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We got the Graco Extend-2-Fit and I love it, but it is a tight squeeze in our Toyota Yaris, even though many people rave about how compact it is. It has four RF incline options. Option 1 is too tight, option 2 is a squeeze, option 3 is workable. We did not try option 4 because he still sometimes falls asleep in the car seat and doesn't have great head control sleeping sitting up.

Part of this is I guess in order to have a correct install, you can't have the car seat right up against the front seats. There needs to be enough space that a piece of paper or a hand can pass through the two seats (front and back).

The Britax and Chicco options would not have fit at all (we compared their dimensions in the store).

The two most compact convertible car seats are the Graco Extend2Fit and the Cosco Scenera Next. The Cosco has a stated angle for children who are not sitting unassisted but once a child can sit unassisted it can be extremely upright.

We have the safety 1st grow and go in my in-laws sedan and it's pretty compact but still sturdy.

The Britax roundabout fits really well in our small backseat and is under your budget. The marathon clicktight version is similar dimensions but taller.

I got my evenflo sureride for around $100. It fits in my civic and I have leg room (and I'm tall)

@pachamama: we have a civic and Corolla. We got britax convertibles and they have worked well. We do have the front passenger seat not completely back but there is enough room for me at 6' tall to sit in front.

I was worried about the same thing so I went to our babies r us because they let you try the seat in your car. All the britax models had the same dimensions (per Amazon specs) so we tried the marathon because that is what they carried, then ended up with a pavilion and roundabout.

Our Graco mysize/headwise/size4me fit great in my Mazda 3. Bonus that it has a very high rear facing height limit.

Ultimately, try to get to a babies r us where they will let you test the seats in your car. I had originally picked out a different seat, but it fit terribly in the car.

Not sure about in your price range, but the Maxi Cosi Pria fit in my little-leg-room Subaru Legacy ('08) & so did a Britax Advocate (they said all the Britax should at Babies R Us). One idea for bringing the $ down is that BRU is getting ready to start their trade in event on carseats. Find a super cheap one anywhere to trade in & they give you 25% off until the beginning of Oct.