Question VW Routan, Regents, and HB Booster & Keyfit Booster questions

vermontmoms

New member
Ok, we are about 95% sold on a VW Routan. I have twin boys that just turned 6 and are almost to the last slot on their Regents (torso about 17in), they are 48.5in tall and 43lbs. We are planning to keep them in their Regents for our main source of travel but we are planning to get new boosters so we can begin booster training and so they can eventually transition to a booster.

We are planning to put the Regents in the 2nd row captains chairs in the Routan. But we would like to put them sometime in the third row...does the Routan have 2 TAs in the 3rd row? Does anyone know how this mini-van is on safety compared to the Honda or Hyundai or Sienna? Has anyone had any carseat trouble in the Routan?

Now about Boosters...has anyone used or tried the new Keyfit Strada Booster? If so how does it fit a child with specs of my boys (see above)? Does it latch?

What are the best HB latchable boosters for boys with broad shoulders? My boys are skinny but have wide shoulders which is why we went with Regents over the Frontier and the Nautilus. What booster would fit them best? Are any boosters latchable that would fit the boys and fit in the Routan?

Thanks for your help!
Jen
 
ADS

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
On the Routan tether anchor questions, it has full LATCH in both second row captain's chairs and in the third row center. The third row outboard spots do not have tether anchors. The Routan is essentially a rebadged Chrysler minivan in VW clothing.

It seems to have performed comparably in crash tests to the Sienna and Ody. Here's IIHS crash scores for the Routan, good scores for frontal and side impacts:
http://www.iihs.org/ratings/ratingsbyseries.aspx?id=655 and it earned mostly 5 star scores from NHTSA based on the scores listed on informedforlife.org

I don't believe the Strada is available just yet, not due out until later this year or next year if I remember the details from the ABC products show that carseatblog.com has been abuzz about this week. I'm just in the process of selecting boosters for my DD1 who is long torsoed and somewhat thin for her height (her stats are in my signature). She is on the verge of outgrowing her Regent by height. So far the Frontier seems roomiest for her shoulders in terms of highback models we've tried. The original Parkway is cramped for her in the shoulders and she's not found of the headwings. She's too tall for the FPSV booster in highback mode and a bit cramped in it widthwise in backless mode, too. The Clek Oobr is rigid LATCH able but spendy, and you might want to look into that one. I liked how DD1 fit in the backless Clek Olli and I'm pondering the Oobr now. But first I have a Sunshine Kids Monterey on the way to try her out in next.

Back to the Routan, I can't personally speak to installs in the Routan. The Routan is essentially a rebadged Chrysler minivan with some VW badging and VW touches, so perhaps installs would be comparable to the Chrysler version, and we do have a fair number here with the Chrysler models, too. :)
 

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