HBBs for 2005 Subaru Forester

So I've been reading on here about the challenging seat belt issue with Foresters surrounding these years - the shoulder belts are off to the side and forward of the seatback like in this pic:



I know lots of people drive Subarus and I'm a little stumped I can't find a whole lot more info on what would work for this car...

Any ideas what would work best? These would be for my 6yo twins who are 41 lb, 44 inches tall, and very compliant in the car.

I found one poster who said the Recaro Performance Booster worked well but I'm worried it's so wide that it's hard to buckle and/or sits on top of the belt stalks.

Hi and welcome to CSO.

In my experience, boosters are like jeans. We need a good fit and every brand fits each person a little differently. The key will be to simply find which boosters provide the best belt fit for your children.
Is there a BuyBuy Baby or Babies R Us near you that will let you try seats in your car? Otherwise, consider seats from IIHS "best bet" list indicating they consistently provide a good belt fit in different vehicles for various children. Consider the return policy of wherever you purchase just in case.

I hope you get some more personalized responses!

Oops. Forgot to include the link for you:
http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/child-boosters/best-bets

The Diono Cambria does NOT work in the 2005 Forester, and therefore probably won't in the 2004-2009 (I think that's when they changed the body design). I just want to put this out there in the internet ether for anyone who is doing a search The Forester headrest tilts too far forward for the booster to sit flush against the seatback, and Diono requires vehicle headrest support. Flipping the headrest around doesn't work since it doesn't lock in place that way. The Cambria otherwise fits great with the vehicle headrest removed (darn it!), and the belt guide actually worked with the wonky shoulder belt geometry, retracting smoothly - so this may help someone who has a car with shoulder belt paths like this.

So I am limiting my search now to seats that don't require the vehicle headrest.

I have a PWSGL and a Recaro Performance Booster on their way so I will update. I've also been eyeing the Maxi Cosi Rodifix but OMG why so expensive?

Also wanted to note that backless will be a problem in this car for smaller/slimmer kids - the shoulder belt anchor is so far forward of the seatback that the shoulder belt won't rest against the shoulder unless you have a stockier or bigger/older kid to help fill that space.

My mom has a Nissan Murano and a friend that my 6 year old rides with has a Nissan Rogue...we've found a similar issue in them. The super cheap Evenflo Amp high back booster and Harmony folding travel booster work pretty well with these types of sea tbelts, but obviously, it depends on exactly how far forward the seat belt is. If you can, bring the seat backs up in the car completely. Sometimes, they are back a few clicks and it might not be that noticeable. Those 2 seats will last my 6 year old a while (46" & 43 lbs). His older brother still fits in them, too. I know these 2 seats may seem "cheap", but it's the belt fit that matters most and the Forester is a remarkably safe vehicle.

My older son is 9 now and he rides in a backless in Grandma's car. He's big enough now that the shoulder belt isn't a problem anymore. 53" & 56 lbs.

hths

henrietta said:

My mom has a Nissan Murano and a friend that my 6 year old rides with has a Nissan Rogue...we've found a similar issue in them. The super cheap Evenflo Amp high back booster and Harmony folding travel booster work pretty well with these types of sea tbelts, but obviously, it depends on exactly how far forward the seat belt is. If you can, bring the seat backs up in the car completely. Sometimes, they are back a few clicks and it might not be that noticeable. Those 2 seats will last my 6 year old a while (46" & 43 lbs). His older brother still fits in them, too. I know these 2 seats may seem "cheap", but it's the belt fit that matters most and the Forester is a remarkably safe vehicle.

My older son is 9 now and he rides in a backless in Grandma's car. He's big enough now that the shoulder belt isn't a problem anymore. 53" & 56 lbs.

hths

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Thank you! Do you know if either of these can be used without the vehicle headrest? I did try installing the Cambria with the vehicle headrests all the way up to see if I could fit the booster "under" it but still no go - the vehicle headrests only have 2 positions I think, and then it would just become an issue again when the booster headrest needs to be raised. The vehicle seatbacks are also not adjustable - they're fixed. You are completely right that I would feel fine with "cheaper" boosters because the Forester is a very safe car, and our model year does have the side curtain airbags. I worry too that the more expensive bigger, bulkier, "fluffier" boosters do cut into head excursion space so a cheaper one would probably have a slimmer profile / keep my kids a little farther away from the front seatbacks.

SixteenFeet said:

Thank you! Do you know if either of these can be used without the vehicle headrest? I did try installing the Cambria with the vehicle headrests all the way up to see if I could fit the booster "under" it but still no go - the vehicle headrests only have 2 positions I think, and then it would just become an issue again when the booster headrest needs to be raised. The vehicle seatbacks are also not adjustable - they're fixed. You are completely right that I would feel fine with "cheaper" boosters because the Forester is a very safe car, and our model year does have the side curtain airbags. I worry too that the more expensive bigger, bulkier, "fluffier" boosters do cut into head excursion space so a cheaper one would probably have a slimmer profile / keep my kids a little farther away from the front seatbacks.

Click to expand...

You and I are om the same page. We have a Cybex booster that I avoid in some places because it is deep and heavy.

I don't think that there is a requirement for head support behind either of these, but I don't worry about the gaps behind the headrests as much as some people do (so I usually leave the headrests on). I will double check as soon as I can. Note that this is me, personally: Personally, I think that lack of head support behind is more of a problem than a gap caused by the headrest. If I can turn the headrests around, I do. Otherwise, I don't worry about it much. I'm assuming that they've been tested in cars that have similar headrests, but that could be assuming an awful lot. I just find it hard to believe that all these kids are riding around in boosters with the cars headrests pushing them a bit forward and it's causing unsafe problems. We hear about the headrests pushing the booster's headrest forward all the time on here. I think we'd be hearing about it on the news or something if they were causing real-world problems. Obviously, best practice is that there isn't a huge gap (I wouldn't use a seat that had a HUGE gap), but the gaps we've had in my cars are fine with me. Maybe there are other techs who have a lot more experience who can really explain the booster-headrest-gap issue and how much of a safety impact it really has.

Just wanted to update this:

So the Cambria was a no-go in our 2005 Forester since it requires the vehicle headrest.

Both the Recaro Performance Booster and the Parkway SGL work in this car (had to remove the vehicle headrest)! Of course belt fit on your particular child could make a difference, but both of these seats fit and the belt retracts through the belt guide.

Both of these seats have headrests that feel much sturdier than the Cambria headrest, so I feel pretty good about taking off the vehicle headrests.

The Recaro and Cambria are both big seats, but the Recaro was easier to buckle - it tapers in at the back, allowing just a bit more room for the buckle stalk than the Cambria. The Parkway took up much less space on the seat so buckling wasn't an issue (as expected).

The Parkway is much more compact, but it did NOT work in the 3rd row of our 2008 Odyssey - the belt bunches up and catches in the belt guide (the Recaro works fine there). So, we're keeping the Recaro performance booster in case there's ever a situation where we need to put it in the 3rd row of our van. Eventually we will move these to our van (captain's chairs) and hoping by that time my kids will be big enough for backless boosters in the Forester.

Hoping this helps other Forester owners!

DH had a 2003 Forester until March. We found the Diono Monterey with a replacement (but then standard) headrest with the more open shoulder belt guide worked. It was the only one I ever found that worked. They were discontinued but are supposed to be coming back. But it may be a few months?

And that's if the 2003 is the same as the 2005.

We had a 2007, so I'll respond referencing what we found for that year. The shoulder belt placement was coming from the side, like yours. We found the Nauti, Turbo, 2012 SGL, and Monterey did NOT work. The Frontier 85 worked like a dream!

SixteenFeet said:

2004-2009 (I think that's when they changed the body design)

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I know the 2009 was the new style, so it would be -2008.

SixteenFeet said:

Also wanted to note that backless will be a problem in this car for smaller/slimmer kids - the shoulder belt anchor is so far forward of the seatback that the shoulder belt won't rest against the shoulder unless you have a stockier or bigger/older kid to help fill that space.

Click to expand...

We found that as well. LBB wasn't even an option for us.

SixteenFeet said:

Both the Recaro Performance Booster and the Parkway SGL work in this car

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FYI: The 2012 does NOT work. I guess I should have tried the new SGL. Britax told me the shoulder belt guide was the same as the 2012, but now that we have both (for new car), I think that CS rep was wrong and I wish she'd given me accurate info. Glad to hear you found some options!

Lemonade said:

DH had a 2003 Forester until March. We found the Diono Monterey with a replacement (but then standard) headrest with the more open shoulder belt guide worked.

Click to expand...

The Monterey was not an option in our 2007. I can't remember if, with the replacement head piece, the belt retracted, but the vehicle head rest pushed it forward, causing an unacceptable gap.

Yes, thanks Athena for pointing that out - The Parkway SGL that I tried (that worked) is the new one.

I just want to point out that in most cases regarding the headrests, that the boosters "requiring" them often have it stated that they require head support from the vehicle up to the center of child's head or top of the ears behind the booster. If your child is shorter still, the chances are decent that the tops of their ears haven't gone over the seat back in many of the newer cars. This can help with fit for a while. The headrest itself comes into play when the mid point of the child's head goes over the top of the seat back while sitting in the booster.