Question 1994 Honda Accord Convertible Recommendation

Hello! I am a first time mom to an 18 month old little boy and first time poster! Keep up the great work!

Our second car is a 1994 Honda Accord (my very first car which I still have). We just purchased a Pavilion G4. Our little guy has finally outgrown his KF 30 (he is tiny for his age). The 94 Accord is pre-LATCH and does not have side airbags. I attempted to install it last night rear facing in the center position using the lap belt. The seat did not fit properly, in that the base was up in the air and not flush with the seat no matter how I positioned it. I also couldn't get a tight fit with the lap belt.

Our intention was for the Pavilion to go into our other Honda anyway (a 2004 Accord with LATCH), so I'm not too worried about it. I was going to buy a Roundabout 55 for the 94 Accord, since little guy won't be in this car that much. Any suggestions on what I was doing wrong or if there is a better seat for a 94 Accord? TIA!

Have you tried searching for a CPST near you? Generally the Britax convertibles are some of the easiest to install. Incompatibilities with seating positions are exceedingly rare with them. Do you mind sharing your location?

Without seeing the seat and car in person, it is hard to say for sure. But the general procedure for installing a Britax convertible RF is to first make sure it is in the reclined position, and then set the child seat on the vehicle seat with the base flat on the vehicle seat. Then move the child seat back toward the back of the vehicle seat until the front of the child seat is against the back of the vehicle seat. There will be significant space between the base of the child seat and the back of the vehicle seat.

Then thread the lap belt through the belt path, buckle, tighten, and check for movement, as described in the manual. You may also attach the top tether as described in the manual.

The "level to ground" line on the side is the middle of the allowed angle range for Britax seats, which are permitted to be 30*-45* (measured down from vertical). So once the seat is installed, check to see if the angle is okay. For reference, 30* is the angle between the little hand and the big hand on a clock at 1:00, and 45* would be the angle if the big hand were moved down to halfway between 1 and 2. If your seat is in this range, then the angle is fine and you're good to go.

ETA: Click here for a thread with a listing of car-seat.org techs. The first post in the thread also has a link where you can search for all publicly-registered techs in the US.

We are in Philadelphia. The issue we had is the base of the carseat actually would not sit flush on the seat of the car- the base was literally up in the air on the sides no matter what we did and just did not seem safe. Compared to our other car, the seat of the 94 Accord itself if more rounded and slanted as opposed to flat. I will try to post a picture later on. I am not sure if placing the seat outboard would be any better, but I really wanted him to ride center. Again, I'm not too concerned about this seat, inasmuch as it is going in our other car anyway. My concern is not being able to find a seat to fit properly in a car that's 20 years old. I'm new at this so I'm a little clueless!

Also, the car's manual says to install center because of the need to use the lap belt.

Oh, so the sides of the base aren't touching the seat? How high are they? Try compressing the seat as much as possible, but I think it is likely fine (though I can't say for sure without taking a look).