Rear facing baby seats in Mk3 Octavia Wagon

[bwm85]

G'Day All,

My wife and I are on the crux of purchasing and Octavia Wagon to complements our current Mk5 Golf GTD. The reason for this new vehicle is we have 6 month old and we are finding the Golf just that little bit too small, particularly if we want to get away for couple of days. We are have been seriously looking at the Octavia for some time and have even visited a dealership to check our pram fits in the boot ok. The one thing we haven't had an opportunity to do is assess how well a rear facing baby seat will fit. We do plan on trying it at the dealership, but unfortunately due to my work, it is unlikely we will get a chance to do so for at least a couple of weeks. In the meantime I was hoping some members might be able to post their experiences and if possible photos of their MK3 Octavias fitted with rear facing car seats. Our current baby seat goes ok in the Golf, that said a little more leg room for the front seat passenger would be nice on the long trips.

Cheers in advance!

[brad]

Have you looked at the Superb as well? Lots of room.

[sillyboy]

I believe different baby seats fit differently, but there are more than enough room to fit a rear facing baby seat in our MK3 wagon, the boot is huge for 1 pram, you will be fine with even 2 baby seats on the back and 2 prams in the boot(that's what will happen to our wagon in a month's time).

If it's space you are after, you might want to take brad's advise and look at the superb wagon instead, the boot is ridiculously huge.

[woofy]

We had a SnS Meridian in ours and it fitted fine. Its one of the bigger ones around so don't think you will have any issues. That was in a Mk2 as well so with the extra legroom in the Mk3 you would be laughing.

[bwm85]

Thanks for the quick replies folks.

We had considered the Superb, particularly the upcoming model as it looks like a real gem but both my wife and I feel it is probably that little bit too big for everyday convenience. Down the track when the family grows I think it would suit us perfectly, but for the time being (pending the ability for the car seat to go in relatively comfortably) we feel the Octavia is the right choice for us. We accept that in many midsize cars there will be some concession required on legroom for the front seat passenger, we just don't want to be sitting in the glove box with a rear facing baby seat fitted as we don't intend on spinning our little guy around for some time. The thing that has attracted us to the Octavia is the fact that on face value it seems to offer more space than the Golf we currently have, but doesn't feel that much larger to drive. My wife test drove one earlier in the year and that was one of her first comments.

If anyone has anymore comments or photos, I would really appreciate your input.

Cheers!

[sillyboy]

We accept that in many midsize cars there will be some concession required on legroom for the front seat passenger, we just don't want to be sitting in the glove box with a rear facing baby seat fitted as we don't intend on spinning our little guy around for some time.

I can confirm that will not be the case, 100% sure.

If you are still worrying, the best thing for you to do is to bring your baby seat alone to a test drive, as every baby seat are different.

[bwm85]

That is the plan sillyboy, I am unfortunately won't be able to do a test drive for at least a few weeks with all the baby gear so I am just keen to hear/see how everyone is going in the real world.

[tenyearguarantee]

I've got a safe and sound rear facing seat in my octavia. Put it all the way onto the passenger side and could still cram 2 smaller side female adults next to it (5'5" < 60kg).

[bwm85]

tenyearguarantee do you find the front passenger seat has to be unusually far forward to fit the safe and sound behind it?

[tenyearguarantee]

Nope, fits nicely for us. If someone has long legs it may be an issue but front passenger seat stays in the right position for my wife who is about 5'7" herself, with some clearance between baby's seat and the passenger seat.