ping83

iTrader: (8)

So my wife and I are expecting in November. Both of us are 6ft plus. Went to dinner over the weekend with some friends who just had a baby girl. Trial fit there car seat in my is350 and holy smokes it is tight to the point of uncomfortable.

My question is, do you who have put a car seat in one of these cars recommend one car seat over another for space?

Thanks,

Matt

mikefate

I have the recaro. It's great because it has removable bolsters so it's good for years. Bit it's extremely heavy and large. When front facing it's fine. But the first year your kid will be facing backwards, and the recaro doesn't work well. You won't be able to put the front seat back very far. I'm 6' and in my is300 I am uncomfortable and in the isf it's worse. I had to put the seat on passenger side and move front seat up half way.

I also have one of these seats by graco. It snaps into a base that stays in the car. It's small and light and easy and you can remove baby without waking him since he's already in the seat. But it's not nearly as secure or sturdy as the recaro

Infra

iTrader: (1)

This is what we have. It's one of the safest/highest rated according to my wife.

The seat can be removed from the base, and also will snap into the stroller to make things a bit easier.

As for the tight fit - it will be like that in most any car except a large SUV / large sedan.

kickin8

iTrader: (1)

time to get a RX...LOL

tex2670

I must disagree. Any avg size sedan will fit any car seat just fine. I had a 2nd gen Acura TL with an infant car seat, and it fit no problem. Others in this forum have reported having to move the passenger seat fwd to get the seat to fit--do you REALLY want to tell your wife she has to scooch up to the point of being uncomfortable so you can fit the seat.

Not that I'm encouraging you to trade in for an ES350, but I just had one as a loaner. The back seat was WAY bigger. If you want a good comparison, go to the Lex dealer--I'm sure they'll let you test a car seat in there for fit.

The IS back seat is SMALL, there's just on 2 ways about it.

DarkIs250

My sisters' kid baby seat gets put in the center on my 2010 is250, no issues. Plus two adults on the side lol.. We do this a lot, so far no issues, and the kid is now 2yrs. IS250 looks cramped, but lots of space inside surprisingly.
The issue is, no one is taller than 5'11 in my family, hence why we don't need the fronts seats pulled all the way back. Plus the baby seat faces forward not back to rear cause of his age. I have never tried the baby seat facing rear.

CleverName

Way past those years, so recommendations of current models is outside my abilities.
I will say that when it came to recalls, it always seemed to be one of those "multi-function" units on the list.
For strollers, we bought big and plush, only to find the bulk a pain on a daily basis. Turns out the umbrella stroller was our favorite for ease of use, minimal storage requirments, and in store maneuverability... (The kid didn't mind at all!)
For car seats, we simply bought the style needed at the time and left it there...

2 cents
Vince

ping83

iTrader: (8)

Thank you all fellow members for the input. There is no easy way around it other then my wife will just always have to pick up our daughter so i can keep my car!!! ( I kid I kid). The IS interior is def. smaller then my days 08 Tl. I have been thinking about making the move to the dark side with a tl-s, but i do not want to go there!!!

Tungstn-IS

I agree with you here. I have an IS350 and when I put my nephew in when he was still facing the back, the passenger seat would need to be almost as far forward is it will even go. Anyone over 5' 5"ish would probably have their knees crammed into the dash and/or their mouth. My mom has an ES350, and it is easily roomy enough for me at 6' 2" to ride with him behind me comfortably.

I have been wondering if a car seat would fit in the middle between with clearance from the two front seats. I might have to try this because there is absolutely no way I could even get in with a car seat behind me, so on the occassion that I have a kid in the car, the passenger seat must be all the way forward which leaves enough room for a fairly short woman or a child. God forbid me, my brother and my nephew would need to be in my car at the same time, I'd have to put my brother in the back with my nephew because it would be impossible to ride shotgun.

MLevinson

I have the Recaro Young Sports as well for my 1 yr and 4 yr old in my IS350; it is very tight but it works <see below>. I have 2 more in the X5 and that is where I had the infant PegPerego SIP30/30, as that would not fit in my IS w/out ramming the seat completly forward; but if you did that it would fit - just make sure whoever is the passenger is < 3' tall

mikefate

I found the recaro to be the safest option. But don't plan on moving it. It's bulky, heavy, and kind of a pita to put in.

Tungstn-IS

The Recaros look nice. Once you can move to the forward facing, they use only half the room of the other. It's not too bad after the one year mark. I'd imagine the first year would be hell in an IS350 if you frequently had a passenger, though. The rearward facing seat just eats up any room available.

tex2670

It's the rear-facing seats/positioning that really creates the problems.

tmag

We've been using a baby seat/carrier with the base (chicco) in the center seat recommended by CHP as the safest spot. I was not thrilled at first because I wanted to use the latch system but with the chicco it was a breeze to just use the middle seat belt. Now I'm not close to 6 feet nor is my wife but I've found that using the middle seat also allowed for more room. I would recommend going to babbiesrus they let you take the seats out and try them in you car. We've found most fit well except for the Britax. Another good thing about the carrier/seat combo is that most of the time you can keep a sleeping baby sleeping! Good luck and congrats on the little one.