Question Honda Fit

We are looking for a 2nd car. Have an Ody for main vehicle. Would like to occasionally do a 3 across with one ERF and 2 booster kids. Would occasionally take on long trips if possible. Any feedback, other posts I should look at? Thanks!

We test drove a Fit the other day (our main vehicle is also an Odyssey). It's a very versatile car, but the engine is small and seemed to strain a bit when we were entering the freeway. We're still considering it (especially since the salesman called us this morning to offer us a great price)...but we just wish the engine was a little stronger. The backseat is a little tight...not sure if you could do 3 across. My DD was outboard in a FF BLVD70...I was sitting in the backseat with her and there wasn't much room between us.

marjen said:

but the engine is small and seemed to strain a bit

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:yeahthatmad:

I have a '10 Fit - it definitely struggles with adult passengers on board. Other than that - love it! The back seat is cramped, so would it be possible to try your seats out to see if you can get three across?

We got a new Fit this summer, but have not had a chance to do 3 across. I think it would be possible with the right seats, but the middle shoulder belt is one that has to come down from the ceiling above the trunk area. Kind of a pain for regular use, imo.

We do however RF the 3.5 yo behind the passenger seat on long trips, in a Radian, and there's not much space for legs for the poor adult in front, but it's doable. Probably much more comfy with a smaller seat like the MA70...

We have a 2009 Honda Fit, which had a rear-facing Graco (now a forward-facing Graco convertible) with two Clek boosters six months after we bought it. However, we never actually got the setup inspected, so I'm not 100% confident recommending this to others as far as safety goes. I strongly recommend you try the seat install before you buy.

Our car seat arrangement is to have the baby latched in the middle, and the seat belt with the boosters on the outside seats. The biggest downsides are (a) the 5-year-olds can't buckle their own seats, because the fit is too tight, and (b) we have to lift the baby (now a toddler) up over the big girls to get her in her seat and reach over them to buckle her, because they pretty much never wait so we can put her in first.

We've traveled a fair amount, including camping trips and 5-hour one-way drives to visit family. I would only recommend this if you are the sort of person who travels so light that people are constantly shocked at how little you are carrying. My DH is a super packer, and could fit clothes, sleeping bags, tent, food, and the baby's Pack 'n' Play all in the back and still could see fine through the rear view. We were constantly shocked by how much we could fit back there. On these long drives, I like being able to hand things directly to all the kids from the passenger seat; having them all right behind me like that is actually nice. There were some squabbles over the baby taking toys, books, and snacks from her older siblings, but the flip side is that they also played together more and got better at getting along.

I was surprised to find that I liked the space available in the Fit better than our previous 1998 minivan with one sliding door (Cash 4 Clunkers worked for us!). Although the car was smaller (of course), we found we could pack almost as much stuff in the back. Because we didn't have to squeeze in to the car to get everyone buckled, it was actually easier to load the kids in, too. MPG in the high 30's (2/3rds hwy driving, 1/3 city) didn't hurt, either.

We're expecting #4 now, and will probably have to trade in the Fit We're trying to figure out if there is a way we can try to hang on to it, because we've really liked having it, but we gotta seat 6 and don't have a ton of spare cash. It's our first new car, so that's probably some of the attachment.

ethele said:

Our car seat arrangement is to have the baby latched in the middle, and the seat belt with the boosters on the outside seats. The biggest downsides are (a) the 5-year-olds can't buckle their own seats, because the fit is too tight, and (b) we have to lift the baby (now a toddler) up over the big girls to get her in her seat and reach over them to buckle her, because they pretty much never wait so we can put her in first.

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You can not use LATCH for the center position of a Fit (and many other cars as well). You must use seat belt for a center install. It's easily the most common installation error I see with LATCH.

If you wanted to use LATCH so you don't have to worry about one of the 5yos unbuckling the baby, you can move the baby outboard and either LATCH there or use the seat belt on the driver's side where there is only one female buckle.