Does anyone have any experience with an infant car seat in the RX 330?

We will shortly be adding a future Lexus owner to the family and was wondering if anyone had any comments about using an infant car seat in the back.

Sufficient space?
Any damage to the back seat (from infant car seat or base)?
etc...

Thanks,

Darryl.

 

We've used a forward-facing booster seat in our RX330 and I have used everything from a rear-facing infant seat/carrier to a forward-facing baby seat in my GS400 with no issues. Don't expect the leather to stay pristine though if the seat is installed properly (i.e. can't be moved more than one inch, per a police safety seat inspection). I'll gladly replace/reupholster the seat than jeopardize my son's life.

I use a bath towel and a sheet of plastic under the seat in my GS' for protection mostly against "liquid accidents" and to prevent abrasive damage. In the RX' we have an underseat protector which provides liquid protection and some miscellaneous pockets to stash stuff. We also use a bath towel between the booster seat and the rear seat.

 

Where do you have the infant carseat located? I tried to use the LATCH at the middle seat but the belt is not long enough to allow a 45 degree position. It keep pulling the carseat toward the back.

Now I have it on the side. I know the safest spot is in the middle but I can't fit the infant seat there.

 

etang....are you using a car seat with a base? What kind of car seat is it?


Thanks,

Darryl.

 

I have the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio. It has a base.

 

Neither of our seats are fitted for the LATCH system.

The seat in the RX is a booster seat and uses the vehicle's lap/shoulder belt system--which we always fully-extend in order to put it in ratchet-latch mode. I use a nylon strap from REI to hold the seat in place when it's not occupied. The strap runs around the middle flip-down seat back section. The strap is NOT intended to keep the occupied seat in place during a crash, but to keep the seat in place when the seat is unoccupied.

The seat in the GS is an older safety seat with five-point harness. It pre-dates the LATCH system, so I used the center lap/shoulder belt with the H-shaped locking clip as well as the seat-top anchor to keep it in place. The key is the locking clip; I tried just putting the belt in ratchet-latch mode, and it pulls the seat up off the bottom seat pad. Using the locking clip allows the lap portion of the seatbelt to pull the seat down and back into the seat.

It takes two of us to buckle it in--me bearing down with all my weight--and in fact, pushing off of the roof with m back--and my wife to snap the tongue into the buckle. It's a lot of work but the safety seat really is in there very securely.

Our local law enforcement agencies do periodically hold safety seat installation clinics on weekends. We went through one and, besides getting free pizza and trinkets while waiting in line, got some assurance that we were doing it right, plus the officer gave us a few other tips to improve our use of the safety seat even more. If you have these available, I recommend going at least once. Another officer I chatted with at a local safety fair a few weeks prior said that he, himself, went to one, and was surprised that what he thought was correct was actually seriously lacking.

It does help, though, that my son gets quite alarmed and upset when he's not securely buckled in...