Ooooh Subaru. I hate you. I really really do.

[todzwife]

We had an 07 Forester. I LOVED that car but getting 3 across was a serious puzzle and a not-fun work out. I begged DH for a minivan. I even found a used, fully loaded Sedona I would have given my right arm for, but DH refused to drive a minivan. He bought an 08 Tribeca. I don't like it. It's fine as far as vehicles go, and yes I feel safe but really, I don't think that the Subaru designers have kids. Getting 3 across is only marginally easier than in the Forester. I have 3 NARROW seats (2 Radians and a keyfit or Scenera) and they BARELY fit. But my biggest beef is the stupid latch system is NO JOKE, 2 inches INSIDE the seat bite! I had to recline the seat as far as possible to even feel it, and then I had to blindly place the keyfit's latch...it took me 10 minutes because I couldn't SEE the stupid things! And of course, the front-to-back space is pretty crappy too, which means again, I get to ride with my knees in the dash.

and I have NO idea what I'm going to do with my 6 year old outgrows his Radian. We'll have to use the 3rd row, which is insanely hard to get to unless we keep one of the outboard seats empty. ARRGH!

 

[Guest]

So, everytime you need to install the seats, do you "lose the mood" for a couple weeks? He might be more willing to get a minivan if it "improves" your mood.

 

[ntrenary]

I'm not sure if this helps, but in my van it works better to sit the seat more upright than to lay it back to get to the LATCH connectors.

 

[todzwife]

So, everytime you need to install the seats, do you "lose the mood" for a couple weeks? He might be more willing to get a minivan if it "improves" your mood.

:ROTFLMAO:


Some day he'll realize that we really do need one.

 

[todzwife]

I'm not sure if this helps, but in my van it works better to sit the seat more upright than to lay it back to get to the LATCH connectors.

I tried that too. They are SO far inside, it's stupid. Just plain stupid. Why even have them there if you can't get to them? :thumbsdown:

 

[SavsMom]

That stinks...
I have a 10 Forester and my parents have a 10 Outback - both of them have velcro covers over the latch hooks, you just take the velcro off and voila, the hooks are there and easy to access.

I will say that my parents have an 09 Camry and the latch hooks in that car are buried deep in the seat, I found the trick to installing my daughters Boulevard in that car was to loosen up the latch connectors on her seat so the latch webbing was as long as possible, I would then pull the car seat away from the seat bite, allowing me to see where the hooks were rather than just blindly trying to attach them, I would then put the car seat in the way I wanted it installed and tighten the latch straps - yes, there was a lot of tightening to do, but all-in-all it was relatively easy to do vs. trying it the other way - maybe that would help in your situation.

 

[todzwife]

Yeah, I let ALL of the slack out of the keyfit's base. It doesn't matter that I can see the bite of the seat, the latches are SO far inside I was still doing it blind. I'd just install it w/ the seatbelt, but this really is one of those seats that I'd prefer a latch installation.

 

[cookie123]

So, everytime you need to install the seats, do you "lose the mood" for a couple weeks? He might be more willing to get a minivan if it "improves" your mood.

My DH always asks 'what can I get for that?' when I ask for something a bit over the top. I always promise something good.

The Tribeca is on my list. It has 55 inches of hip room. That seems huge compared to my 49.1 inches. Hmmmm.

 

[todzwife]

My DH always asks 'what can I get for that?' when I ask for something a bit over the top. I always promise something good.

The Tribeca is on my list. It has 55 inches of hip room. That seems huge compared to my 49.1 inches. Hmmmm.

If you don't want to use the latch, it's fine. That said, I'm still having issues with rear LEG room. Thankfully I have small kids.

Right now, I have 2 FF Radians and a RFing Scenera in there. The Keyfit fits fine where the scenera is as well. Now, when DS moves out of his Radian, I'm not sure what I'm going to do because there isn't tons of room to buckle a booster.:thumbsdown:

 

[gigi]

I just bought a Tribeca and I LOVE it. My Boulevard fits perfectly RFing outboard and there is a serious amount of legroom for the front passenger...not total legroom but enough room for short me to sit very comfortably and for my tall husband to sit reasonably comfortably. And my LATCH anchors aren't hard to find/reach...I wonder what happened between the '07s and the '08s?!?

I only have one kid though, so I don't have to worry about 3 across. That back seat is so huge looking I'm surprised to hear it is a tough fit with such narrow seats! Are you using the seat belts for the outboard seats? Bummer there isn't more room!

 

[todzwife]

Seat belts on all 3 seats.

DH's WRX's latches aren't NEARLY as awful to get to. Our Forester wasn't a problem either. I just have to suck it up though because we're not getting a new car for a long long long time.

 

[gigi]

Maybe they redesigned the back seat slightly between the 07s and 08s, b/c mine are easy to find. That is such a bummer!

In any event, the men I know (mine included) seem to think that if the car says it will fit 7 people, it will actually fit 7 people. SO wrong! Car seats take up more room than I do by far and the way back is just for emergencies and no one is going to be super comfy back there! It is too bad though, that 3 across is so tough.

The Pilot is a little wider and those couple of inches must make a big difference b/c I could easily put 3 across in my aunt's (we've had 2 next to each other and an adult on the side and had tons of room).

 

[1stTimeDad]

Seat belts on all 3 seats.

DH's WRX's latches aren't NEARLY as awful to get to. Our Forester wasn't a problem either. I just have to suck it up though because we're not getting a new car for a long long long time.

Can you comment about your experience having the kids in the WRX? I have an Impreza and am wondering whether or not to trade it in because of the room. This is our first so I'm not worried about 3 across yet, but just wondering how good or bad it is to get/have the baby in there. Thanks

 

[Mommy2Marcus]

Can you comment about your experience having the kids in the WRX? I have an Impreza and am wondering whether or not to trade it in because of the room. This is our first so I'm not worried about 3 across yet, but just wondering how good or bad it is to get/have the baby in there. Thanks

I have a small 97 2 door Impreza. It is pretty easy to get my son in & out. It is also pretty easy for me to install seats into. The only issue I have with mine is that a center install is NOT happening at all. I have tried numerous times, but they're no go. However both outboard seats are insanely easy to get seats installed in FF or RF.

 

[todzwife]

DH's WX (cloth seats) is actually MUCH easier than our Forester was to install seats. So far, we've been able to get everything in there that we've tried. However, DH didn't like the nautilus because DS's knees were about 4 inches from the back of the drivers side seat. Putting DS in a Radian freed up extra room.

And also, the Nautilus had a smidge of overhang (which I didn't know wasn't allowed).

 

[Elleah]

The difference between the 07 Outback and 10 Outback was drastic. I think the designers started having kids and then realized that something had to be done.

That said, I'm still having trouble figuring out 3 across in the '10 but I am pretty sure that's because 2 TrueFits would make it hard to fit a 3rd seat in just about any car. But the 3 upper tethers and 3 LATCH connectors and extra space in the back is really nice, and a GIANT improvement from the earlier model.