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Carnelian 
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 Topic: Car that fits 3 carseats across?
Posted: 11 January 2011 at 6:48pm |
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Hi
We have to upgrade our car and we currently have a 2 year old and a 5 month old and possibly in the future we may have a 3rd baby so I really want to buy a car with that in mind.
Can you recommend a good family car around with a max of 10K?
At the moment we have a Toyota Carib station wagon.
thanks
:-)
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peanut butter
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 7:24pm |
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or even 3 narrow carseat recommendations would be good.
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cuppatea
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 7:39pm |
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The radian carseats are the narrowest I could find anywhere and I can tell you they will not fit in a honda accord or a volvo v40, measured both of those for it.
Nissan primera the newer models it would just about and also mazda 6 but they were over 10k or at least the one we looked at was.
We are opting for a 7 seater now and are going to get a toyota ipsum(also comes in a 6 seater but rarer to find), it looks much like a car but a bit longer and the back seats split so you can fold one down for extra boot space or fold both down when you only have two kids. We are looking at ones around 13k but there are cheaper ones with less gadgets and more kms, the older model(which I think is prior to 2001) is cheaper too but not sure about the seat set up in the older ones.
Then of course there are the other 6/7 seaters on the market like the honda odyssey etc but we looked at most of them and they dont' have any boot space at all with the extra seats in use, fine if you have them folded out of the way. Then there is your bus type option of a toyota estima, which is huge inside but boot space again was lacking, plus it's more bus than car that put me off as well.
Oh actually just remembered that IVF bank ad has three radians rear facing in a back of an estima using just the middle row, which I guess means you could move/take out the back row of seats to give you masses of boot space.
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rachndean
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 7:41pm |
Hey 
We have a 7 year old, a 2 year old and a 1 year old. They all have car seats and fit across the back of our Mazda 6
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DD Savannah 18.01.04
DS Austin 04.09.08
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cuppatea
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 7:41pm |
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myfullhouse
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 8:22pm |
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Good thread, we are at the moment trying to decide what to do car-wise as we can't fit 3 seats across (a Mitsubishi Legnum)
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cuppatea
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 8:33pm |
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Some of the cars we looked at were wide enough but the middle seat was slightly raised or there was too much going on on the inside of the doors so they only fit with the doors open and I'm told it's not good driving to drive with your back doors open.
Also some older model cars only have a lap belt in the middle, I'm not sure if that is something that can be upgraded though?
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fallen
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 9:13pm |
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I used to own a Honda Prelude. It was a 2 door tiny inside thing. But interestingly I could still fit 3 carseats across the back seat!!
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fattartsrock
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 9:26pm |
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I can fit 3 narrows or 2 and a capsule in the back of my honda crv.
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The Honest Un PC Parent of 2, usually stuck in the naughty corner! :P
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Plushie
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 9:32pm |
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Without having installed them i can fit 2x carseats and 1 capsule across my Toyota Caldina. Couldnt install the capsule as my seatbelts are too short and the middle seat has only a lapbelt as well - but strictly measurement wise they all fit!
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ButterflyMum
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 10:27pm |
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Most cars can do it my toyota sprinter can but I hate it cause one is a booster seat my boys too big for harness ones and jaming hand between seat is a real pain in the a**. Mind you I have been doing it for 2 years so totally over it.
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mrsbt
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Posted: 11 January 2011 at 10:56pm |
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Hi, we have just had our third child and worked through this issue.
The Holden commodore stationwagon is what we got in the end as my husband is a holden guy but I am told the Ford territory is great too. I love our car as it not only fits all 3 carseats neatly but it has a huge boot space which with 3 kids is kind of handy. However it is not the most economical... :-)
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LG
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 12:54pm |
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When we were looking at cars we were told the Dodge Nitro and Hyundai Sante Fe were the only ones that could fit them (the things car sales people say huh!!!) We got a Dodge Journey and it fits 3 fine, also has 2 built in booster seat things that pop up
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 Angel Baby Aug '12, Feb '13
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peanut butter
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 2:14pm |
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two_boys..I was concerned about only a lap belt in the middle but rang safe n sound people (Britax) and they said "absolutely" to fitting a car seat in with a lap belt...as long as its tethered. And when you think about it, its the lap component that holds the seat down, not the sash. That was a huge relief, now just need to work out if we can fit 3 across our Toyota Prado.
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becsscolly
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 2:20pm |
Ha, amazing how many people go through all this really.. I have a friend with a Toyota Caldinda station wagon who has 3 seats, not sure on the brands though.
We have a Subaru Legacy, an Edinburgh booster (with harness) and a safe n sound convertible (a cheaper version, not sure which - but apparently s n s are the widest ones out there) and hope to get either a capsule or another convertible like the s n s. Like cuppatea said, they might all fit with the doors open!! I imagine it will be easier while one seat is rear facing.
Also, have heard that the Baby trend capsule is one of the slimmest ones out there.
Also, not sure about what to do about having a lap belt in the centre - is this still ok (if long enough) for the booster while he's in a harness? How much is it to retrofit a sash belt?
Oh, and I like the look of the radian, but we can't justify spending that much...
Not sure if that helps anyone, or if anyone can help me... 
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clover
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 2:22pm |
 cuppatea wrote:
Some of the cars we looked at were wide enough but the middle seat was slightly raised or there was too much going on on the inside of the doors so they only fit with the doors open and I'm told it's not good driving to drive with your back doors open.
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caliandjack
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 2:56pm |
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We've got a holden commodore and it can accommodate 3 car seats across the back has lap belts on all 3 seats, we currently have the capsule on the middle seat
we wont be having 3 kids but if we need to transport one of DDs friends when she's older then we need the space for an extra car seat
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  [/url] Angel June 2012
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Carnelian
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 3:04pm |
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Wow thanks for all the replies. Definitely gives me a few models to look at.
I might take my 3 seats to a car place and try them all while I'm there so I know they definitely fit.
That's interesting that the Caldina fits three as that's the next step up from mine and I quite like Toyotas.
becssolly - I don't know if lap belts are allowed for kids or not but I do know that they offer no profection for the upper body so it becomes like scissors in an accident and digs into the body and can cause serious harm. My car only has a lap in the middle too so we would have to have this changed if it's the same in the new car. Sorry no idea on changing this over though.
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Kellz
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 3:22pm |
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We have a ford telstar station wagon and there is almost no room bewteen the 2 carseats at all- my tiny 4yr old can not even fit in the gap!
We also have the same dilema! Ready for #3 but not the finaces or inclination to buy a bus!
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Pipee
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Posted: 12 January 2011 at 4:43pm |
We had a subaru legacy station wagon. I measured and fitted 3 seats across the back seats, one booster, one convertible SnS and a capsule. They fitted. Just. Like in the other posts it was really hard work to jam my hand down between the seats to do up the booster. In the end we needed a new car anyway due to engine trouble so I got the car I really wanted - Holden Adventra stationwagon, like the commodore but is 4wd essentially. I love it and it isn't a bus (my DH said that he would rather sit-to-pee than be caught having to drive a bus!). There is an option to put fold away seats in the boot as well to make it a 7 seater which we are looking at doing.
I have a radian rear-facing, booster in middle and capsule on base currently in the back seat. All fit easily with enough room between the seat for the big kids to have drink holders. Also has a massive boot to store all the cr*p in it that I seem to haul around for 3 kiddos
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Car that fits 3 carseats across?
