Overwhelmed with info! Please help with SUV choice AND convertible car seat choice

Hello all, I am new here and have been wading through this forum and am so impressed with the knowledge you all have about car seats. I am a new mom (my son is 4 mo) and have a Graco Snugride in my Subaru Outback. We will soon have to purchase a convertible car seat and my son is big - 17 lb and 26 inches tall. I am pretty convinced that we should get the Britax Marathon. In discussing these issues, my husband and I decided to trade in our Subaru and get a new car...it's just not big enough for our long term use (1 baby, 2 large dogs, definitely more kids in our future, and lots of road trips). We are debating Toyota 4Runner, Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, and possibly other SUVs. We are both tall and I don't want to have more issues with compromised leg room in the front seats due to the car seat in the rear seat (I don't feel safe when my legs are butted up against the dash!).

Here are my questions:
1. Would you recommend a different carseat for a large baby? (I did read the other posts about the new Compass True-Fit and I have already nixed that one from my list - it's just too new for me to feel comfortable with it.)
2. Do you have any information about the above SUVs with the Marathon (installation, does it work in the middle seat, legroom, etc) or other potential convertible carseats for large babies?
3. Is there an ideal SUV for a convertible carseat (rf and middle seat position as long as possible) - obviously this won't be our only consideration but it's a big one.

Feel free to provide anymore information that I may be too ignorant to ask about...I'm a novice at this and am learning a lot. And I apologize for not yet knowing all the technical terms, feel free to use them and I will figure it out.

I know I can probably find a lot of this information in previous posts, but I have been wading through so many that my eyes are starting to hurt!

Thank you, I really appreciate your responses.

Catherine

Hi Catherine, you've asked some good questions.

The Marathon will fit nicely in most cars in most positions. Since your son is older you won't need a 45 degree angle anymore, so it should take up the same or less room front to back than your Snugride.

Other seats that I like are the Britax Boulevard and the Evenflo Triumph Advance. Those, with the Marathon, are my favorite three.

As for the SUV, first, how large are the dogs and how are they transported? Crate, seatbelts? They need something to protect them from being projectiles. Both from risk of ejection for them, and risk of them hurtling into the baby and you guys. A 70 pound dog in a 30 mph crash is 2100 pounds of force bouncing around. If you have two of them then you have 4200 pounds of force waiting to do damage. Your dogs will be hurt and you guys will be hurt.

So, if you have them in seatbelts and you want your baby in the middle, then you probably want to go for an SUV with three rows so the dogs can ride in the back belted in. If you carry them in crates then you need a big trunk area with the number of seats being less important. If you want them free and want an installed barrier in your car, then you may be looking at something else all together, even something with a smaller trunk so they're compartmentalized (this is how school buses are safe, kids can't go anywhere, they're padding front and back. Until you get a bus rolling over, though) between the back hatch and the backseat.

Wendy

I won't go too deep into recommendations, but I did want to give you this tidbit to help with your shopping:

We have a Ford Focus and were able to install a RF Marathon in the centre of the back seat without moving either front seat forward. Once your child moves to a convertible, assuming they have good head control, they do not require 45° of recline. You can have their seat as upright as 30° if they're comfortable. Having their seat more upright also leaves you the added benefit of taking up less room front to back.

Just something to think about as you vehicle shop... you don't necessarily need HUGE space between the the front and back row to accommodate a RF seat.

The Marathon, BTW, is a great seat!

HTH!

i think your best bet is to get the seat you like best and then take it and install it and test drive the vehicles you are looking at. we have a 4 runner and with the radian RF in the middle center seat, we have very compromised leg room for either the driver or front passanger. its not such a big deal for us bc i am short and dh is tall, but with 2 tall parents i think it would be uncomfortable, especially for longer rides. the highlander is slightly small than the 4runner in the cargo area and if you get the highlander with the 3rd row, you have no cargo space. i would look at the pilot. i honestly can't imagine a road trip in our 4runner with 2 or 3 kids and 2 big dogs. it might be doable but oh boy would it be tight. not fun at all. some of the bigger SUVs like a full sized surburban or an expidetion might seem like over kill right now, but they might actually fit your needs well. you would have the 3rd seat to contain the dogs, the second seat to fit up to 3 kids and still enough cargo room for luggange and such. i hadn't really thought about the dogs till i read wendys' post, but you really have to consider them passengers as well.

Thanks for the info so far! Especially about the angles for rf, this is the kind of info that's very helpful for me and maybe we can even do the Britax Marathon in our Subaru temporarily and not be rushed to get the new car. I was worried it wouldn't fit at all because it is like 3 inches longer than the Snugride but I didn't realize it could be more upright.

Wendy, as for your question about the dogs - 2 labs, 80 lb and 60 lb. We have an installed barrier in our Subaru and it has worked great with the dogs in the back, although I do like the suggestion about belting them in a 3rd row b/c then I assume we would still have some cargo room in the back.

Please keep the info and suggestions coming, thank you!

My first question would be: Do you really need an suv? A minivan like the Honda Odyssey would be a better choice, in my opinion, because you can collapse the 3rd row and use that for your dogs coupled with a restraint harness. Like this:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind.../PET/2767064&fbc=1&parentPage=family&keepsr=1
I use this with my dog and its great. The 2nd row of the Odyssey will accomidate 3 children in car seats and the money you'll save on gas you can put towards a set of snow tires. But thats just my :twocents:

firemomof3, I left out an important piece of info - I wish we did not need an SUV but we live in Colorado and are building a cabin 2 hr away in the mountains...we need 4WD. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Catherine

Oh my goodness, yes I see your point :sorry!: What about the Suburban or Expedition? I rented an Expedition when we went to Florida and I was able to fit my 3 kids across (all in car seats) and the 3rd row folded flat into the floor with the touch of a button! That way you'll never have to worry about room!
Good luck and it must be so beautiful in Colorado!

The Toyota Sienna has 4WD.

Other than that, give your dog needs, and the storage needs, and the future kids, I think a full sized SUV with three rows would be what you need. Otherwise with the third row up in a small or mid-sized SUV you're not going to have any cargo space. And a lot of those are in a 2-3-2 configuration, and your dogs would probably appreciate splitting three seats between the two of them, rather than sharing two.

Wendy

First off - lucky you living in Colorado - I miss the weather.
I have an Expedition, 1 lab 90lbs, 2 babies in car seats and a 5'10" teenager, and I sit pretty far back from the steering wheel

I currently have a Marathon behind the PASSENGER seat, RF and my teen who has very long legs has plenty of room. third row folds flat with a button so when we travel with the dog we either seat belt her (with doggy seat belt) or put her in her crate. Plenty of room. I have my 26 month old forward facing in middle which puts her next to her sister - they play and it still leaves us access to the third row if needed or someone (adult) can fit in the seat behind the driver. Only suggestion though is if you get a brand new Expedition is to get the XL (extra long) gives you more storage behind the third row.

that being said I love our Marathons and we even had a Scenera as a backup in the middle for a week or two while waiting on the second Marathon. Installed easily and was able to get a great fit - tight, no movement.

Good luck