If you have seats for more than one car . . .

Do your seats pair only with the vehicles in which they are installed?

We have a 98 Honda Accord and a 2010 Impreza. My in-laws (who do childcare for us a couple days a week) have a 2010 Forester. We have convertible car seats in the Impreza and the Forester, and right now we're using her infant seat (she still fits) on the rare occasion that we ever need to take her in the Honda.

I am planning to get a "spare" seat for the Honda. Based on some threads on here, I'd pretty much planned to get the Evenflo Titan 65 (Sureride).

Today, I was at BRU and saw that they had the Sureride in stock (they'd pulled it from the shelves for the last several weeks so I hadn't seen it there). My BRU lets us try out seats in the car, so I took it out to the Impreza, which was the car I happened to have with me, and tried it out.

I was shocked and how big it was in the Impreza. I installed it on the passenger side and my knees were pressed against the dashboard. I liked the seat, but I was just shocked at how huge it was. It definitely would never be able to install RF in our Impreza and I'm not even sure it could go comfortably in the Forester (we have a Britax Roundabout in that car right now and my in-laws have the passenger seat back as far as it will go without touching).

This was disappointing to me, since I'd hoped that if my daughter outgrew the RA by height before we were ready to flip her FF, that I could shuffle things around and put the Sureride in the in-laws' Forester to keep her RF longer with them.

I went back into the store and grabbed an EasyFit (Guide 65) to try out. I installed it at the "most upright" RF angle and it was very comfortable for me to sit in front of it.

Clearly, if I wanted to be able to shuffle car seats between cars at all, I'd need to pass on the Sureride/Titan 65. But I hear the Guide 65 won't last as long RF and has some kind of tilted headrest issue. Would you buy a carseat that you'd only be able to use in one of your cars? Or would you prefer to have car seats that can be shuffled up?

Also, would the Guide 65 last longer than the Roundabout? Or would they be about even anyway?

Thanks!

OK, I might be no help, but I would buy a seat that fits in different car, that is super easy to use (since the user might not be as good as you) and that you like! Since you're planning on another baby, it could become his main seat down the road.

Honestly, I like higher ends seats and so do my SO and our parents. The buckles and harness are easier to use, so it lessens the risk of errors. I'm in Canada and we don't have a huge selection of ERF seats to chose from.

Here is my current set up, if it helps:
My car: DD1 PW sgl 2013, dd2 Foonf
SO's car: 2 RXT ff and RF
MIL's car: dd1 PW and Dd2 RF in my beloved cowmoo Advocate
My mom's car: DD1 in my cowmoo PW (incompatible in my new car) and DD2 in a Scenera (we hate it!).

I love buying new seats!!!

All of the seats that I've had (& actually kept) I have been able to make work in every vehicle I've put them in. If I had a seat that I liked and felt it was a good deal on, I would probably get a seat for "just one" car though - if I knew it would work in that car, and I had other seats that I could shuffle with other cars.

I buy the seats that work for the car. I don't expect them to be able to shuffle. I find it hard enough to get something that works for a specific situation without also having to consider it working in multiple situations.

We have a Sureride and an Easy Fit 65. I prefer the Easy Fit 65 since it is more compact. My son outgrew the Sureride and the Easy Fit 65 rear facing at the same time. He hit the 40" height limit for both at 3y8m. He still has more than 1" above his head in both but they have a 40" limit. He is pretty average for his age. He used the Easy Fit forward facing on vacation last month and we didn't have any issues with it pushing his head forward.

My DS1 stopped being comfortable in Britax seats around 2 because he just had no legroom anymore. So for us the Easy Fit lasted far longer than the Britax.

I don't have my Sureride anymore, I had to pass it to my niece for her baby girl, so I don't have the manual to check.

So, question for anyone that knows...Does Evenflo allow it to be installed more upright than the 45 degree angle required for newborns?

The morning before my sister took it to transport to my niece, I sat rear facing in my Honda Insight. I didn't have time to actually install it because I needed to get to work. I should have tried it sooner, but I waited until my last chance. But, it looked like it would work great in there if a slightly more upright angle is allowed and it is a pretty small car, esp as far as room between front and back seats.

So, if that is allowed, that is the seat I would get, since you daughter is old enough to be more upright. It is a great seat and will last for a long time and can be had for a perfect price point for a spare/rarely used seat.

I like to have a seat avail for all cars that they are in once a week or more. I also agree with getting one that fits where it will be used the most and not worry too much about how it works in other cars. My daughter both have a seat in our main car, in DH's, and in MILs. Just so much easier than switching around!

All my seats have always been able to fit in all my vehicles as long as I am not trying to three across. That's just the way it has worked out, from rear facing Radians long before the Angle Adjuster existed until now. Not being able to shuffle seats would not be a deal breaker but it would be a factor that I would consider.

I have one vehicle that I can do anything I want in for three across, and another vehicle that I have found one and only one working combination. Three across in that vehicle is a royal pain and we only do it a couple times a year. I won't get rid of any of the seats that make fitting three in that vehicle possible. Even if they didn't work in any other vehicle, they are the right seats for my kids and that vehicle, so they are the right seats.

I get specific seats for specific cars mostly. Whatever works best there. My DH had a 2003 Forester until a month ago. Very short and narrow back seat. I had a Scenera in there for a while when DD was still RF. I may have also had a Roundabout in there. It was more upright, but installed well. My minivan can fit anything in the captains chair so that was just what I liked best. The Nextfit seems really short and like it would fit in a small front-to-back situation. And I like all the recline options. Britax seats also seems to do well in tight spots. I'm completely happy to get a child to age 2 RF in a secondary vehicle. I would just choose the primary vehicle for road trips if need be.

I have one convertible specifically for my car - my spare fits well and is easy to install in various vehicles.

I prefer to be able to use all seats in all cars. However we have one hbb that doesn't work in the forester and that is fine since ds has other car seats and boosters he fits in. I would not want to have 2 cars each with a seat that could not be switched if necessary. Just in case of a cover wash situation.

I bet the sureride would fit in the forester. So even if it could not fit in the impreza you would still have the roundabout and next fit that would. So in a pinch you would still have other options. Of course I have not really played with either the guide 65 or the sureride so I would just pick whichever one you like best.

I would love if we could shuffle seats all around but it depends on the car and the seats. I can fit almost anything in my Expedition and my husband's GMC Sierra isn't too bad either but I have to stick with narrower seats. On the other hand, I've only found one 3 across combination that works in our '98 Cadillac so far.

I'm also highly constrained by having 3 across all rear facing in 3 different cars. It's not easy to make it work.

We actually just had this debate, except that it was because we have a tiny car and needed an inexpensive seat for infrequent rides in our daycare provider's car. The only options I could find didn't install well in our car, and like you I wanted to have the option of using it as a primary seat there if our Britax is outgrown before we want to turn our son. In the end I decided to push the seat we have to its absolute limits and hope that we get through the summer with it, because I just couldn't justify buying a new seat that we can't install in our own car. The SureRide did not work in our car; the Guide65 was okay but not a great install (but that's what I will likely get if my son outgrows his current seat before the summer). An added challenge for us was that I wanted the seat to become a travel seat in the future, and we often rent compact/economy cars, so the SureRide seemed like a gamble if we got somewhere and it didn't fit in the car. (To wit: on our most recent trip, we showed up at the car rental place and the "compact" car they had for us was a two-door Fiat 500...luckily a four-door car came back just in time!)

For a primary seat used often, I would definitely consider buying a seat that only worked in the car it was intended for, but for a spare seat I would want it to be flexible enough to work in different cars/situations.

Nedra said:

Would you buy a carseat that you'd only be able to use in one of your cars? Or would you prefer to have car seats that can be shuffled up?

Thanks!

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I usually prefer to buy seats that will fit in both of our vehicles. I'm kicking myself a little in that regard, though, because I bought a Nextfit a couple of months ago and I don't think it's going to work in a 3 across in dh's 2005 Subaru Outback XT. It looks like he may be driving 5 kids to school every morning next year so I may be stuck with his car while he takes the van, necessitating a narrower seat for his car.

Anyway, what year is your Impreza? We had a 2001 Impreza for 12 years and I got pretty good at installing things in it. I found that the Classic Marathon/Roundabout 50 worked really well for us in that vehicle because I could install it pretty upright and still have some leg room.

The Forester, up to the new 2014 model, is built on the Impreza frame so they have pretty much the same hip room and front to back spacing. What fits in the Forester should fit in the Impreza. The RA 50 is taller than the RA G4 by at least a little. Also, the Nextfit allows even more leg room for the passenger in our Subaru than the RA50 does. I know you probably don't want to spend $$$ on a spare seat, though.

daniele_ut said:

I usually prefer to buy seats that will fit in both of our vehicles. I'm kicking myself a little in that regard, though, because I bought a Nextfit a couple of months ago and I don't think it's going to work in a 3 across in dh's 2005 Subaru Outback XT. It looks like he may be driving 5 kids to school every morning next year so I may be stuck with his car while he takes the van, necessitating a narrower seat for his car.

Anyway, what year is your Impreza? We had a 2001 Impreza for 12 years and I got pretty good at installing things in it. I found that the Classic Marathon/Roundabout 50 worked really well for us in that vehicle because I could install it pretty upright and still have some leg room.

The Forester, up to the new 2014 model, is built on the Impreza frame so they have pretty much the same hip room and front to back spacing. What fits in the Forester should fit in the Impreza. The RA 50 is taller than the RA G4 by at least a little. Also, the Nextfit allows even more leg room for the passenger in our Subaru than the RA50 does. I know you probably don't want to spend $$$ on a spare seat, though.

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Yeah, we're on the same wavelength. We have a Nextfit and a RA -- both of which can fit in either the Forester or the Impreza. I never tried the RA 50, though I had heard about it having a little more headroom. It isn't available in any stores near here and I generally like to be able to try seats out -- as you may have guessed!

Both the Impreza and the Forester are 2010 models.