Another Cavalier question

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #1

We're not expecting again yet - but hope to be before too long. And we won't have our Cavalier paid off for another 4 years, so we'd like to keep using it as long as possible.

It's a 1999, 4-door Cavalier.

So, if my son is in his Evenflo Generations seat, and my daughter is in a Marathon (rf, possibly ff by the time another baby comes along), what is the likelyhood we can squeeze a rf infant bucket seat into the middle position ?

 

SPJ&E

New member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #2

I'm not familiar with the Evenflo Generations seat, but I do have a Cavalier (2-door) and a Marathon.

Right now, I have a Marathon rear-facing in the center and a Graco Snugride (rear-facing, obviously) outboard. I could fit another Snugride on the other side of the Marathon. I could also probably put 2 forward-facing Marathons in the outboard positions and a Graco Snugride in the middle.

The best thing to do would be to find a store near you (BRU) and try out different seats to make sure they fit before making the purchase. I would say it's possible though. It will take a lot of work...it won't be easy, but I think it's possible.

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #3

Cavalier - is that like the Pontiac Sunfire

Is your son using the Generations as a booster? If so, I think you'd have more luck fitting an infant seat in the middle with a Starriser Comfy Also, you might only fit an infant seat without the base (some allow this, some don't)....

 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #4

Yes, the Cavalier and the Pontiac Sunfire are identical cars, just different stickers on the outside.

My son is using the Generations harnessed now, he's too young and light for it as a booster yet. He's only 3 1/2 years old, and about 36 pounds.

I haven't heard of a Starriser - I don't think we have that here (I live in Ontario, Canada).

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #5

Ah OK ... well, keep him harnessed as long as you can then
(Starriser Comfy is a Britax booster - the narrowest of all)

I've only fit our Wizard in the Sunfire & was amazed at the shape of the seats - I can't imagine how you got the Generations in that deep surface area! Fitting 3 across that vehicle might involve a bit of traveling some distance to stores to try out various combinations of seats or ordering online & returning I'd be interested to know what works

 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #6

There are NO stores in this area that will allow you to actually try a seat in your car unless you've purchased it first !

We have the Generations seat in the drivers outboard side, and it's been the 2nd easiest seat I've ever installed (the absolute easiest was the Fisher Price Safe Embrace). There is like NO movement to it at all, it's great. The regulations in Canada say we can keep him harnessed to 47 pounds in this seat (which is the reason we got it) before having to go to a belt-positioning booster.

As far as I know, there are only a few Britax products available in Canada - the infant bucket, the Marathon, and the Parkway (?). I wish there were more of the American seats available in general here - you have so much more variety there than we do here. I also wish the regulations were more standard across the board - to the highest standard of course !

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #7

Yeah, me too....

BTW, have you seen this?
http://www.carseatsite.com/recommended_car_seats.htm#Canadian Seats

 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #8

Nope - that is the first I've seen that. Thank you.

 

scatterbunny

New member

• Feb 18, 2006

• #9

I really don't think you'll have much luck with a Generations, Marathon and an infant seat in a Cavalier. The Generations is wide--about 19 inches wide. The Marathon is 19.5 inches wide. The SnugRide is 17.5 inches wide. My old '91 Accord's backseat was only about 52 inches wide, and I know the Cavalier isn't wider than that.

The Graco CarGo is two inches narrower than the Generations and harnesses to 48 pounds in Canada. It won't work very well in booster mode, but neither will the Generations, wedged next to another seat (it will be almost impossible to buckle the seatbelt). When booster time comes I would go with a Britax Parkway--it's the narrowest belt positioning booster available in Canada that doesn't have armrests (armrests really get in the way of buckling a booster when it is next to another carseat).

Can you measure the space you have between the two seats? The SnugRide is the narrowest infant seat, at 17.5 inches. The narrowest convertible seat in Canada is the Cosco Touriva/Safety 1st ComfortRide, at about 16.5 inches wide. Oh, and the Safety 1st Intera is really narrow too, if installed without the base.

 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2006

• #10

The specs I can find online say that the "hip room" in the rear of our Cavalier are a hair or two over 50"

The infant seat we have is (as best I can tell) a Graco SnugRide. It's certainly a Graco, but nowhere does it say SnugRide on it. It came with our stroller.

So - a 19.5" Marathon, and a 19" Generations, and a 17.5" Snugride come to 55.5", and just are NOT going to cut it.

Thankfully we have time yet - just need to figure out how to go about affording a van between now and then I guess.

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2006

• #11

If they are both ffing by the time baby#3 comes along, you could probably fit 2 cargos and the snugride. I watched my DN's a few years ago and was able to fit a ffing cosco convertible outboard, ffing cosco high back booster with harness center and graco snugride outboard with base in a 98 cavalier. You will probably have to discontunue using the marathon until you get a larger car, but getting 2 new seats would be a lot less expensive than a new car. I bet you can get 3 across, it just might mean buying a bunch of seat and returning them, if they won't let you try them in your car first.

 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Feb 20, 2006

• #12

We don't have a Marathon yet. But I detest the seat she's in now, and desperately want to replace it - and I'm pretty sure we're going to go with the Marathon when we do that (come on tax refund !!).

The Generations seat is only a few months old as well, and will not be being replaced unless we're in an accident at this point. Obviously, we will if we *have* to to get 3 seats in, but we'd really rather not. It's an excellent seat.

 

scatterbunny

New member

• Feb 20, 2006

• #13

Unless you absolutely have to have the Britax for the padding and cover, go with a CarGo instead. It has the same harnessed weight limit as the Marathon (seats cannot harness past 48 pounds in Canada) and top slots just a tad shorter. The CarGo also has EPS foam.

You have to keep the 19" Generations and the narrowest infant seat is 17.5", so there isn't much space leftover to work with. The CarGo will be your best bet.

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Feb 20, 2006

• #14

FWIW, we share a CarGo with my cousin for babysitting & she also has a Generations (I've never seen it, though) ... she says all 4 kids between age 2-8 prefer the CarGo. I'm not sure what the reason for that is, though