Living LATCH-less...

mimieliza

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #1

I know I can't be the only one who does not have a vehicle with LATCH, right? What's more, if all goes according to plan I will not have a LATCH vehicle while I still have kids in car seats (possible exception: maybe my youngest will still be boostered by the time we get a new car). I am anti-car-payment, and we intend to drive our current vehicles until we can't anymore. We also live in a small town and put fairly low mileage on our vehicles - less than 10,000 miles a year. Anyway, we're stuck with these cars forever.

2002 Subaru Forester - pretty much the last car EVER made without LATCH. It has 85,000 miles on it, so plenty of life left.

1999 Honda Odyssey - has the added inconvenience of no usable top tethers for the middle row captains chairs. This vehicle has 135,000 miles and a transmission replaced under a recall at 80,000 miles. It runs like a top, so I am hoping we can get at least 200k out of it.


My problem is that I don't particularly like paying for features I can't use. Rigid LATCH, LATCH-able boosters, and things like Diono's Super LATCH and Evenflo's weird enormous LATCH thingys on the Symphony are all useless to me. The second problem is that with my DD moving toward booster age, I am very cautious about boosters that are meant to be LATCHed, as I feel they tend to be heavier, and I feel that is questionable when the booster is not LATCHed. So I end up kind of looking at older, LATCH-less models.

I did end up with two Radians with Super LATCH. I am soooooo tempted to cut off the LATCH straps and store them somewhere. They are heavy, clunky and really irritating.

Anyway, that's my tale of living LATCH-less... anyone want to commiserate?

 

Brianna

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #2

I wish I could swap the back seat of my old LATCH-less car for the one I have now. It had a lap only belt in the center which made installing a breeze...

 

Brigala

CPST Instructor

• Nov 22, 2011

• #3

I don't have usable latch. One car out of our three has latch, but the weight limit is 40 lbs. The only child I transport under that limit had to ride in the center, where there is no latch. So I never use it.

 

SignCuer

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #4

No LATCH here.. have a 1996 Ford Windstar who is still alive *knocks on wood* and I really love installing with seatbelts so LATCH isn't a biggie for me. Yes they are convient but nah... I like me a good seatbelt installs!

 

J

Jessica61624

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #5

No latch here either. I don't mind. Although I would like latch when my dd moves to a booster.

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #6

I used to have a car without latch. I did have a booster that was latchable, though. I had the monterey and used it without latch. Even when I used it in dh's car, I used it without latch, since it wouldn't fit in the 3 across and be able to be buckled if it was attached with latch.

About the latch straps- I've removed them from a few seats. My regent doesn't have the latch strap attached anymore and neither does my CCO. They are in ziploc baggies, clearly labeled with the seat they go to. I hate trying to work around them when doing seatbelt installs. The latch strap on my TFP is also unattached because it is a pain to use attached.

 

B

babyherder

Well-known member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #7

I wish I had top teathers! (No one rides ff harnessed in my car now but if that changes I'll need to figure out how to get teathers). I don't mind not having latch but I don't buy seats with lots of features anyway. I don't use my seats often so I don't mind if they lacking in convenience features. But I guess when/if I have my own kids if I had a booster that latched I would want to be able to use that feature. hmmmm. I don't think my car will be around when my possible children of the future are booster age.

 

crunchierthanthou

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #8

mimieliza said:

I did end up with two Radians with Super LATCH. I am soooooo tempted to cut off the LATCH straps and store them somewhere. They are heavy, clunky and really irritating.

Click to expand...

You know there's a storage spot at the top of the shell that the connectors click into, right?

I can't commiserate on the latch, but we drive our vehicles forever, too- and one at a time. We just got lucky that our first one was a 2001 Subaru Outback that did have LATCH (I wonder why the Outback got it, and not the Forester). We had that for 9 years until it got rear ended at 40+ mph. I expect we'll have our current Maxda CX-9 until it dies. Dh and his siblings drove his parents' first car to high school. His dad has only had 3 trucks, and his mom has only had 4 cars since they got married over 35 years ago. It's a family tradition for them.

 

J

jjordan

Moderator

• Nov 22, 2011

• #9

Look at my sig - we're LATCH-less as well. Although we are planning to get a minivan within the next year, and it will likely be new enough to have LATCH. (Our cars aren't quite dead, but both have close to 200k miles, and both are very stuffed-to-the-gills with 3 kids & luggage whenever we go on a trip.) Whether or not I use it (beyond top tethers) is another question... but I will be glad to be able to LATCH in a booster, I will say that. Thinking about using a booster without LATCH, it definitely (for me) limits the options, because I don't want anything too heavy if it's not going to be LATCHed in. Realistically that may still enter into the equation, since there is no guarantee that the boosters we get will always be used in LATCH positions.

 

cmcki737

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #10

We have latch in our cars but on the xl7 we have to fold the seats down so much it ended up not being worth it to latch and in the 3I the latches are trapped inside the seats and my husband refuses to cut them out...he is crazy about that car!

 

Heather86

Member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #11

My primary car atm is a 99 outback impreza wagon. I too am latch-less and suffer from the lack of latch. But I do have a lap belt only in the center so that's a plus. But I do feel your pain.

 

zactayaus

Well-known member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #12

We are LATCH-less here as well. I drive a 2000 Suburban and dh drives a 2008 F350 (exempt from latch).

 

eyeslkethesky5391

Senior Community Member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #13

I'm latchless here...I have one top tether that I had to purchase for my 98 acura to use the regent that I no longer have...my car currently has 225,657 miles on it and is still going strong *Knock on wood* I will likely be purchasing another car in the next year or so and hopefully can get something with latch even though I really don't care for latch with all the rules but I'm sure thats going to change in the future

 

momtotwogirls

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #14

No LATCH for me either. i drive a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo. I will drive it til I cant anymore then Ill get a new car unless I can convince my husband to let me sell and get a new car(which shouldnt be a problem since he does it every year)

 

MorgieBear'sMama

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #15

You're not alone

I have a 2001 Mazda MVP with no LATCH. Dh has a 2002 Trailblazer with 2 sets of LATCH that rarely get used since seat belt installs free up a little room for 3 across.

I do have 2 top teathers which will probably never be used since I have 2 rear facers for atleast another 2 years and a booster rider.

Trying to type on a tiny touch screen is hard, please forgive my typos.

 

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician

• Nov 22, 2011

• #16

We have one vehicle with and one without and I've hardly ever used it; in fact I'm not that fond of it. I've always preferred DS sit in the centre of the vehicle where possible, and few vehicle/seat combinations allow that. I also figured with a 40lb LATCH limit, I'd need to use the seatbelt someday so I might as well figure it out right away. :shrug-shoulders:

I do wish I could use it for DS's boosters (well, except the Oto,) but, meh.

 

Keeanh

Well-known member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #17

Well, technically all of us outside the US could say we're LATCH-less :duck: .

But seriously, in day-to-day life not only am I LATCH-less, DH's car doesn't even have locking belts. Doesn't bother me in the least, and I'm very handy with locking clips. I hate all the LATCH straps & hooks all over my seats and am tempted to take them off every time I have to move them or work around them or get something caught on them...

We do have 2 sets of LATCH in the big van that we use a few times a year for long trips. I rarely remember that it's there. I've only been able to use it once.

 

sharsachan

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #18

i have no LATCH either, but thankfully do have tether anchors. i have a 99 dodge durango that came with anchors. currently no one rides FF but bear will be 4 in april and i expect FF to become a definite possibility since i'm having baby #3 in march.

 

lovemybabies924

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #19

DH has a 2000 accord and I'm happy it has the top tethers haha the car I had before that was a 1990 civic... Ewwwww
And I have latch in my odyssey and I love it! I need one more retrofit tether in the back tho

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!

 

birdflippin'

New member

• Nov 22, 2011

• #20

I have Ford's offset UAS that tick me off so I never use them. I much prefer installing with a seatbelt, I find it soooo much easier.