Question Best convertible carseat for Toyota Camry?

cmeiss

New member
Help! I've been researching convertible carseats until my eyes have crossed. My DD is only 9 months and consistently in the 10-15th percentile for weight and height. Hubby and I both drive Camrys but only one has the latch system. We will be moving the seat between our cars frequently so I need something that is easy to install. The final consideration is that I want her RF for as log as possible, preferably until she is 18 yrs old. :)

I appreciate any advice or suggestions!
Cara
 
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nikki118

New member
I've used my Britax Boulevard in a lot of cars and I think it's very easy to install with seatbelt or LATCH. My son is 3, about 37 inches tall and 29 pounds, and still rear-faces in my Kia Optima (which I believe is a similar size car).
 

Keeyamah

Active member
Personally, I wouldn't move a seat very frequently. If she's going to be in both cars close to equal times, I'd look at getting two seats. In my situation my oldest son rode home from daycare in Daddy's truck, but if we went some where as a family, we went in the van. So I had a less expensive (and outgrown sooner) seat in the truck and a longer lasting one in the van.

With her low percentiles, you have a lot more options for seats than I do with my 95% boys. Whats your budget look like and we can give you some more specific suggestions?
 

cmeiss

New member
Personally, I wouldn't move a seat very frequently. If she's going to be in both cars close to equal times, I'd look at getting two seats. In my situation my oldest son rode home from daycare in Daddy's truck, but if we went some where as a family, we went in the van. So I had a less expensive (and outgrown sooner) seat in the truck and a longer lasting one in the van.

With her low percentiles, you have a lot more options for seats than I do with my 95% boys. Whats your budget look like and we can give you some more specific suggestions?

Grandparents gifted us $300 for a seat and we had already budgeted 250. Our original thought was to save our money for something else for DD but we could put all of it towards two seats. So now, what TWO seats do you suggest? :)
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Also, just so you know, the Camry doesn't have LATCH in the middle, just on the sides (in the 2007 manual it's on page 111, in the 2013 manual it's on page 123. Those are the two manuals I have).

$550 for two seats? And a small child? What's her shirt size? Smaller, spot on, or larger than her age?

For that you can get almost any combination of Safety 1st Guide 65, Evenflo SureRide, Graco My Ride, First Years True Fit, Safety 1st Complete Air, Graco Size4Me/Headwise/My Size 70, Diono Radians, Chicco NextFit, Maxi Cosi Pria (without TinyFit probably), and Clek Foonf you want.

Of those the Graco Size4Me is the tallest and will get her to 40 pounds rear facing even being so short. However, some have harness issues so keep the receipt. The Chicco NextFit and Clek Foonf are next tallest. The Foonf is the most expensive, but you could still buy one and then a Guide 65 or SureRide and be under budget. It rear faces to 50 pounds, but your daughter will max out on height before 50 pounds. The NextFit is a very easy seat to install and use. Then the Dionos are next and they work well in Camrys of all ages.

Wendy
 

Keeyamah

Active member
Hmm, I think the Britax seats would get your DD to close to 4. Radians would be overkill for her percentiles, Evenflo and Graco are having buckle issues right now....

Peg, Orbit and Recaro are over your budget to get 2 of the same or similar....

Hopefully some other ladies will come in with some specifics. My personal experience is with the First Years True Fit and Costco Scenera. The True Fit is nice as well, quite wide, but only has a 35lbs RFing limit, which might not matter given your daughters percentile.

ETA: Wendy beat me to it with much better rec's :)
 

cmeiss

New member
Also, just so you know, the Camry doesn't have LATCH in the middle, just on the sides (in the 2007 manual it's on page 111, in the 2013 manual it's on page 123. Those are the two manuals I have).

$550 for two seats? And a small child? What's her shirt size? Smaller, spot on, or larger than her age?

For that you can get almost any combination of Safety 1st Guide 65, Evenflo SureRide, Graco My Ride, First Years True Fit, Safety 1st Complete Air, Graco Size4Me/Headwise/My Size 70, Diono Radians, Chicco NextFit, Maxi Cosi Pria (without TinyFit probably), and Clek Foonf you want.

Of those the Graco Size4Me is the tallest and will get her to 40 pounds rear facing even being so short. However, some have harness issues so keep the receipt. The Chicco NextFit and Clek Foonf are next tallest. The Foonf is the most expensive, but you could still buy one and then a Guide 65 or SureRide and be under budget. It rear faces to 50 pounds, but your daughter will max out on height before 50 pounds. The NextFit is a very easy seat to install and use. Then the Dionos are next and they work well in Camrys of all ages.

Wendy

Holy Cow (Or another word I'll refrain from using)!! We went to a carseat safety class AND had a tech help us install both bases for our Snugride...and we've been using the LATCH system in the center seat! I'm so thankful nothing has happened while the seat has been improperly installed! As a FTM, I would hope we could trust the techs to give us good info, so that we can focus on all the other thousand new things we're trying to learn! I'm mad as a wet hornet right now!

Thank you for the advice and info. I am SO THANKFUL I posted on here! At this point I'm leaning towards the Nextfit and/or the Pria. Any further thoughts on the two? Or thoughts on if u should buy two of the same or one of each?

As for my girl's size, she is a little over nine months and 27 inches long...still wearing 6 month clothing.
 

bree

Car-Seat.Org Ambassador
Holy Cow (Or another word I'll refrain from using)!! We went to a carseat safety class AND had a tech help us install both bases for our Snugride...and we've been using the LATCH system in the center seat! I'm so thankful nothing has happened while the seat has been improperly installed! As a FTM, I would hope we could trust the techs to give us good info, so that we can focus on all the other thousand new things we're trying to learn! I'm mad as a wet hornet right now!

Thank you for the advice and info. I am SO THANKFUL I posted on here! At this point I'm leaning towards the Nextfit and/or the Pria. Any further thoughts on the two? Or thoughts on if u should buy two of the same or one of each?

As for my girl's size, she is a little over nine months and 27 inches long...still wearing 6 month clothing.

I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone! I used LATCH in the center of a car that didn't allow it for the first 15 months of my daughter's life, and when I found out, I literally felt sick to my stomach. Fortunately for us, too, nothing bad happened, and I found my way here and continue to get great advice! :)
 

nikki118

New member
I just wanted to let you know you aren't alone! I used LATCH in the center of a car that didn't allow it for the first 15 months of my daughter's life, and when I found out, I literally felt sick to my stomach. Fortunately for us, too, nothing bad happened, and I found my way here and continue to get great advice! :)

I did the same thing with my oldest in his Snugride. I found LATCH anchors in the middle of the back of my car and didn't realize I was just borrowing from the left and the right side and that they weren't reinforced together. Once he was upgraded to my Britax Boulevard RF (at like 10 months old or so--he was still small and light, but just too heavy for me to carry with the carrier) I was re-reading directions and realized my mistake.

OP, you can go to Babies R Us and try the seats out in your car! I like my Britax Boulevard and my husband does not. We have a Graco MyRide 65 in his car and he loves it, but I think the straps are flimsier and harder to adjust than my Boulevard. Also, the Boulevard has a no-rethread harness and the MyRide does not. You definitely have enough cash to get two seats with no-rethread harnesses--it's totally worth the convenience. Our son is lower percentiles too (37 inches and 29 pounds) and he can still RF in both those seats at 3 years 3 months.
 

Fallon

New member
I just want to add depending on the vehicle and spacing Btwn latches some cars do allow using center latch but it depends on your car. Read the car owners Manuel .
 

nataliem257

New member
Add me to the list of people who borrowed center anchors when it wasn't permitted before I knew better :eek:

Me too. I drove a Honda civic at the time, I went to a CPST to have it checked, it was my first time latching a seat and I was so proud of myself at how tight I got it, I didn't know about borrowing latch, you would have thought I drove up with the thing strapped to the roof of the car :-o
 

piacere68

New member
I am curious about this myself. I have an 07 Camry and my son is 16mo. He's skinny but tall (32in today) and in a Scenera. I know he's going to outgrow the height of the seat fast.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
I just want to add depending on the vehicle and spacing Btwn latches some cars do allow using center latch but it depends on your car. Read the car owners Manuel .

True, it depends on the car and also has to be allowable by the carseat manufacturer as well. In the case of the OP's Camry models, though, it's not allowed (and hasn't been in any of the Camry's model years).
 
S

SarahV

Guest
Help! I've been researching convertible carseats until my eyes have crossed. My DD is only 9 months and consistently in the 10-15th percentile for weight and height. Hubby and I both drive Camrys but only one has the latch system. We will be moving the seat between our cars frequently so I need something that is easy to install. The final consideration is that I want her RF for as log as possible, preferably until she is 18 yrs old. :)

I appreciate any advice or suggestions!
Cara

I drive a 2012 Camry and am trying to decide on our next car seat for my 11 month old. Obviously safety and rear facing capabilities are my top priorities, but I'm also wondering what seats are most practical for backseat space and to get my son positioned in the seat (I know some seats have high sides). Wondering what you chose and if you were happy with it?
 

Lee-B-

New member
If it helps any...We have a 2012 Camry and a Radian RXT.

I did not like the install in the center. Not sure if it was a legit install or not but the very close together buckle and seat belt coming out part (word?) made it so the seatbelt had a weird geometry. Since I had no LATCH and couldn't borrow I had to use the seatbelt. It was a very different install then in our previous 1999 Camry where we rear faced in the centre using the seat belt with a solid install.

We have the Radian behind the driver seat with an angle adjuster. My daughter LOVES it but it is VERY upright. Diono allows it at any angle. It is only reclined like maybe 15-20degrees. She is happier in it than in the more reclined angle in our '99 Camry (with no adjuster). Makes sense as she HATED WITH A PASSION her infant bucket...she wants to be upright. It would not work with a younger infant...my daughter is 15months.

Without the angle adjuster we had to have the front seat too far forward for my 6foot tall husband. This may be because I was so worried about not bracing on the seats that have airbags that I left too much space between the two and the front could have been further back.

In the 2012 I could NOT put the Radian behind the passenger seat without an angle adjuster because I needed the seat so far forward (I'm 5'8") that my knees were skimming the dash and made me nervous. There is kind of less knee room on passenger side than on driver's side as the glove box curves out.

I'm NOT a tech and maybe someone else has managed better with a radian...but I found it was tricky to get the Radian installed in the 2012 without bracing allowing leg room for my husband and myself (both relatively tall). Which I find odd because the Camry isn't a small car.
 
U

Unregistered

Guest
I am having trouble fitting a forward facing CarSeat in my 2012 Toyota Camry due to the fixed headrest that protrudes. The headrest pushes the car seat headrest forward. I have tried a Graco and the Britax boulevard. Anyone have any suggestions?

The headrest is one piece with the seat so not removable. I can’t fit a car seat in the middle as they are too wide and sit over the belt buckle assembly.

Thanks
Kelly
 

MelodyoftheForest

Active member
That can be a tough one, and you may want to start this as a new topic to get more answers. How old, tall and heavy is your child?

I had a 2017 Corolla with fixed head restraints and had similar challenges with forward-facing. The photos I found of your backseat are a different kind of fixed head restraints, but the solution could be the same. I was able to do a center install in my smaller car also, so it seems like it should be possible in yours, but I am not there to see the problem!

I had luck outboard in the Corolla with the non-clicktight Boulevard, which is now the Emblem. If you want a combination seat, I used the Pioneer, but any Britax seat of that type should fit similarly.
 

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