Young Children and seats for 3 in the rear

[APT]

I have 3 children, currently ages 2/4/6. We effectively replaced a minivan with our Passat as we do not need (2) 3-row vehicles all the time. The Suburban has to stay for towing the RV, and my wife's commute is shorter than mine. Our children go to private school about 10 miles from our house so no buses. We share pickup/drop off every day for the next 11 years! A higher FE vehicle was due and we intend to utilize it as often as possible. So, I had to check car seat fitment before I bought the Passat.

One annoyance is the rear seat belt buckle locations. The spacing sucks for 3 child seats. There are two buckles between the driver side and middle and between the middle and passenger side. The total width is great for its class. But those buckles are only 9" apart. Any convertible seat installed in the middle spot will cover all three buckles!

The older two use backless booster seats and little guy is in a convertible for at least another year. I installed the convertible on the passenger side using the seat belt slid over as close to the door as possible and still be a solid install. The middle booster (armrests removed) gets slid under the side of the convertible and covers the passenger side buckle. Many call this puzzling of child seats. This allows the most access for the two booster seat kids.

I may end up buying the Bubble Bum for at least the middle seat. It is not as easy for the children to use as the belt has to be threaded through a hook each time it is buckled.

 

[edsiajb]

We ran into this same issue with our Taurus and our Toyota Avalon. We have three kids (with 18 month spacing between their ages), and had 3 car seats/boosters at a time. Not an exclusive issue for the Passat....

 

[oilhammer]

You may find some of the Euro child seats fit better. Britax comes to mind.

 

[APT]

My mother in law watches the kids still at home and no school days and has a 2011 Malibu. The Passat rear seat is about 2" wider overall, but that buckle spacing is a little worse. Just thought I'd mention it for prospective buyers since VW's "big" thing with the Passat is the rear seat space. And even after booster seat age, that middle passenger better have a skinny butt. Lots of leg room! Kids can almost not kick me.

The convertible we use is a Brixtax Marathon, with the seat part raised up from the smaller base. We use a Sunshine Radian in the Malibu which is also narrow, but lower/flatter. Not sure the Radian would work better for the Passat. 3 convertibles should be good using LATCH outboard and seat belt middle. Eventually, kids gotta use boosters.

 

[AstroEng]

We spent a lot of time looking for narrow seats to fit (eventually) 3 across my 05 Golf. Britaxs weren't that much smaller than the other brands. What we eventually settled on was the Combi Coccoro. It is dramatically smaller than our other Graco and the seats we found at the store...

Just like cars, it seems that Americans want bigger with more features (just look at all of the big models with multiple cupholders off the sides).

FWIW, we purposely took in our 2 seats (the Combi and the Graco) when looking at the Passat. I put the Combi in the middle and then used the latch to hook up the Graco on both sides (one side at a time, obviously). They fit with not much trouble.

I found that securing the middle, then hooking the inboard latch clip with the belt really loose before connecting the outboard greatly simplified the installation procedure.

How do Europeans do it in their small cars (or do they care)???

 

[oilhammer]

How do Europeans do it in their small cars (or do they care)???

Maybe their children are smaller.

 

[oilhammer]

I just looked, VW does not show child seats in the accessory section of ETKA for the new Passat for some reason. They have them for the Golf, I wonder if they would work? 'Bobsy' is the name.

http://www.autoevolution.com/news/volkswagen-bobsy-car-seat-gets-top-marks-at-euro-ncap-5034.html

That article says they are available for all VW models, may be worth checking out for those with younglings. Your child's safety would be worth the cost.

 

[Kchorro]

3 of these will fit fine at the rear bench.
That what i use for my kids.

http://www.amazon.com/Clek-Ozzi-Por...=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1333556325&sr=1-40