Convertible Car Seat in the Center?
03-28-15, 08:02 PM
#1
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Convertible Car Seat in the Center?
Hi folks,
My daughter has been installed in the center rear of my 2015 GS350 for a couple of months now, and is in there firm and tight. We use a new Peg Perego convertible car seat. That said, my wife was advised by a website that the GS350 does not have center latch anchors, and is therefore unsafe for center install. My thoughts on this are:
1- My daughter's seat is tightly, and carefully installed in the center.
2- Center installs are known to be safer due to more space for a side impact.
3- I believe that the car does not have a center latch due to width requirements to do so.
4- The inner latch bars from the left and right latches appear to be the same width as the left and right.
5- This car has deeply scalloped seats for the left and right that prevent a good install. The center is relatively flat permitting a better angle between seat and back.
6- As long as I do not install multiple seats and share the four anchors I do not see the problem.
Help Club Lexus people!
My daughter has been installed in the center rear of my 2015 GS350 for a couple of months now, and is in there firm and tight. We use a new Peg Perego convertible car seat. That said, my wife was advised by a website that the GS350 does not have center latch anchors, and is therefore unsafe for center install. My thoughts on this are:
1- My daughter's seat is tightly, and carefully installed in the center.
2- Center installs are known to be safer due to more space for a side impact.
3- I believe that the car does not have a center latch due to width requirements to do so.
4- The inner latch bars from the left and right latches appear to be the same width as the left and right.
5- This car has deeply scalloped seats for the left and right that prevent a good install. The center is relatively flat permitting a better angle between seat and back.
6- As long as I do not install multiple seats and share the four anchors I do not see the problem.
Help Club Lexus people!
03-29-15, 10:27 AM
#2
Lexus Test Driver
I have two of these seats in my car. If you check your owners manual, latch anchors only support up to a certain weight. Our children will eventually outgrow that weight while still in the Peg Perego. It is safe to only use a seat belt. Also the instructions to the seat said so.
I'm pretty up to knowledge on this. We had a '13 Explorer Sport that had inflatable seat belts. The seat belt would not fit through the car seat. We could only use LATCH. Which is fine, until your children get so big that it exceeds what the LATCH anchors support.
Btw, every vehicles LATCH supports a different amount of weight.
I'm pretty up to knowledge on this. We had a '13 Explorer Sport that had inflatable seat belts. The seat belt would not fit through the car seat. We could only use LATCH. Which is fine, until your children get so big that it exceeds what the LATCH anchors support.
Btw, every vehicles LATCH supports a different amount of weight.
03-29-15, 11:14 AM
#3
Lexus Fanatic
My daughter has been installed in the center rear of my 2015 GS350 for a couple of months now, and is in there firm and tight. We use a new Peg Perego convertible car seat. That said, my wife was advised by a website that the GS350 does not have center latch anchors, and is therefore unsafe for center install.
LATCH anchors are not there for safety...they are there for convenience. There is nothing less safe about installing the seat using the seatbelts properly vs using the LATCH anchors, the LATCH anchors simply make it easier to install and uninstall the seats and they're more "dummy proof" meaning its easier to install them correctly.
I have confirmed with the manufacturer of our seats (Cybex who make some of the safest seats in the world) and my local rescue squad that is is true and the kid is 100% safe in the center without the LATCH. In fact, the center is safer overall, the rescue squad always recommends installation in the center vs the outboard when possible.
So now we put whichever kid is behaving best that day in the center and motor on down the road.
03-29-15, 02:44 PM
#4
Lexus Champion
03-29-15, 03:18 PM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
03-29-15, 06:57 PM
#7
Lexus Fanatic
You could. Don't know if you'd want to.
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03-29-15, 07:27 PM
#8
Lexus Test Driver
The GS 350 does not have the center seat Latch system. There is a center seat belt and even though the center seat is raised and not comfortable for an adult it can be used with seat belts - it just doesn't have the Latch system latch hooks. Latch hooks have required spacing, and Lexus has installed them in the left-hand and right-hand rear seat positions. However, a car seat can be installed in the center position using the seat belts...where it has been determined to be the safest place for a car seat.
Most car seat's Latch connectors (e.g. Chicco KeyFit) will not reach the inboard left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook in order to install the car seat in the center position because of the [two inboard hook] spacing is a few inches too far apart, and also because the center seat is raised. The car seat's web straps that have the Latch connectors on the ends are about 1" shy of being able to connect to the two inboard Latch hooks. However, if you want to use a car seat in the center position (without using the seat belt to strap the car seat in-place), you can add a heavy duty chain link to the left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook so the car seat's Latch connectors will then reach and latch to the added links, thus not requiring the car seat to be strapped in with the seat belt. The chain links are rated at a higher tensile strength than the Latch hooks.
Most car seat's Latch connectors (e.g. Chicco KeyFit) will not reach the inboard left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook in order to install the car seat in the center position because of the [two inboard hook] spacing is a few inches too far apart, and also because the center seat is raised. The car seat's web straps that have the Latch connectors on the ends are about 1" shy of being able to connect to the two inboard Latch hooks. However, if you want to use a car seat in the center position (without using the seat belt to strap the car seat in-place), you can add a heavy duty chain link to the left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook so the car seat's Latch connectors will then reach and latch to the added links, thus not requiring the car seat to be strapped in with the seat belt. The chain links are rated at a higher tensile strength than the Latch hooks.
Last edited by bclexus; 03-29-15 at 07:44 PM.
03-29-15, 07:54 PM
#9
Lexus Test Driver
04-02-15, 07:16 AM
#10
...
Most car seat's Latch connectors (e.g. Chicco KeyFit) will not reach the inboard left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook in order to install the car seat in the center position because of the [two inboard hook] spacing is a few inches too far apart, and also because the center seat is raised...
However, if you want to use a car seat in the center position (without using the seat belt to strap the car seat in-place), you can add a heavy duty chain link to the left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook so the car seat's Latch connectors will then reach and latch to the added links, thus not requiring the car seat to be strapped in with the seat belt. The chain links are rated at a higher tensile strength than the Latch hooks.
Most car seat's Latch connectors (e.g. Chicco KeyFit) will not reach the inboard left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook in order to install the car seat in the center position because of the [two inboard hook] spacing is a few inches too far apart, and also because the center seat is raised...
However, if you want to use a car seat in the center position (without using the seat belt to strap the car seat in-place), you can add a heavy duty chain link to the left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook so the car seat's Latch connectors will then reach and latch to the added links, thus not requiring the car seat to be strapped in with the seat belt. The chain links are rated at a higher tensile strength than the Latch hooks.
04-02-15, 08:13 AM
#11
Lexus Test Driver
The GS 350 does not have the center seat Latch system. There is a center seat belt and even though the center seat is raised and not comfortable for an adult it can be used with seat belts - it just doesn't have the Latch system latch hooks. Latch hooks have required spacing, and Lexus has installed them in the left-hand and right-hand rear seat positions. However, a car seat can be installed in the center position using the seat belts...where it has been determined to be the safest place for a car seat.
Most car seat's Latch connectors (e.g. Chicco KeyFit) will not reach the inboard left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook in order to install the car seat in the center position because of the [two inboard hook] spacing is a few inches too far apart, and also because the center seat is raised. The car seat's web straps that have the Latch connectors on the ends are about 1" shy of being able to connect to the two inboard Latch hooks. However, if you want to use a car seat in the center position (without using the seat belt to strap the car seat in-place), you can add a heavy duty chain link to the left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook so the car seat's Latch connectors will then reach and latch to the added links, thus not requiring the car seat to be strapped in with the seat belt. The chain links are rated at a higher tensile strength than the Latch hooks.
Most car seat's Latch connectors (e.g. Chicco KeyFit) will not reach the inboard left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook in order to install the car seat in the center position because of the [two inboard hook] spacing is a few inches too far apart, and also because the center seat is raised. The car seat's web straps that have the Latch connectors on the ends are about 1" shy of being able to connect to the two inboard Latch hooks. However, if you want to use a car seat in the center position (without using the seat belt to strap the car seat in-place), you can add a heavy duty chain link to the left-hand Latch hook and the inboard right-hand Latch hook so the car seat's Latch connectors will then reach and latch to the added links, thus not requiring the car seat to be strapped in with the seat belt. The chain links are rated at a higher tensile strength than the Latch hooks.
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