Mitsubishi Galant - 3 Across w/ 2 Boosters

[hedgefun]

DW is taking some of the nieces to the movies on Friday and is most likely driving her mom's '01 Galant. I'm not sure she realizes that the boosters could be a PITA to buckle or it could be hard (or near impossible?) to fit all 3 seats in. Does anyone have experience with fitting a 3 across, or 2 boosters + a convertible/combo in an '01 Galant? Unfortunately she can't try seats out in advance. Harnesses aren't an option for the two boostered kiddos.

* The seat for Niece 1 will most likely be a triumph or symphony. Toss up as to which one DW would be given. She may be able to ask for a specific one in advance.
* Niece 2 uses a NB turbo, but also has an amp. Either one would definitely be available.
* Niece 3 has a NB turbo or HB evenflo big kid. It's a toss up which she'll have.

I'd feel a lot better about this if I was there with her. DW knows nothing about boosters. I'm just thankful that even if Nieces 2 and 3 need help getting the boosters *buckled* they know how the belt should be routed and will correct her DW she does it wrong! And they sit properly 100% of the time.

 

[Brianna]

I can't see a 3 across happening with a Triumph or Symphony especially with wider boosters.

Are there any other seats available? Is it possible to take a different car?

 

[hedgefun]

There is a slim possibility she could borrow her brother's Impala, but it depends on whether BIL is home or she's picking Niece 1 up from school.

Unfortunately we don't really have many seats to work with. She'll really just be "given" the seats above unless I can work something out for her in advance. She doesn't really understand that fitting 3 seats may be an issue.

SIL might have a Scenera in her office (it's a backup seat for her work vehicle). If this would work better than one of the evenflos, I could text her and ask if she could drop it off w/ DW before Friday.

DW's cousin has a GN, but her cousin's DH will most likely not let her borrow it. I asked to borrow it once and he said no because it's "hard to re-install in their van."

Those are the only other two seats she could possibly have available.

If there are cheap boosters that are more narrow than the turbo or amp that could be purchased at Target, I would not be opposed to asking DW to purchase them. The only booster I don't want is the Cosco TopSide because I'm counting on Nieces 2 and 3 to show DW how to route the belt, and I don't want any confusion over the need for the shoulder belt to be above the arm rest.

 

[hedgefun]

Update: She said she got it to work, but after some digging I found out it may not have really worked

BIL installed the Triumph for Niece 1. Pretty sure she got the Amp and NB Turbo for Nieces 2 and 3. The only way I knew this was she said Niece 2 was in her regular booster and Niece 3 borrowed Niece 2's backup booster. Triumph was outboard. Not sure which booster was where... she couldn't tell the difference between them. "I don't know honey, they were boosters." I probably could have asked which kid was where to figure it out, or which position the pink booster was in. Oh well.

Anyhow, she said she got all the seats to fit.. but then the confessed that she couldn't get the 3rd booster (outboard) to sit flush with the seat back. She said there was about an inch or two of space. I'm going to see if she can give me more info when she gets back tomorrow on why it wouldn't sit flush and how exactly the booster was on the seat. Seems odd to me that there would be this issue since it was a NBB. I wish she would have snapped a picture.

This is a very, very rare situation where she's there without me trying to transport 3 kids by herself. Usually she just has 1 or 2 nieces and/or I'm there with her. When I'm there I have seats installed and ready to go when we show up (and we usually have our car, so we know what works!)

 

[lorismurph]

Are there shoulder belts in all 3 positions? If so, the Triumph outboard might work but probably would fit better in the middle.

I'd probably pick up the Harmony Literiders from Walmart if you need to do this again. She can probably fit those on either side of the Triumph.

 

[hedgefun]

Yeah, all 3 positions have lap/shoulder belts. Thanks for the suggestion on the Literiders! She comes back tomorrow... we live a few hours away and she only makes a trip without me about once a year. If this comes up next year I'll probably just tell her to go grab a couple of those.