Seats in the boots of cars

[FourAngelKisses]

Just wondering if anyone has, or know someone who has, a seat in the boot of a Magna stationwagon.

We had to buy a new car when I got pregnant with Matthew as we only had a 2 door Hyundai (which was due to be paid off just after he was due to be born). This car is due to be paid off in 2.5yrs and DH would rather get a seat put in the boot rather than get a new car just now.

I am just wondering how much leg space there would be for the kids who are in the boot (DS1 is almost 5ft tall).
Will the tether straps from the car seats get in the way of the kids in the boot??
Will I still be able to get a pram and groceries in there??

[moonblossom]

I don't have a Magna, but I have a Ford with the two extra seats in the boot. OMG it is so handy. I haven't had any problems with the littlies in the back, and the 11 year old is five and a half feet and finds it very comfy.

I don't have all the kids at the same time in the car so usually there is plenty of room for the pram etc.

Good luck.

[FourAngelKisses]

Generally ATM, it is only myself and Matthew going out and about, or DH too if he isn't rostered on for work. But on the school holidays, there will be all of us going shopping, so I'd have all the seats filled.

I'd much sooner get a Carnival or Tarago, at least that way if we ever want a weekend away, we will still have room for a suitcase, lol.

[moonblossom]

I had a Tarago many years ago, and didn't even consider getting another one till little Alexander came, even tho i love the ford, space can be a problem from time to time, so now I'm looking around for a Delica, but there are not many here in S.A. unfortunately.

I must say tho that the Tarago was wonderful Never gave me any problems and moved my family around safely. Pretty economical from what I remember and space galore.

Goodluck.

[FourAngelKisses]

Might try and convince DH to get a new car now rather than when this one is paid off.....that way we will only be paying for a car for another 5yrs instead of another 7, lol.

Not many Taragos or Carnivals for sale around here though......

[DramaQueen]

I had a commodore station wagon and put the extra 2 seats in the back when #4 came along. It was a bit hard to get the toddlers in seats back there, so I put my eldest in the back - he is 8. It was fine when he was sitting normally, but when he fell asleep his head seemed to hang and he really wasn't comfortable.

It was ok when you didn't have all the kids at the one time cause you could fold it up quie compact, but when I had everyone, room for a pram and groceries and stuff was non-existant. We spent about $1500 on the extra seat and only had the car about 6 weeks then we ended up getting a pathfinder, its great!

[FourAngelKisses]

Okay, gotta print this thread out and show hubby that there will be NO ROOM, so gotta get a new one. Thanks!!!

[FourAngelKisses]

Well I told him that there will be no room but he said we will deal with it. I can see him wanting to sell it a few weeks after the birth because of the cramped conditions, LOL. But we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

I called the dealer we brought our car from and they called around for me and got quotes. The cheapest was $1235 for a 2 seater or $1510 for a 3 seater. Not sure what we will get......3 would be good. The bigger gap between them, the better, LOL. Plus Jacob is a big boy and needs room to grow.
I'm going to call the place that fits them and ask a ton of questions about space, tether straps etc, hopefully they will know the answers, LOL.

[CJJHRA]

we had our tarago for almost 2 years, and we still had 2 years left on the loan, we got bored of it, and went looking at landcruisers LOL, anyway, we applied for one and got the loan!! the repayments were only an extra $15 a week, and we were now paying it over 5 years, so we added 3 more years onto the loan (well sort of) anyway, with the interest almost halved for the newer loan, we thought in the end it was better for us. THe new loan was almost double the amount of the previous one, yet only a small bit more every week, and insurance was cheaper (dont know how that one worked out) so we were paying the same in the end. We knew we would ahve probably got another car anway once the tarago was paid off, and that would have been another 4-5 years, so we figure we have saved 2/3 years on the loan also. THis one we will keep for awhile after the loan is paid off (we hope to anyway) WE still owed something like $7000 on the tarago, after trade in, and they included that in the new loan too.

[FourAngelKisses]

When we sold traded the Excel in for the Magna, we had to pay off the Excel first, they wouldn't put the outstanding amount on the loan. :banghead:

[CJJHRA]

We're with Essanda, and we were really suprised that they did that!! The finance guy told us they do it alot, but mainly with exisiting customers.

[Jodiee]

HI jeanette

I dont have a magna, I have a ford falcon au, with the 3 bench seat in the back. We do survive, but it is very squizzy, let me tell you, OK if you dont go shopping with the whole tribe, but forget about a pram and shopping in the back, especially with a 3 bench, nothing much fits after that, if its a forward facing, they dont fold up to the back of the rear seat, and only down to a flattish position, but we did just put a 42" plasma with the stand in it all in boxes, so I spose with no kids its ok, lol.

I have a beema 3 wheeler, and it only just fits in behind the dicky seat, I think there is a clearance of around 55cm.

We paid around $2000 fitted to get the same colour as our car when charli came along, but may think about upgrading to a carnival when we see how it goes.

Laura is 8, and cant really sit comfy in the back, and Ainsley and Callum cant sit together, cause they muck around too much, so we are buggered. btw, Lauras head almost hits the roof, and it has a height restriction of 90cm on ours (I just checked).

The seat belt for the capsule, yep it does get in the road, if you have floor bolts like we do, cause our rear seats are split, they are about say 40cm from each side and around 15cm or so from the rear seat, so that takes away from the leg space as well

In saying all that, it is a great idea for the littlies, really, we actually traded our 7 seater pajero in for the falcon, and bought the seats after, cause there is more room in the falcon than there was in the pajero!

Hope that helps, and if you need anything else, let me know.

cheers, JOdie

[FourAngelKisses]

Just another question............

can you use a booster seat in the back row?? I'm guessing the dikkie seats are shorter than regular seats and a booster may be too tall. I think Matthew would be uncomfortable without his booster seat, especially if he decides to have a sleep while we are out.
But I can't put any of the other kids back there, so it has to be him.

[~Candy~]

Just having baby #4...we had to get a bigger car and we looked at getting a stn wagon with the ****ie seats...but 2 mum's up at the school have them and they said their older kids don't fit very well in the very back seats and easily grew out of them.
Dh and I went looking at 4wd's, but they looked to be a pain as we have to little ones still in anchored babyseats...just not practical for us. Also the extra expense with tyres ect just didn't fit into our budget.
So we ended up buying a Honda Odyssey 6 seater and it's PERFECT :thumbsup: We love it and it's only a 4 cylinder so it's even better for us with fuel too.

[mummyof5]

We had a holden berlina wagon with a 2 seater d****ie seat when I had the older kids, but became the second car when no.4 was a few months old and we got our old starwagon, which then then got rid of last year for our delica.
There is probably a law that says no boosters in d***ie seats I would think, as they are higher in the car than your back seat, and therefore less clearance of the roof in an accident.
Is it a booster with a back on it, or just a seat one? You could probably get by with the seat style, but not the backed one, as they are usually higher in the base.
Sorry, not much help here, am I? Don't envy you, those seat are great as a spare, but become a pain in the butt when you need to use them all the time, hey.

[FourAngelKisses]

Is it a booster with a back on it, or just a seat one? You could probably get by with the seat style, but not the backed one, as they are usually higher in the base.
Sorry, not much help here, am I? Don't envy you, those seat are great as a spare, but become a pain in the butt when you need to use them all the time, hey.

It has the back on it. I guess I'll find out when I get it installed next month, will be making do with 2 cars until then.
When the older kids are at school or DH is at work, I wont need to use it, so hopefully it wont be too often that I'll need it.

It's a shame the older kids are too big to use it, would make life easier!!

[theycallmemum]

Friends of mine had a Magna Wagon and they had Mitsubishi put two Pajero 3rd row seats in the back (the ones that fold up at the sides, not flat on the floor). They were fantastic and you could have just one down and still have room at the side for a stroller and shopping.

I'd ask your local dealership for a quote.

[FourAngelKisses]

I looked into getting those ones, but they don't have an anchorage point and I can't use the built in anchorage points for the child who is in the boot (or so I've been told), so I have to get a row of 3.

[ShadyCharacter]

My two cents worth... if you do get a new car, go the Tarago over the Carnival, you hear nothing but **** reviews with the Carnival. But then, it is a Kia ;)