Question three carseats (2 rf) in a Prius V

U

Unregistered

Guest
Hello.. We have a 2.5 year old and twins on the way, and are wondering if it's possible to fit three carseats in our 2012 Prius V (which we bought just a month before we found out we'd have three young children!). Our daughter will be nearly three when the twins arrive, and she's big for her age, so she'd be in a FF seat, with the babies both RF. It seems as if Radians are the only way to go, but I noticed previous posts on this site that mention RF seats are a challenge in the Prius V. I'm wondering if anyone has had success fitting Radians RF in a Prius V, and if so, whether we have any shot of fitting in three across, in a RF, FF, RF configuration? Any help would be appreciated!
 
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ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
Radians aren't going to fit at a newborn angle in your car. When they are older they might work with an angle adjuster. You might consider Coccoros instead. They also fit small babies better, which is good as multiples have a good chance of being smaller. :)

What year is your car, though? Newer models have significant belt overlap, I believe, and forbid using both overlapping positions at once for car seats...

If they do fit I can tell you from experience with three in a small car you will probably want to put the rear facing seats next to each other and the forward facer outboard, for easier loading.
 

oakster

New member
I don't think seat belt overlap is an issue with the Prius V, though it is with some other Toyota models. We just looked at the V when we were buying a car and test drove both the 2014 and the 2015 with two seats installed side-by-side. I don't recall any seat belt concerns with either--the buckle stalks are a bit stiffer than some but it worked fine. (The 2014 should have an identical back seat to a 2012 or 2013.) The only note I remember in the manual was that the backseat has to be upright for car seats (since the backseat of the V reclines, and initially I thought I could do that and pick up some leg room that way).

OP, you should be fine with three across, though I would test Radians at the newborn angle since I'm not sure that will work. (We had an older Prius sedan that we were replacing, and the Radian definitely did not fit in that; the hatchback and V have more room front to back, but not as much more as you might imagine.) You could definitely do it with a Radian FF and two Combi Coccoros, though, and you might be able to do it with two narrow infant seats in place of the Coccoros. I would probably get a Diono seat just because you'll likely need that eventually anyway. We were able to get a Marathon next to a Cybex Aton with room for an adult, but it was super tight and not sure we could have put a third car seat the size of the Marathon where the adult was. You will want to do seat belt installs for all of these. Congrats on the new babies!
 

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