3 Child restraints across the back

[neohusky]

Hi All

We are expecting our 3rd child shortly and we have been thinking about buying a new Tiguan. Currently we have. A 4 and a 2 year old.

I’ve had conversations with guys who fit child restraints and they seem to think that with the right combination of car restraints most cars will accomodate 3 across the back.

Does anyone one have real would experience with a 3 across configuration in a new Tiguan?

[Alex31]

If you can hold off for a little while, the Tiguan allspace will be available soon. Its a 7 seater

Or if you need a car now, the Skoda Kodiak (Tiguan’s brother) would be the best option. 3 kids in booster seats in a 5 seater would be difficult at best.





Mk7.5 Golf R DSG. White Silver
Mk7 Golf TDI Highline. Limestone Green.

Family member VAG’s:
Amarok TDI Highline Auto
Skoda Superb TDI 140

[neohusky]

Hi Alex

Thanks for the quick reply. We’re looking for a new car soon.

I saw pics of the allspace over the weekend. The 2 rear seats look very small,but, would work with small kids. The problem I find with the 7 seaters is there hardly any boot space if the rear seats are used. Some of the ones we saw over the past weeks didn’t even appear to have the ability to take child restraints in the 3rd row.

We were prepared to accept the tight fit as long as they did fit and hence a question here in case anyone has done it.

I’ll take you advice also and check out the Kodiak.

Thanks.

[Alex31]

The Skoda is very much worth a look, plus you get a little bit more exclusivity with a Skoda that you don’t get with a Vw. :-)


Mk7.5 Golf R DSG. White Silver
Mk7 Golf TDI Highline. Limestone Green.

Family member VAG’s:
Amarok TDI Highline Auto
Skoda Superb TDI 140

[Alex31]

Plus if a SUV is not an absolute must have, the Passat Alltrack would be worth a look as well


Mk7.5 Golf R DSG. White Silver
Mk7 Golf TDI Highline. Limestone Green.

Family member VAG’s:
Amarok TDI Highline Auto
Skoda Superb TDI 140

[ajdean]

I've got two booster seats in the back of my Tig, and couldn't imagine fitting in a third (let alone a capsule!)

[Joey]

Hi Neohusky,

I have given similar thought be for to fitting 3 x seats to a 2009 Passat wagon. SImilar to the Passat I'm assuming the seat belt connections are narrower in the centre compared to the the L and R sides.

If you don't want to change cars I would consider a narrow booster for the 4 year old in the miiddle and then the child seat for the 2 yo on the driver's side (they can climb across) and the capsule for the baby on the passenger side (access).

The friction point with this set-up will be when the 4 yo child is trying to clip their seat belt in the narrow gap between the 2 yo child seat and the 4 yo's booster.

Some foood for thought. Good luck.

Joe

[Jackson22]

Hi All

We are expecting our 3rd child shortly and we have been thinking about buying a new Tiguan. Currently we have. A 4 and a 2 year old.

I’ve had conversations with guys who fit child restraints and they seem to think that with the right combination of car restraints most cars will accomodate 3 across the back.

Does anyone one have real would experience with a 3 across configuration in a new Tiguan?


it very much depends on the restraint used, you can now get slim versions. it would be worth research on different ones. By the time the newest baby is forward facing you'd have a forward restraint and a booster I guess until then a rear facing and 2 safety seats? not saying it will work, but seat manufacturers have been aware of it and have made some more.

[smarty]

We’ve fitted a capsule in our new tig and I was quite surprised at how far forward we had to bring the passenger seat forward. The passengers knees are basically touching the dash. We are both circa 178cm tall. I guess it’s because of how high the capsule sits. It touches the seat no where near where any normal persons knees or legs would be (basically touches the seat about 2 inches higher that the tray table). I just assumed that because it was marketed as having more leg room for rear seat passengers that we wouldn’t have this slight problem (I didn’t bother trial fitting either).

[neohusky]

Hi All

Thanks for all the feedback.

@Alex31 We are definitely going to be checking out the Skoda soon.

In the meantime I did some research today by ringing a Sydney based car seat fitter and Britax (https://www.britax.com.au). As @Jackson22 suggested it definitely depends on the restraints fitted. Newer car seats are available which are more compact and more friendly for 3 across installations in most cars.

Based on a photo of the back seat, measurements and experience, the car seat fitter said that 3 car seats would likely fit into the Tiguan so long as we use:
1. Britax Safe-n-Sound Graphene for the baby rear facing
2. Britax Safe-n-Sound Maxi Guard for the other 2

As others have pointed out we think it will be tight. Just because you can do 3 across, doesn't mean that you should :) Both my wife and I are not very tall and maybe we can get away with it.

In any case we need more car seats anyway (for my car and her car) as it is, so, the plan at the moment is to test fit the above combination in our current golf and if it works we will buy the car seats. We can then test fit these into our shortlisted cars.

In my opinion the Tiguan is too good an offering for us to not pursue fully. I'll report back findings as the plan progresses.


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[Jackson22]

We’ve fitted a capsule in our new tig and I was quite surprised at how far forward we had to bring the passenger seat forward. The passengers knees are basically touching the dash. We are both circa 178cm tall. I guess it’s because of how high the capsule sits. It touches the seat no where near where any normal persons knees or legs would be (basically touches the seat about 2 inches higher that the tray table). I just assumed that because it was marketed as having more leg room for rear seat passengers that we wouldn’t have this slight problem (I didn’t bother trial fitting either).

Wow, that’s surprising. I had a capsule in the back of a Toyota carolla and it was no problem. Is the rear seat in its furthest back position?

[smarty]

Sure is. The capsule is a maxi cosi. Maybe its a big one *shrugs*
Unless something’s amiss I don’t see how we can make it any better unless the passenger wants to sit very straight haha

[spacemannz]

Sure is. The capsule is a maxi cosi. Maybe its a big one *shrugs*
Unless something’s amiss I don’t see how we can make it any better unless the passenger wants to sit very straight haha

Yep, we had a chunky Maxi Cosi in our Mondeo... very Maxi and very Cosi for the front passenger. Actually tried it in the Tiguan during test drive and decided to defer purchase until junior was forward facing. Not a fault of the Tiggy or Ford... just the bulk and padding of the Maxi Cosi... But we picked it because it was solid with lots of protection.

I did find it better in the centre position on the Mondeo as the gap between the front seats allowed them to be a bit further back....

[spacemannz]

Perhaps you can test drive a Tiguan and drop by Baby Bunting or Baby Kingdom etc... I’m sure they’ll be glad to help you load a few different seat models in the back for size.
Pick a week day when their salespeople are less busy... load all your current kids up and take the missus as well for good measure!
A $50-$60k investment is worth taking a day off work to check :-)

[neohusky]

Hey @spacemannz: The original plan was to take a Tiguan for a drive to baby bunting down the road and try as you suggested. We never got around to it though as we hadn’t narrowed down our choice of car.

We need new seats regardless. As both you @smarty have commented we too have 2 very maxi and very cosi seats in our golf and they take up the whole back.

We’re gonna buy 3 new
Slimline seats that will fit
into most cars And see how we go with the golf first.

[spacemannz]

Well, congratulations on number three!
Keen to know how you get on with fitting and which brand you settle on. Good luck with the search, and don’t forget you’ll need a decent boot for the pushchairs, bikes, scooters etc. perhaps you better jump straight to a Toureg :-)

[subbi]

Hi neohusky,
I had an additional car seat fitted on the Tiguan last week for baby #2 on the way. I can tell you that slimline makes a whole of difference. I have a booster seat for #1 and the car seat for #2. We will have my wife in the back row for the initial few months for sure to make sure bub is taken care of, the third seat on the back is also being used. The only problem is I see is accidental removal of the seat belt when my wife is getting out of the car (The new child seat is in the middle rather than the side). The child seat I have (Brittax) has ISOFIX restraints compatible with the Tiguan, but the folks at Baby Bunting that ISOFIX is just extra protection (very strange) and that seat belts still have to be used!!. I thought it was tether + ISOFIX or Tether + Belt. Baby Bunting folks said - Tether + Belt + IsoFix if you want !

[99_FGT]

Hi neohusky,
I had an additional car seat fitted on the Tiguan last week for baby #2 on the way. I can tell you that slimline makes a whole of difference. I have a booster seat for #1 and the car seat for #2. We will have my wife in the back row for the initial few months for sure to make sure bub is taken care of, the third seat on the back is also being used. The only problem is I see is accidental removal of the seat belt when my wife is getting out of the car (The new child seat is in the middle rather than the side). The child seat I have (Brittax) has ISOFIX restraints compatible with the Tiguan, but the folks at Baby Bunting that ISOFIX is just extra protection (very strange) and that seat belts still have to be used!!. I thought it was tether + ISOFIX or Tether + Belt. Baby Bunting folks said - Tether + Belt + IsoFix if you want ! You don't need the belt.
Never heard that before
For most with a capsule and two seats they are fine, the capsule is wide at the bottom, seats at the top. Is a bit squeezed between two seats at the shoulders