Toddler Car seat recommendations for Jetta

Hi,

I'm looking for a decent toddler car seat that fits well in the back seat of my 2001 Jetta. We currently have a Brittax Roundabout in a trail blazer but for some reason it doesn't seat right in the Jetta. I'm looking for an forward facing one that is designed for ages 12 months and older, ~22lbs or more.

Thanks!

iamatt

funny, i'm in the same boat as you right now, except i'm only at the 6-mo stage. here's what we've done: we bought a graco comfortsport for my wife's car, a pontiac vibe. she'll be driving harrison around less, mainly to and from day care, the grocery store, etc.

for my car -- a 2005 passat wagon -- we have on order a radian car seat by sunshine kids. now, we haven't seen this yet, but all the reviews we've read are great. it has the same raves as the brittax, but it's supposedly smaller and works better with smaller cars. it folds, works forward and rearward, and works as a booster seat up to 65 lbs, as well. it's a relatively new company, so of course everything is backordered right now.

funny aside: when our pediatrician was talking to us about convertible car seats, she told us that everything on the market is safe b/c they all meet federal standards; it's just that some have more bells and whistles than others. she said, "so it doesn't matter if you get the volkswagen version or the lexus version or the mercedes version, they are all safe." i love how her idea of the low-end of the totem pole is the vw! i personally would have picked, of idon't know, yugo or kia or hyundai or ford.

Correction:

The car seat I was having problems with was an eddie bauer model. I have a hard time keeping all of this baby junk straight, I do own a roundabout though. My wife sent me a nice website which says the roundabout fits fine in the Jetta.

You can check reviews and your new car seat in their compatibility database at
http://www.carseatdata.org/database.html


re,

iamatt

http://www.carseatdata.org/

prolly depends on how big the driver is, whether you'll have problems or not. i put the graco in my passat today (we're still waiting for the radian to arrive), and it hits the back of the driver's seat. it fits fine, but in a smaller car, who knows. and the graco is smaller than the brittax. granted, i'm 6' 2" and have my seat almost all the way back, and we still have our seat rearfacing. when it's forward facing, i don't think it will be a problem at all.

We've had a Britax Marathon, Wizard, and a Boulevard in 2001 Jetta; they all fit just fine (two at a time, not all 3!)

bigEZ said:

when it's forward facing, i don't think it will be a problem at all.

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Just wait... my 2.5 year old has his feet on my seat back in the Jetta...keeps pushing me... I love the Jetta but it could definitely use more legroom...

For the last few years the UK have had the ISOFIX system in most new cars. Rather than using seat belts to hold them inplace, the seats "click" into the chassis removing the poor fitting which some people risk with there children. I may be worth checking if your car has the fittings and importing a chair?

http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/standards/isofix.htm

aham_uk said:

For the last few years the UK have had the ISOFIX system in most new cars. Rather than using seat belts to hold them inplace, the seats "click" into the chassis removing the poor fitting which some people risk with there children. I may be worth checking if your car has the fittings and importing a chair?

http://www.childcarseats.org.uk/standards/isofix.htm

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That sounds like our LATCH system. I LOVE it. Makes installing our carseats a breeze. Our 2001 had LATCH even though it was not required in all cars in the states until 2002. However, there is a little-known tidbit out there - VW will retrofit a 2001 (possibly other years as well; I'm not sure) for free with the LATCH system. Eurovans cannot be retrofitted with the lower anchors though.

Lildevildee are you serious?? Is this hearsay about retrofitting the latch system? My 2001 doesn't have those metal hooks so we have to use the should belt harness. I always disliked that way of securing the car seat. I have a feeling the local VW dealer will have no clue about this bulletin... got a link?

Iamatt

No linky, but I used to work for a VW dealership in VA. I asked about the Eurovan at my local dealership in WA since we were looking at purchasing one; he had to go through 14 pages of bulletin to find out EV's are excluded. However, they did know about the retrofitting, even though we would not have been the first owner and the EV is 5 years old.

If, for any reason you can't get it done, stick with a Britax carseat; they're easier than the rest to properly secure with the regular seatbelt.

Thanks everybody - great posting!!! Grandchild on the way this August!

bigEZ said:

for my car -- a 2005 passat wagon -- we have on order a radian car seat by sunshine kids. now, we haven't seen this yet, but all the reviews we've read are great. it has the same raves as the brittax, but it's supposedly smaller and works better with smaller cars. it folds, works forward and rearward, and works as a booster seat up to 65 lbs, as well. it's a relatively new company, so of course everything is backordered right now.

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Let us know how it works for you. Just reading their web site, and it looks like an interesting option for my Jetta when my kid gets a few more months on him.

Jason

Hi again,

The Brittax Roundabout fits niceley in the 01 jetta. The kid prefers being in the middle seat with that centerline view down the highway. Fits nicely in the side seats too with enough room for my tall frame and the seat kicked back. Never heard of the radian but then again, I go numb when my wife tries to show me a baby catalog or magazine...

iamatt

We had the Evenflo Triumph, and hated it. The straps just seemed horrible. Replaced it with the Britax Marathon. The only thing with the Marathon is, it's a pain to attach the straps to the lower anchors: in the Cvic, no problem, but my seats are much more firm. To put the strap on that is closest to the center of the car, you have put the seat away from you, pop up the seat cushion, install the strap, and put the seat down and move the seat to where it needs to be.

My car has leather, so maybe that is the cause of that issue. The LATCH system works great, but I do have to crawl in the back of my wagon to do that rear strap, where I left the curtain thing in (that goes over the cargo area). Oh, and I had to remove the headrest from that seat too.

When we had the Marathon rear facing, it required the front seat to be no further back than like mid position with the seat back straight up. Luckily, that was right were I like to drive, although now with it front facing I did move the seat back a bit. If you're tall, you won't want it behind you.

The A4 really hurts in rear space; those rear facing seats do fit but everything gets tight. I forget--did the A5's get more rear space?

supton said:

The A4 really hurts in rear space; those rear facing seats do fit but everything gets tight. I forget--did the A5's get more rear space?

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Yes the A5's have much more rear space

bigEZ said:

for my car -- a 2005 passat wagon -- we have on order a radian car seat by sunshine kids. now, we haven't seen this yet, but all the reviews we've read are great. it has the same raves as the brittax, but it's supposedly smaller and works better with smaller cars. it folds, works forward and rearward, and works as a booster seat up to 65 lbs, as well. it's a relatively new company, so of course everything is backordered right now.

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Hi bigEZ-

We're now at the stage of moving up to a convertible car seat for our tall 9 month-old and have been researching the size issue. I'm assuming the radian car seat has arrived by now. How well it has worked for you? Did it install easily? Does it seem secure?

Thanks!

the radian has been very good. it is very solid and well built, installs easily and holds my boy securely. easy to tighten and loosen the straps. my son is tall (over 3 ft. and not yet 2 yrs.) and he still has good room to grow into it. we also have travelled with it in its bag on the plane, and it travels well since it folds up (although the bag they give you is flimsy; ours tore after 2 trips, but maybe they've made it better now).

the seat is heavy, but i think it is b/c it is so solid and is made to fold. i've heard the brittax's are heavy too, but i have never used one, so i can't compare. there can be a metallic rattle sometimes that comes from the two metal plates where it folds clicking together, but it is easily remedied (just put a piece of paper or something btwn the plates).

all in all, a good buy. it is expensive, but i think worth it. our other seat is a graco comfort sport, which is cheaper but still good. much lighter, but the straps aren't as good, although they work fine, you just have to adjust them sometime. that seat won't last you as long (it's not "convertible," i.e. it doesn't go to as high of a weight limit) but it is a great second seat.

hope this helps.

I purchased a Recaro Start for my kid and put him in it at the absolute minimum age (1ish).

He rides in it regularly for 600 mile drives and now that he's 4.5 years old he says "my Recaro is super comfortable"

Worth every penny in build quality, safety, style and comfort. Never underestimate providing your kid with a comfy carseat.

ducatipaso said:

Never underestimate providing your kid with a comfy carseat.

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This. A friend's son cried every time he had to ride in the car. We put him in our carseat once (Britax) and he told his mom how soft and nice it was, lol!

We've got two Britax models now, tried other brands only to return them and go back to Britax, they're more $$ and they do take up potentially more space in the car than others but in terms of getting kids in and out and outright comfort, safety and quality they're hard to beat.

I've had three Britax (Roundabout, Marathon, and Bodyguard Booster). All three are still being used in two cars. All are very good and very easy to install very tightly.

Now that we're in carpool, I wished we had gone for the Radian instead. We have a Bodyguard booster, a Marathon, and a Combi Kobuk booster in the back of a Passat B5, but it would've been easier with a Radian in the middle instead of the Marathon.

iamatt said:

Lildevildee are you serious?? Is this hearsay about retrofitting the latch system? My 2001 doesn't have those metal hooks so we have to use the should belt harness. I always disliked that way of securing the car seat. I have a feeling the local VW dealer will have no clue about this bulletin... got a link?

Iamatt

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Yes - at least, they used to, for 99 to 02 Passats, in the US and Canada. They may have had a "statue of limitations" on the "free" part, though, and I don't think it can be retrofitted to other models. Definitely worth a call to the dealer anyway.

Make sure you check the manual for LATCH info, as the weight limits are substantially less than with a seatbelt (48lbs rings a bell).

As to the other questions, this site is invaluable when researching car seats:
http://www.car-safety.org/

They also have a LATCH info page:
http://www.car-safety.org/latch.html

The SK Radian is a very popular seat, especially considering it is substantially less than the other favourite, the Britax Marathon.

For Cdns, note that the weight limits just changed this year (May 2007, IIRC), increasing from 48lbs to 65lbs - if you're buying a seat now, make sure it's stickered for the new limit.

A reminder as well... despite the lure of cross-border prices, it is illegal to import and use a car seat in Canada that does not have a CMVSS sticker. Which also means no Recaro seats for us...

Shame that, fitzski. I've got a Recaro Isofix base with a Young Profi Plus infant carrier. It's a superb combo, dead easy to fit securely. As soon as the young'un is big enough, I'll be upgrading to the Young Expert. If they can make seats good enough for racing and rally cars, I can trust them on a kiddie seat...

Now that car seat guidelines have changed and kids are supposed to be rear-facing until 2 years old, I'm wondering what seats people have found to work in Jetta sedans. For example, I'm interested in the Radian, but I think the front seats might have to be pushed too far up for it to fit in the rear-facing position. Thanks in advance for any advice you have!