Has anyone currently or within the last few years been using new child seats in mid/late 90s 850s? Any recommendations on which ones fit? We tried a Britax, but the seat barely fit and there was nowhere to anchor the tether strap.

It seems that child seats are now built assuming cars have LATCH / UAS securing systems, but if my 1997 850 has this feature, it's doing a brilliant job of hiding the anchor points.

I feel as though my 850 will not allow modern day child seats to be installed correctly so I'm wondering if anyone else out there has been through this recently. (and what they did about it)

Thanks,
Märt

Hi Märt,

I have a 1995 850 sedan, and a 4-year old.

We had a Britax Roundabout that fit very well in the back of the 850. It has a twist-lock to lock on to the shoulder harness, and it worked very well. We used the LATCH when we moved the seat to a rental car, and stowed it again when we got back into our 850.

Prior to that, we had a Graco unit where the bassinette would clip into different bases, and we had a base in each car. I don't recall any particular issues with that, either, although we've been out of it for a while.

Our daughter just recently outgrew the Britax Roundabout, and we bought a Graco Nautilus. That one was harder to make fit. It does not have a built-in restrainer for the shoulder belt, and I have to use the little steel clip to lock the belt. It works, but it's less convenient than the Britax was. With this car seat, it also fits much better after I took out the rear center headrest.

We also have a Britax Marathon that usually lives in my wife's car. It fits fine in the 850, too, and we have used that instead of the Roundabout on a long road trip. The Marathon also has the twist-lock on the shoulder belt, which is helpful.

In summary, we haven't had any problems by having older cars without the LATCH system. All of the car seats available today have attachment methods using just the seat belts, and while some are easier than others, none have been a problem.

Roger
'95 850 Turbo, 246k miles
'87 245 M47, 288k miles

PS - Every car seat we have fits better in the back of the 245 wagon than any other car I've put it in, because the 245 has a very basic center lap belt that I can *always* snug down and hold the seat securely!

Hi Roger, (and compliments on the very thorough reply!)

A couple of quick questions:

1. Have you figured out a way to anchor the tether strap that secures the head of the child seat?

2. You were able to fit the Britaxes nicely in seats other than the rear middle?

Thanks again!
Märt

Hi Märt,

We didn't use the tether strap in the Volvos. Reading through the car seat manuals, I think I recall that the tether straps were optional - better to use them, but not disallowed if you don't. Since I felt the Volvos were safer without than some other cars would be with the tether, we didn't use them. (We also couldn't not afford to replace any cars just to make it work with the car seat.

I'm trying to recall about using the Britax in the side (not center) position. I think I may have done it once or twice, and don't recall any particular problem. We keep it in the middle primarily because the middle is supposed to be safer. Also, I can see her better in my rear view mirror. (I can tip the mirror down and watch her, watching cars through the "night" reflector in the mirror, and so keep an eye on both.)

The biggest problems I've had along the way are two. First, the Graco seat (that replaced the Britax) does not have the same little twist-lock on the shoulder belt, and MUST use the D-clip to secure the belt. This D-Clip is a pain, difficult and awkward to use, and I would consider a different seat to avoid having to use this. Second, it happens with alarming frequency that a rear seat passenger (not the toddler) will exit the vehicle from the right rear location, and accidentally release both the right rear and the center (car seat) seat belt. At that point, the car seat is not secure, and this dangerous condition can go undetected for a while. I now check regularly, but it's alarming nonetheless. (Regular rear seat passengers include the 17 year-old older sibling, and sibling's friends.) If I was buying a new car, I would definately target one with the LATCH system to avoid this problem.

For our next car, we are considering a Volvo XC-70, with the built-in booster seats. ;-)

Roger

Thanks again for the great response!

I'm currently using the BabyTrend EZ FlexLoc in my 1998 V70.

http://babytrend.com/car_seats_ez_flex-loc/

Both the base and the infant seat can be fitted using only the seat belt. I am pretty sure that in Canada all seats have to offer seat belt and UAS configurations. Not sure about that though.


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1998 V70 AWD->FWD->AWD Turbo 215k+