[BlueMeanie]

Hi.

We put a deposit on an 09 Subaru Liberty today, hopefully to pick up by the end of the week.

Currently we drive an 04 Subaru Outback, and are expecting baby number 3 in October. I am not convinced 3 seats will fit in the car, so we are changing cars. I didn't want a 'big' car, we don't have need for 7 seats, and we love our Subarus (we've had a few now).

DS1 is 5.5 (just turned 6 when baby arrives) and sits in a Hi-liner. He can do up his own seatbelt, and I'd like him to continue doing this. DS2 is 17 months and a tiny 9kg. He's still rearfacing in a SnS Galaxy, but I anticipate that he will have outgrown RF mode by length by October.
We also have a Hipod Senator, which I was expecting DS1 to be sitting in until he was 7, but he outgrew it just after he turned 5. He must have a long torso or something.

I took the seats and tried them in the new car this afternoon, and they didn't quite fit, but if I were to replace one seat with a Compaq I'm quite certain they will fit. (I don't think replacing two seats will work even with our current car - weird shaped bucket seats, and the walls taper in at the roof so the anchor points are very close together.)

The biggest problem is the Senator and the Hi-Liner don't fit together. They both have their widest point at the same place. I found this surprising as everything I've read on forums suggesting car seats recommend these two seats. Plus, I wonder if DS2 will still be a bit small for the Senator when he's two.

SO:

Hi-Liner + RF Compaq + FF or RF Galaxy
Hi-liner + RF Compaq + FF or RF Compaq

in an 09 Liberty.

Sound reasonable, or is there a better option?

[caesie'n'linc]

Did you try having the RF seat in the middle then the hi-liner and senator on the sides? It's really not that difficult to get a baby into the middle seat, just make sure you have your eldest child on the passenger side so that he can stand beside you/wait in the front seat while you lean in and strap bub in.
That's what I had to do when DS2 came along. I had my older two kids both in infa varios and then bub in his RF seat in the middle. I always use the child locks on the doors so it was easy to just walk DD around and let her climb in (she was behind the driver) then I'd leave her to settle herself in her seat with the door shut while I went back around and straped bub in, then DS1 then I'd do DDs seatbelt last.

Oh, another idea that might be helpful if you decide to put you DS2 into the senator would be to get an infa vario for your eldest. I have had my youngest in a senator since he was about 20mths (he outgrew the other seat we had, he's rather tall), the senator fits really well inbetween the varios my older kids use.

Unfortunately no matter how we had the seats there was no way my kids could reach to do their own seatbelts up there's just not enough room between the seats in our car (or in the cars of any of my friends who have 3 kids).
I drive a vt commodore, my friend has a liberty though and I think they are similar width

[BlueMeanie]

The Hi-Liner is the one seat that I really don't want to replace! It's less than six months old and I like it better than the Infa Vario (I bought one for my mum's car).

I think I did try the RF in the middle, but when we get the car I'll try it again. It fits okay next to the Hi-Liner, but nothing seemed to fit next to the Senator.

[ednaboo]

I'm going to quote myself from a previous thread discussing an Outback.

"My two eldest are in boosters now, but I was able to fit an Infa Vario, Compaq RF (centre) and Maxi Cosi Complete Air across my 07 Liberty. I currently have an Infa Vario, a Compaq RF and DD (5yo but tall for her age) is in a Sns Hiliner. The Hiliner is a lot easier to use than the Vario, the high sides make it hard to buckle the seatbelt with the Vario vs the Hiliner.

We found we had to have the RF seat in the middle for two reasons - firstly, it fits between the gap of the two front seats, so it does not impinge on the drivers leg room. Secondly, the centre position has a much smaller space available than the outboard seats - with a booster there, you can't access the seatbelt to buckle the child in. Is your Outback the same in that spot?

The Maxi Cosi Complete Air is very different to other seats - the base is very slim, and the seat part (which is wider at 47cm wide) seems to project out further, so it 'puzzled' in very well next to the RF seat in my car. However, the reason I didn't end up keeping it was because it didn't fit so well between 2 boosters (it fit, but I couldn't get my hand in to buckle up the seatbelts) and I had hoped to use it when my 1yo turned to FF. So if you do get the Maxi Cosi Complete Air for now, be prepared for the possibility that you may not be able to use it for your youngest if you still have your others in boosters. You may need to use a Compaq FF for the youngest later on (this is what I will be doing)."

I assume the 09 Liberty is the new shape? If so, apparently it is larger by about 5cm, so you should be able to make something work. I would stick with the Hiliner, put a RF Compaq in the middle and then the Senator or Guardian should fit on the other side. if that doesn't work, try a Maxi Cosi Complete Air (see above). You will probably have to so up your childs seatbelt though - sorry! I have to do up 2 and it is a PITA!

This post has been edited by ednaboo: 11/04/2012, 03:38 PM

[BlueMeanie]

We picked up the new car this afternoon. We've put in the Hi-Liner and Galaxy, one on each side, and I was able to sit in between the two seats!!! There is no way I could do that in our old Outback - I'm rather hippy. I'm feeling fairly confident that if I get a Compaq it will fit in the middle. I might even just hire a capsule for the first six months and decide from there what we need.