Space for 2 ERF car seats - advice please

[LouMoo13]

Hi

After advice from anyone who's been in a similar position... DD(2) is in a Joie rear facing seat (max weight 25kg) she's only about 15kg so this should last her a while. Currently expecting baby number 2 who will go in our Kiddy-Evo lie flat seat (lots of long journeys). Problem is with both these seats in our Qashqai I don't think my DH can drive (he'll barely fit as passenger).

The problem won't go away once new baby goes into a rear facing seat as still not much room. So recommendations for cars that fit two ERF budget probably £15,000 second hand... or are there better seats out there that allow more space?

Help!

We have a Citroen grand c4 Picasso. 3 full seats in the back. Ds 4.5 in axkid minikid (25kg seat) dd 2.5 in cybex sirona (18kg seat)

Dd will outgrow the cybex before her brother outgrows the axkid but he'll be 5.5 at least by then and I'll happily put him in a hhb then. We could put the axkid behind the driver seat too but because of the tethers we'd have to re do them each time we move drivers seat. I think you can get tether rings fitted to the floor but not looked into it.

I don't know about those specific car seats but when my three were all of an age to need a car seat, we got a Citroen Picasso as pp says. It had room for three proper seats and they could all get out the same side. Great car, did 189,000 miles in it and barely a repair needed (until it died 😭)

That's useful info thank you. Was hoping to keep an SUV style car but maybe that's not feasible...

We had two Nuna Rebls in rear facing mode in an 2014 Audi Q5 and there was still plenty of room for a driver up to 6ft, although that does depend on how reclined the driver wants their seat of course. Lots of those around for £15,000 too.

But accommodating taller drivers with ERF remains a problem as rear cabin length doesn't always increase with car size. For example I only saw a 1 inch increase in length between a Mercedes C Class and an E Class despite the later being significantly longer and wider.

Friend has a Skoda Superb with a similar setup.

Which joie seat is rear facing to 25kg? I didn’t think there was one?

@Lou573

Which joie seat is rear facing to 25kg? I didn’t think there was one?

It's rear facing to 4 years I might be wrong about the weight... sorry

SUVs are fashionable but not hugely practical as they tend to have relatively small boots, unless you buy a huge one.

Look at Skoda as they tend to have very generous cabin space (including space for ERF seats, and leg/head room) and boot space, relative to the external dimensions of the car. They're made by the VAG group (ie same as VW and Audi) but cheaper as you're not paying for the premium brand, so better value.

I would suggest the Skoda Scala, a nearly new one is about £13-15k.
www.whatcar.com/skoda/scala/hatchback/used-review/n22548

Alternatively, if you must get a SUV, there's the Skoda Kamiq, which is more expensive at around £16k for a nearly new one.
www.whatcar.com/skoda/kamiq/hatchback/used-review/n21831

@James4ST

We had two Nuna Rebls in rear facing mode in an 2014 Audi Q5 and there was still plenty of room for a driver up to 6ft, although that does depend on how reclined the driver wants their seat of course. Lots of those around for £15,000 too.

But accommodating taller drivers with ERF remains a problem as rear cabin length doesn't always increase with car size. For example I only saw a 1 inch increase in length between a Mercedes C Class and an E Class despite the later being significantly longer and wider.

We had a look at cars at the weekend and found the same, rear seat space doesn't necessarily increase as cars get bigger. I can see why lots of people don't ERF...

Volvo XC60 has plenty of space with a britax two way elite rear facing behind the driver. DH is 6'3

The Joie seats only rear face up to 18kg, the one that's up to 25kg converts to a booster seat after 18kg, that's why :)

If she's 15kg now then the headrest is probably up quite far which does make it take up a fair bit of space. The seats which actually rear face up to 25kg like the Britax Max Way for example are much more upright than the Joie seats, so they don't take up too much space rear facing in the car. The Joie needs to be reclined because of the system of the seatbel supporting the seat back. The 25kg seats use a support leg instead or the TWE braces on the seat in front (so can be really wedged in).

The Kiddy infant seat is also pretty space hungry front to back because of the lie flat. So both of your seats are big, which might be the problem rather than the car as such.

You can get cars which are roomier, you're looking for something with a long wheel base, normally estate style rather than SUV type. But I think in your situation, I'd look at something like Axkid Move or Britax Two Way Elite/Max Way, these can be installed in approx 70cm of front to back space or less (it partially depends on the shape of your back seats), whereas the Joie Stages, which sounds like the seat you have, takes up about 83cm with the headrest extended.

You could move the eldest into the 25kg seat now and keep the baby in the Kiddy behind whichever seat can afford to move forwards. Then when baby outgrows the Kiddy, they can go into the Stages behind this same seat and when your older DD is old enough for a booster you can swap her into one and put the younger into the 25kg seat.

We got an Audi A6 for these reasons, fits an axkid minikid in the back with some extra legroom (for child) with still plenty of space in the front passenger. also its got a huge boot. we got a 2010 model in brilliant condition for £8k.