HELP. Not sure what to do. Carseat in Japan.

[Ltaylor]

Ok, DD is currently in a Britax Frontier 85 harnessed. She is 2 months shy of 4, she is currently 40in, 35lbs (which she fluctuates between about 34-36), with approx a 15in seated torso height. She also has pretty broad shoulders.

We are PCSing to Japan very soon. We should have been leaving on Friday, but DD and I are being delayed.

MOST of the Japanese cars that we will be traveling in and eventually buying (2 of) do not have locking seat belts, LATCH or Tether.

I read the manual to the FR85 when we first got it almost a year ago and I could be wrong, but Im pretty sure that it said that it MUST be tethered when using in Harness mode. I dont have access to the manual at the moment because DH has the car and the carseat and manual are in the car.
I emailed Britax CS a couple months ago when we first learned that we were PCSing. I explained the situation and asked them if the FR85 could be used without tether and they said NO and that it must be tethered in harness mode. They didnt say anything about using a locking clip with it.

So now, Im not sure what to do. Someone suggested getting the Nautilus Elite, however, unless they have changed the fact that 100% of the base has to be on the cars seat, we cant use it. The original Nautilus hung over in our current car plus it was too narrow for DDs shoulders. We ended up getting the FR85 instead because she fit better in it and it fit our car better.

I cant get a seat like the Nautilus Elite and then it not fit in the cars there.

I had originally thought we would get the Radian XTSL.

We will have to have lock offs or a locking clip. We will be installing/uninstalling the carseat in several different vehicles for about a month or so after we get there until we are able to get our own vehicles.

I just really do not know what to do. And now something that I didnt think of before, she will have to remain harnessed because since the seat belts do not lock, you cant use a booster seat right ??


Is all that about as clear as mud ??

 

[spokaneCPST]

The Frontier requires a tether at 65-85 pouds, but recommends it for all installations. So, technically you have a long way to go before the tether is required.

Can you get a car with a 3rd row and use the seatbelt behind as the tether?

 

[Ltaylor]

Im honestly not even sure if they have 3rd row seating in cars over there.

Can a locking clip be used with the FR85 ?

ETA: If a locking clip can be used, can I get one from like BRU and use that ? The FR85 didnt come with a locking clip.

 

[Kat_Momof3]

you can use a locking clip... much as it was with the Regent, while it doesn't come with one, you can use one because it has no built-in lockoffs.

locking clips, even though they may be stamped with a brand, are universal.. so you should be fine to go pick one up at a local shop.

 

[LISmama810]

To answer your other question, boosters are perfectly fine to use without locking belts. In fact, we typically only recommend locking a belt with a booster when a child is too immature to sit properly. Some car manuals forbid it.

It sounds like it'll be a while before you need to booster, in any case.

 

[jasminegrl]

they do make 3 row vehicles over here, they are mostly just vans tho. Newer cars do have locking seatbelts. My 94 does not but my next door neighbors i think its a 97 does. I'm not sure on FF tethers as DD is still rearfacing. If you have any other questions on Japan let me know

 

[Ltaylor]

they do make 3 row vehicles over here, they are mostly just vans tho. Newer cars do have locking seatbelts. My 94 does not but my next door neighbors i think its a 97 does. I'm not sure on FF tethers as DD is still rearfacing. If you have any other questions on Japan let me know

Im thinking that since we are getting 2 cars, I am going to get either an SUV (they have the equivalent of the Lexus and a few others) or a van. i actually like the look of the vans there.
DH is set on getting a Supra so there wont be a carseat going in that car so I will have to get something geared for family use.
Im hoping to get newer than a 97.

We will be at Yokota. Where are you at over there ?

 

[jasminegrl]

Im thinking that since we are getting 2 cars, I am going to get either an SUV (they have the equivalent of the Lexus and a few others) or a van. i actually like the look of the vans there.
DH is set on getting a Supra so there wont be a carseat going in that car so I will have to get something geared for family use.
Im hoping to get newer than a 97.

We will be at Yokota. Where are you at over there ?

we decided to get 2 cars as well it is so much easier
we have a '93 suzuki escudo and a '94 honda odyssey, I love my van despite its age. Try and get cars with as close to 2 years jci as you can it will save you money in the long run.
We are up in Misawa unfortunately.

 

[Ltaylor]

we decided to get 2 cars as well it is so much easier
we have a '93 suzuki escudo and a '94 honda odyssey, I love my van despite its age. Try and get cars with as close to 2 years jci as you can it will save you money in the long run.
We are up in Misawa unfortunately.

The honda odyssey is what Im looking at as well. A friend here had an old 4 dr odyssey and she loved it. I think the ones there are very similar to what she had.
We have been looking on the yokota equivalent to Craigslist and have found several cars but no vans or SUVs so I have a feeling we will have to go to a car lot.

What is the jci ? Is that the emissions over there ?

 

[jasminegrl]

The honda odyssey is what Im looking at as well. A friend here had an old 4 dr odyssey and she loved it. I think the ones there are very similar to what she had.
We have been looking on the yokota equivalent to Craigslist and have found several cars but no vans or SUVs so I have a feeling we will have to go to a car lot.

What is the jci ? Is that the emissions over there ?

make sure you check the lemon lot when you get there since some people don't list things on the sale sites, atleast they don't always here.
JCI is Japanese Compulsory Insurance its renewed every two years, and expensive. Its kind of like an inspection, hey check everything over on the car and then some but it is also when they charge you your weight tax. We were going to get it done on base but were told that we had tons of stupid minor things wrong, like our engine needed to be steam cleaned. So we took it to a place off base and with repairs it was $1200 total just the jci itself was about $700 and the rest of the cost was the repairs. I have not met 1 person that didn't not need a repair of some sort when it came time to get their car JCI'd.
Regular car insurance is totally different and is based off of the active duty's rank, age and car type.
500 plate vehicles are cheaper than 300 plate vehicles when it comes to insurance, JCI, and the yearly road tax paid every April.

If you buy a car from anywhere but a dealer get it checked out at the base garage, it will be worth the cost. We almost bought a Toyota Surf suv and I'm so glad we got it checked out, it basically needed a new engine so much was wrong with it and nobody at the could figure out why it ran so well. They told us it was only a matter of time before it just stopped running. Most sellers should be willing to cover the cost of this if they have faith in what they are selling.

 

[mommycat]

Sounds like you should be fine using the Frontier since DD is so light. I was going to suggest getting an Evenflo Maestro to take with you but if you can use the FR,it's nicer and you already own it...