Question Subaru 2010 legacy and 3 seats

[ran13]

well i bought a new car (that i love, love and do not want to get rid of), and found out i'm pregnant. Currently i have 2 girls-a 4 year old (38lbs) will be 5 when baby born and a 2 year old (28lbs) will be 3 when baby born and then a newborn.

Currently my girls are in a Marathon and Roundabout. The Roundabout expires in 2012 so will need to replace anyway. Marathon is good for awhile.

I just got rid of an expedition and don't really want to go back. My DH drives a F350 and gets 9mpg. We really wanted the Subaru for gas efficiency.


Any thoughts, not due till December so i have a ways to go before i decide what i'm going to do....
thanks in advance.

 

[gigi]

Those new Legacies have pretty wide and flat back seats, so I would think it would be pretty doable to fit 3-across with the right child restraints.

Will your 3 y.o. be FF or RF by the time the baby comes? Mine outgrew his Boulevard RF right at age 3 by weight (he hit 35 pounds). If yours is under 35 pounds, it is much safer to stay rear facing. You'd probably have great luck putting the Marathon RF in the center installed at a 35 degree or so angle. I did this in my OLD Legacy and it fit fine even with my very tall leggy husband comfortable in either front seat.

An Evenflo Maestro might work very well for your 5 year old, as she seems pretty small. My son (4 y.o., 38-39 pounds, 40", 16 inch torso) has recently moved to one and really loves it. It is pretty narrow and low profile and I suspect it would puzzle well with the Marathon, but I'm not 100% sure about that. They have them at Babies R Us and will let you try it out in your car.

For the baby, if you are open to a convertible from birth, a Combi Cocorro might work perfectly behind the passenger seat. It installs with a VERY small front-to-back footprint even at a newborn angle, so I bet you'd still have pretty full use of your front passenger seat. It is also very narrow side to side, so would help you in this situation.

If you'd like to have an infant seat from birth, I bet someone else would know which ones take up less space front to back and are narrow. I suspect a Chicco Keyfit will come up as a recommendation, but there might be a few others that could work well too.

What would probably help is if you measured both older kids torsos so the real experts here can get an idea of how long they'll fit in harnesses.

 

[EmmaCPST]

I'd probably look at buying a Radian for one of your two girls. In the center it would allow you to fit pretty much anything on either side. You could put the oldest in the Radian in the center, the Marathon on one side for the 2 y/o and the new baby's seat on the other side. For infant seats, I'm a big fan of the Keyfit 30, and it's pretty trim front to back and would fit nicely behind your passenger seat. The Snugride 32/35 is a little bigger but another great option. If you want to go straight to a convertible - the MyRide or a True Fit are great options for newborns and fit well in sedans behind the passenger or driver.

There are definitely other configurations that would work... but the narrowness of one Radian back there pretty much opens up a huge amount of options for the other two seats.

 

[gigi]

I'm not sure why no one else is replying to you, but I wanted to just warn you that Subarus (especially the center seat) and Radians often don't work well together. In my 07 Tribeca, the Radian BARELY fits front to back in rear facing position in the center seat with useable seats and it doesn't fit outboard without front seat being WAY up and unuseable (because of the very flat firm back seat). You should try in your car before buying one just to be sure!

I'm pretty sure a True Fit is too wide to fit in a 3 across in a Legacy.

In my Tribeca I am planning to do a Maestro and a Snugride 35 next to each other and leaving one out outboard seat free for passengers. I haven't done the final installs yet, but it seems to fit fine. When I don't need the infant seat, I'll be putting a CCO outboard and the Maestro center. I think in your case I'd opt for extra narrow since your kids will be 3 across and it will make things easier...so I'd probably go for the Keyfit.

Good luck! You can try all of the seats (except the CCO and often the Radian) at Babies R Us or Buy Buy Baby.

 

[Cryssy Jane]

I'm not sure why no one else is replying to you, but I wanted to just warn you that Subarus (especially the center seat) and Radians often don't work well together.

Posting quickly... Op I'll come back this afternoon when I have more time to post.


As a tech and a Subaru owner (2006 Subaru impreza wrx sedan) I have to whole heartedly disagree with the above statement. While the radian might not fit well in a Tribeca that's not to limit it to saying it doesn't fit well in all subarus. I currently have my xtsl rear facing in the center of my subi with seats on each side and had a radian rf in a forester the other day without any issues. The likelihood of getting a newborn recline is slim to none but it sounds like op might be using for an older child. My radians have gone in at about a 30 degree angle, sometimes less perfectly without having to do more than place belt and tighten.

Op. I have my impreza and can revisit your question later with more regard to seats. Anything that will fit three across in my car will fit in your car as you have more front to back space than I do. Also, if needed, I have a 2009 (I think) legacy that I have access to and could play carseats in.

 

[gigi]

I'm glad to be wrong, lol! I have heard that the long belt stalks make the install difficult, even with twisting, but I'm so happy to be wrong!

Good luck finding seats that fit!

 

[ran13]

thanks for all the info. I will post girls measurements in the next few days. I appreciate everyone's willingness to go above and beyond with information. Thanks again

 

[Unregistered]

I know this is a long shot since this is an old thread, but I have the same exact situation and wondering what you ended up going with? TIA!