We are thinking about buying a new car to replace our old CR-V and like the safety and other features of the new Subaru Forester. However, I keep reading online about how car seat installation, particularly in the middle seat, is quite difficult in the Forester. I guess the middle seat is very narrow and has an uneven cushion. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thank you!
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Y husband drives an impreza and was able to easily and safely secure our infant seat in the middle.
Our britax will only fit on the sides, though.
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I have an outback and I love that two car seats easily fit in the back and I can attach the top tethers. Sorry no experience with the forester but I'd imagine their similar. We have never put our seats in the middle, but I feel like they are sturdy with the latch and top tethers attached.
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We have a 2013 forester, and we love it! We have had it since February and it's been amazing. The middle cushion is a bit narrow, but our graco car seat fits just fine. Also back in April we had to put our nieces car seat there for a trip, which I believe was a Britax, and that was also easy enough to install.
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We have a forester and have had no issues with our orbit car seat in the middle or the Chicco key fit infant car seat.
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We have a 2011 Forester- I love it so much!!
Yes, middle seat can be tricky for the infant bucket seat (Chicco) for me, but the fireman had zero problems installing it correctly- so we just always got it double checked.
The convertible car seat was super easy to install though (Graco My Ride) a little tight space-wise rear facing, but even easier forward facing. So far we have only installed in the center, but will be installing on the outboard seats soon since we are adding another car seat soon when baby #2 comes.
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We had the same concern and we test drove the 2014 Forester and could NOT get a safe installation in the center seat and also could not fit the seat behind my 6'2" husband. This issue led us to not buy that car. Also the manual strongly recommends against a car seat in the center position. We ended up buying a Mazda CX-5 instead (also looked at CRV but DH had some complaints).
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We have a forester but our seat is on the passenger side. DH said the installation wasn't as easy as our Prius but it's also a different car seat so that could've been the reason.
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Thank you ladies! This is all very helpful.
@danda: So frustrating! My husband is 6 foot 2 as well so we would likely run into problems. What car seat were you using?
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@raintreebee: it was a Keyfit 30. No matter how tight I got the seatbelt, there was a lot of movement. You can't use the LATCH in the center position on that car, either.
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Bump!
@BeachMama: @lemondrop: can you tell me a little about convertible car seats being installed outboard? What seats do you have? Are you tall? We're looking to buy a 2011 Forester, but my only hesitation is the car seat. Our Keyfit 30 fit, but we'll soon be sizing up to a convertible. I am worried about making sure they fit!
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I have a forester and have the carseat (britax bsafe) on the passenger side. I'm relatively tall and can still sit in the front seat. Middle seat installation didn't work for me.
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Actually our challenge was getting the infant bucket seat to fit behind the seat, so that one gets to be on the passenger side. I can't tell you about rear facing convertible on the outboard position, because we did rear facing convertible in the center. Forward facing the convertible fits awesome (Graco My Ride). I'm short (5'0") so it makes no difference for me, but my husband is 5'10" and he still has several inches of room to scoot back if needed.
I'll add some photos of our set up in a little bit. We have a 2011 Forester, and I am still madly in love with it
We bought new because we could not find a used Forester at all, which we figured was great for resale if we didn't like it... but we love it.
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We have an outback and my sister has a forester and we've installed the foonf and the combi cocorro in there rear facing no problem. My DH is 6'2" and we install behind the drivers seat. He would maybe prefer to push the seat back another inch in the ideal world but drives our car regularly and loves it.
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@lemondrop: Your car looks so clean! Geez - mine is littered w/ "artwork" from daycare, toys and trash.
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@sarahbs: thank you! We aren't planning middle seat installation, so that is good to know.
@lemondrop: thank you so much!! I really am glad to hear this. We were able to test our bucket seat yesterday, so I wasn't as worried about that. DH is 6'0", and we were able to adjust it with him in the passenger seat. It took a bit of manipulation,but we got it. I am so glad to hear you love the car. We test drove yesterday, and I can see why. It was awesome!
@birdofafeather: we are looking at a Foonf, so this is so great to hear. Thanks!
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@BabyBoecksMom: haha, there's a reason I didn't use the flash (1. ok, it's a brand new phone and I haven't figured it out yet 2. My MIL comes on Tuesday so it's already had a light cleaning- we have a surplus of "car cheerios" (couch pizza anyone?). 3. It's usually a hot mess- the kind where people ask where to safely put their feet.)
@LovelyPlum: my only complaint so far is the tire pressure sensor is super sensitive. But keep em aired up and that's about it. They have had a recall for the seat belt in the rear center, so make sure that has been repaired if it applies to you. Seriously, I love that car.
We bought new because we could not find a used Forester at all, which we figured was great for resale if we didn't like it... but we love it.
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