Thanks for your reply. I talked to my Dh and he is actually okay with the option to just buy new car seats to fit whatever car we buy. I really want to keep Ds1 harnessed. He'll actually be 5 tomorrow and he's 43lbs and 45ish inches tall (maybe a little taller) Very tall and skinny. So I'm not comfortable putting him in a seat belt booster...he actually falls asleep quite often in the car as well. Ds2 is also tall (can't remember how tall and he's sleeping) but he outgrew the top slots in his previous Scenera (thats why we bought the 2nd Apex) and he's only 28lbs. Do you think I could do 2 Nautilus and a Radian in the middle?

The nauti is pretty wide for a 3 across. You might be able to do it with maestros.

I agree, Maestros are generally good choices for tall skinny kids, and they're much narrower than Nautiluses or Apexes.

Thanks for all your help! I think I've decided on the two Maestros for the boys and a Radian for the baby. That should give us the most narrow seats possible while still keeping both boys harnessed! You ladies are great!