Question 2nd carseat for back of scion XA-Canada

Hi all! I've seen a few questions about small cars, but wanted to post my specific question, since I'm interested in buying a car seat online and may not be able to try them out. So here goes:
We drive a 2006 Scion XA and have two kids in the back. Our infant is growing out of his graco snugride (which fits in our car, but just barely!) and we plan to move him up to our 4 year old's current maxi cosi priori (a RF-FF convertible) in a couple of months. We want to get the 4 year old (he is a small kid at 28 pounds so not worried about him growing out of a car seat any time soon) a new 5-point-harness booster-type seat, but I'm not sure what will fit well in our car in one of the passenger seats with the maxi cosi in the center position. I know everyone talks about the Radian, but it is so expensive! I'd love to be able to get something for $150 or less, if possible. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Welcome to the car-seat.org - I hope we can help you.

I don't believe the Maxi Cosi Priori is available, nor legal, for use in Canada. Where did you buy it? If it's not a Canadian seat I'm afraid you're going to need to look at replacing both seats, as it's not legal to use a seat in Canada if it's not certified for use in Canada.

I also don't think that the Scion has been available in Canada for very long. I recall it being a recent addition to the Canadian market, despite it having been in the US for some time. I know this thread was moved to the Canadian sub-forum, but you might have better luck asking in the general forum to get a broader range of answers.

While it's ideal to have a seat in the centre if it fits, it often doesn't in smaller cars. If it does though, I would seat the older child (if forward-facing) in the centre as he is less protected than the rear-facing younger child. If they don't fit side-by-side, properly installed and selected seats installed in the outboard positions are very safe.

How much does your smaller child weight? And can you get a seated torso height on the older child? Sit cross-legged on the floor against the wall and measure from floor to shoulder. That will give the torso height, which matters for forward-facing seats.