Best Car for 3 across?

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Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
Wow, this is an interesting question! Most people want three carseats to fit their car, not a car to fit their three carseats (seeing that seats are cheaper than cars, of course). :p :D

What type of seats are you trying to fit? RF or FF? Infant seat? Convertibles? Boosters?
 

flipper68

Senior Community Member
The easiest - look for cars that have 3 sets of LATCH (lower anchors).

Several of the medium to large Chevy/GM sedans have them. At the same time, there are several people on the board that have successfully "puzzled" a variety of seats 3 across in smaller cars.

It also depends a great deal on the seats you have. In theory, it should be relatively easy to install 3 SK Radians or Combi Coccoros because they are designed with a narrow profile.
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
The board's successful 3 across thread at http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=33226 has a range of vehicles in which 3 carseats were installed across the back seat. While some cars are more friendly than others for doing so (Subarus probably being an example of the least friendly :eek:), it's possible with the right combination of child restraints in many cases. :) Cars with a bigger rear hip room specification are usually more conducive to fitting 3 child restraints across the back seat, but that hip room number doesn't fully take into account factors that also can play a role in child restraint installation. Factors such as vehicle seat contouring (a hump or deeply scooped out vehicle seat can make child restraint installation more challenging), seatbelt buckle stalk lengths and positioning of the seatbelts relative to other seatbelt's stalks and relative to the vehicle seat bight (the crease where the vehicle seatback and vehicle seat cushion/seating surface meet) can affect the car's friendliness or lack thereof for child restraint installations. Trying out child restraint installations before buying any car is generally advisable as part of the test drive process to possibly avoid installation issues or surprises after the car is purchased.
 

devaskyla

New member
Wow, this is an interesting question! Most people want three carseats to fit their car, not a car to fit their three carseats (seeing that seats are cheaper than cars, of course). :p :D

What type of seats are you trying to fit? RF or FF? Infant seat? Convertibles? Boosters?

Well, we don't have a car right now, just seats. I'd like to get a car, though, so I figured I'd see if there's any that are really good (or really bad) for doing 3 across before I go shopping. I looked around to find out about the one car the boys & dh love (PT Cruiser) & it seems pretty bad, so I decided I'd just ask. :)

Atm, we have a backless booster for ds1, a FF AO for ds2 & a RF Radian for ds3. He's actually too small for the Radian (straps above his shoulders) so it's a good thing we don't actually need it right now. Since ds2 is getting near (still a few pounds under 40, though)the harness weight limit on the AO, I was planning on putting ds3 RF in the AO & ds2 FF in the Radian when ds3 is a few months old & his torso is long enough for the lowest slots on the AO.
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
Well, we don't have a car right now, just seats. I'd like to get a car, though, so I figured I'd see if there's any that are really good (or really bad) for doing 3 across before I go shopping.

Got it. :) That makes sense. :)


I would look at the thread listed above. It has good ideas of what works. :)
 

Melodiya99

New member
We have a chevy impala and it has a huge backseat. Right now I have a compass infant seat and a true fit next to each other (neither are small seats) with enough room to have an adult fit comfortably on the other side. I'm confident it could fit a radian, or possibly another big seat.
 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member
The AO is a pretty wide seat -- possible to do 3 across with in some cars, but less likely that it will be *easy* when 1 of those seats is a booster....

I myself find it easiest to buckle boosters next to the Britax convertibles: the narrow base which sits the wide part of the seat up higher provides a little window to work the booster's buckle more easily than the AO. However, that might be a moot point if the Radian puzzles well FF between the RF AO & booster :)

The only way to know is to bring the seats to the dealership & test them out in the vehicles you're interested in :twocents: Dealers are usually confused when I ask to schedule a time to test out our seats in the vehicles, but it's no different than asking to test drive, IMO & they've always obliged me ;)
 

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