shopping for a new car, wwyd?

I want to go car shopping this weekend. Our new car would be getting a new car seat as well, but for the test driving, what should I do?

DD is currently in a Blvd. Would it be ok for me to leave the seat untethered in test drive vehicles?

It is going to be a pain to get it in and out of cars as is.... I don't think I want to re-tether it every time we drive another car.

If that is not ok, then Dh and I would probably just take turns driving them, with the other one of us sitting at the dealership.

Once I get another car, I am hoping to get a Radian for it. I think I am more excited about buying another carseat than I am a new car.

Well, using the top tether would help you determine the locations for the tether anchors in any given vehicle if your little one is going to be riding along for test drives, and provide the added measure of crash protection if a crash were to occur during the test drive. Some would argue it's more likely you'll be distracted while driving an unfamiliar vehicle and perhaps more likely to be in a crash under such circumstances, KWIM? Even if you want to swap turns test driving while one of you stays behind with your little one, ideally you would do a full installation of the Blvd. to test it out and be sure it's compatible in the vehicle before buying for reference. If she's rear facing, you could also double check that it's possible to create a rear facing tether anchor point with the Britax D-ring connector strap in the vehicle. Better to fully know about installation compatibility with the current carseat and tether anchors before you buy than to encounter any surprises afterward IMHO. Happy car shopping.

Attaching the tether is usually the quickest and easiest part of the installation. Once you've gone through the trouble of installing the seat, you might as well just connect the tether, too.

Like Jean said, it's a good way to get acquainted with where the anchors are, too. Some of them are in locations that would make them very inconvenient to use, and that's something that would be better to know BEFORE you buy the car.

We just took turns test driving without installing the carseat, BUT I had already researched (here and on other sites) how well carseats installed in the vehicles we were trying out.

Is she rear facing or forward facing? If she is ffing I would just tether it, it really easy in most cars. I agree it is the easy part and if you are going to install the seat another 5 second to attach the tether isn't a big deal to me. If she is rear facing, then I probably wouldn't bother tethering it. But that is just my opinion as a mom.

ETA: I would look for a tether spot for rear facing though. I wouldn't want any surprises after buying the car and once we had decided which car to buy I would probably test the carseat both forard faing and rear facing in different positions to make sure I was happy with everything.

Having bought a car and discovered a nasty surprise only after the fact, I recommend not only completely installing the carseat in every vehicle, but also in every seating location. :twocents:

I get what everyone is saying, but the Blvd won't be the seat for the new(er) car.

The Blvd is staying in our van and I will be getting a new seat for the new car. Once I figure out what car I am getting then I will be on the hunt for a compatible seat.

I am hoping for a SK Radian 80, but if it's not compatible with the car that I pick then we'll find another convertible seat.

DD is 9 mos old and will be rear facing of course. Our Blvd only RF to 33#, so I want to make sure that the new car has a seat that will RF to 35#.

FWIW... I am hoping to find a 2004-2007 Honda CRV with a manual transmission. Since I haven't found any of those within 100 miles, I am also looking for an Accord, Civic, or other four door sedan that has a manual transmission. My main requirement is that I have an manual transmission.... and those are a rarity I am finding.

I get what you're saying, too, and it is a pain, I know. But you'll still have a better idea of what the "quirks" are if you install your own seat in it. It's not a guarantee, but you're more likely to notice an issue if you try it with your own seat.

Who knows - since you're looking at used vehicles, you might discover something really weird like a broken seat belt, or a previous owner removed the top tethers for some unknown reason. It's easy to think you'd notice something like that just by looking, but a lot of times it's easy to overlook until you're sitting there a week later trying to install the carseat outboard (which you never thought you'd do) and there's an issue.

Since she's RF, I wouldn't bother tethering, but like others suggested, I would definitely examine the places that you would/could tether, including the location of the FF anchors.

In the Civic and Accord, they're right behind the seat, so no problem locating them. However, with some seats it's hard to get the tether tight because the anchors are SO close to the seat. It's often a problem with Britax seats--I'm not sure about the Radian. Just something to keep in mind.

I can see the Radian tether being a problem in some vehicles. It does the same sort of V-shape thing that the Britax seats do.

I figured she was rf when the question was originally asked, but wanted to scroll all the way to make sure.

since she's rf... I wouldn't bother tethering... but... before you test drive, do take the d-ring and have either you or your dh (whoever typically installs the seats) look for a good spot for when you do tether, if you buy the car, since the Radian allows tethering and test out hooking up the d-ring and how much strap you will have left and such (even though the strap is slightly different for the Radian, it will give you a good idea)

Next, for down the line when she ff's, just make sure that if the seats have headrests, that they are adjustable and/or removeable if they have any space between them and the vehicle seat (ie, unless it's just a straight seat with a built-in fixed headrest that is a part of the seat itself)

because of where the adjuster is on the Radian, installing the tether in some cars that have raised, immoveable, and not adjustable headrests (my dh's cobalt, for instance) is HORRID.

I did mention this to the SK rep in the online chat last spring/summer and he knew what I was talking about and said they going to make it easier, but I haven't seen any of the new Radians (the xt isn't out and I think only one person on here has gotten the new 65 so far... don't know if anyone got any new 80's yet), so I would err on the side of caution and check.

the Britax ones aren't as bad, because the tether starts higher on the seat itself... so it doesn't try to get caught between the top of the convertible seat and the vehicle seat... and there is more length to work with when feeding it between the headrest and the vehicle seat... so it adjusts more easily, even though they are similar.

(can you tell the cobalt headrests are that much of a bugger that I drug one of my friend's britax's out there just to check this to make sure it wouldnt' be a problem on other seats)

I mean, don't get me wrong... shoving the latchplate that loosens and tightens the tether is still no walk in the park... but connecting it, disconnecting it and tightening and loosening are so much easier with the Britaxes in this situation.

LISmama810 said:

Since she's RF, I wouldn't bother tethering, but like others suggested, I would definitely examine the places that you would/could tether, including the location of the FF anchors.

In the Civic and Accord, they're right behind the seat, so no problem locating them. However, with some seats it's hard to get the tether tight because the anchors are SO close to the seat. It's often a problem with Britax seats--I'm not sure about the Radian. Just something to keep in mind.

Click to expand...

moreso with the Radian... in the cobalt, my top tether is never completely tight... except in the center, but there I can't get a rock-solid (or even less than 1" tight) install. Headrests really just fudge it up nicely... and the seats are taller on the sides, so that hurts, too, since the tether starts lower down on the Radian.