VW Jetta? which seats are great in it?

I'm considering drving a Jetta for a few months. I'm not sure what year it will be and I assume it will be great for kids (I'm used to a Beetle so it will be a dream lol) so does anyone have one? which seats have you found fit beautifully?

I'm thinking about all kinds of seats since I watch a few kids who differ in age, shapes and sizes. I'm interested to know how well the SR32, RA50 and TurboBoosters install as well as any other favorites people may have.

Yep, this is going to get dangerous! I've been so limited with strollers and seats and now I'm about to have all kinds of fun!

Thanks!

I had a 00 Jetta VR6 up until Nov when someone rearended me and totalled it. I LOVED that car! I had lots of seats installed and no issues with any. Peg Perego Primo Viaggio, Britax Roundabout, Boulevard, Wizard, Marathon, Graco Comfort Sport and Nautilus.

DD was in the Nautilus when we got hit. Guy was going 25-30 and slammed into us. She was perfectly fine, not a scratch on her. Seat was in middle, no latch, and tethered. Love love VWs! They handle accidents very well too.

We have an 01 Jetta tdi. Love it sooo much.

In it's, I've ha the following seats installed very nicely:
Frontier, Frontier 85
Nautilus
Turbobooster
Parkway SG
Boulevards, Marathons (ff and RF)
KF30 with base


I've had a couple others in in too, bit that's all I recall. It's a great catlr for seats, IMO. Much easier to install than any other car I'm familiar with and I drive a LOT of different cars, between mine and friends/family and rentals.

We have a 2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI and LOVE it. The Jetta Sedans changed for 2011, but the Sportwagen did not. Overall, installs are relatively easy. There is also no prohibition on bracing even though there are advanced airbags (I read our manual cover to cover 3x just to make sure).

We currently have a Radian XTSL behind the passenger (took a little work to get it upright enough for a comfy front passenger, but not bad, our CR-V was much worse) and a TFP behind the driver. The Britax seats work well too (our Blvd 65 went in behind the driver w/o any issues). The Radian installs easiest in the center, but our kids don't do well next to each other.

The hardest thing is getting those rfing tethers in. Trying to use the seat track can get your hands bloody or limit how far back the front seat can go. Maybe someone else knows a better rf tether location. We picked a TFP precisely b/c we didn't want to rf tether and DH insists on rebound control.

We don't have any booster age kids, so I can't help you there, and our only infant seats are a SR22 and a Mico. (Both go in w/o probs). GL

My dad has an 09 Jetta TDI.

I've done MR rf in center and radian rf passenger with good results. Also replaced MR w/ CCO (but needed block on leather). TFP installed OB rf nicely.

Lanwenyi, Can you explain more about the rf'ing tethers? Is that in regards to the Radian or the Marathon, or both? We have a 2010 Jetta Wagen TDI and I'm trying to decide between the two carseats. I don't like that the Radian is so much heavier, but more importantly, wasn't sure how it would install and whether it would cramp the front passengers. My DH is 6'1" and I'm 5'8". Thanks!

Happy to!

First of all, if you choose a Radian do NOT use LATCH to install it. It WILL loosen. It may take days or weeks, but it will happen (it's happened to both of my Radians). The seatbelt install is more reclined, so I miss the LATCH install, but it simply isn't safe if it doesn't stay tight.

Second, where are you going to put the seat? and, how long do you want to rf your child?

With you and your DH being so tall, between those two, I'd rec the taller shell of the Radian to keep your LOs rfing longer, but, if you have to install behind the driver, or even the passenger, front seat room may be tight. My DH and I are fine w/ it behind the passenger, but neither of us is overly tall. The nice thing abt VWs is that the room up front is quite deceptive. There is more room than it seems. Neither DH nor I can drive w/ it behind the driver. However, it fits perfectly between the front seats, so if you're doing a middle install, you're golden.

We CAN drive w/ a Blvd (same shell as the classic marathon, but the new Britaxes take up even less space) behind the driver and I drive fairly far back. There is no prohibition in our manual against bracing, but you should check yours.

As for the rfing tether, b/c of the way the track is attached to the frame, it's hard to loop the anchor point there. If you do, it severely limits how far back you can move the front seat. My DH and I can manage in the passenger seat, but we chose to use the TFP (anti-rebound bar instead of rfing tether) behind the driver to give us more room to move the front seat back. I doubt you could tether there because you both are taller than both of us. You can simply not use the rfing tether (it is optional on both seats). This is an issue w/ both seats when using a rfing tether. Neither seat has a prob w/ a FFing tether.

There is another option for rfing tethers; that is looping around the front seat buckle stalk. I don't do that b/c the seatbelts have pre-tensioners, and I read on here that tethering to that may (will?) impact how the pre-tensioners work. I'm still looking for another place to attach the anchor point. I haven't found one yet. If I've misunderstood, I hope a tech will clarify!

BTW, if your kid(s) are lightweights, I'd rec looking at a TFP. They fit in the Jetta Sportwagen really well. If you kid(s) are more average weight and tall, you might also want to look at a Complete Air. It doesn't rf tether, but it might fit your needs (esp if you can't find a way to rf tether anyway).

HTH!

Thanks for the response.

I heard that I can't use LATCH in my middle seat position with the Jetta - although that's how I have installed my infant car seat, and it's snug as a bug, has been for 8 months now. So I assumed I was going to continue using LATCH for my convertible seats, but maybe not...

I'd like to keep the carseat in the center position, but DH is looking for an outboard solution, so we can fold down the smaller back seat if we had to. I think that means the seat would be behind the passenger side.

I'll probably RF until the recommended age of 2, and maybe more if he is still comfortable, but I'll FF when he looks scrunched up or straddling his feet out on either side. My DS is on the tall side (no surprise), about 75-80% at last checkup, and average weight.

I'm pretty torn between the XTSL and the Marathon 70, I make a new decision everyday. I'd really like this seat to be it, until he moves to a booster.