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2014 Nissan Rogue: A Rear-Facing Convertible Car Seats Fits, But I Do Not - 2014 Nissan Rogue SL AWD

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited December 2014 in Nissan

image2014 Nissan Rogue: A Rear-Facing Convertible Car Seats Fits, But I Do Not - 2014 Nissan Rogue SL AWD Long-Term Road Test

I fit a rear-facing convertible car seat into our long-term 2014 Nissan Rogue, but then I could not sit in the front-passenger seat, which could be a deal breaker for adults over 5-feet, 10-inches tall.

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    throwbackthrowback Member Posts: 445
    Safety has come a long way. My folks used to drive around with me on the backseat of a VW Bug circa 1962! My mom used to lay me on the seat and wrap a blanket around me and out her hand on my back. Car seats are probably the main reason why large SUVs are so popular for families. You need some front seat comfort you just can get with a rear facing baby seat.
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    fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    Safety for kids is fine...but what happens to the parent sitting in that front seat with knees jammed up against the dash...when that airbag goes off? Kids need healthy, living parents in order to do well.

    There is a way to achieve an acceptable compromise between safety and usability. Child seat manufacturers are making the perfect the enemy of the good.
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    misterfusionmisterfusion Member Posts: 471
    @fordson1 Some seats may give the appearance of "overdoing it". However, there are plenty of good child seats that can fit in smaller cars, and there are plenty of cars that can fit large child seats with room to spare for parents. I think Erin explained her reasoning for choosing that particular seat very well.
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    yellowbalyellowbal Member Posts: 234
    With only one kid, most cars will fit best with the car seat in the middle (if you have a middle seat).
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    fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    I would bet there are more car/seat combos that won't work than will work. That doesn't seem right.

    So they have a minivan - what does her husband drive? If this seat does not fit that car, too, what - they just go out and buy a second $400 seat - that will fit the other car? Or buy another car? Just seems like there should be more of an effort to address the real world.
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    ericheseriches Member Posts: 80
    edited December 2014
    Fortunately, this wasn't a $400 seat, plus retailers like Amazon have a generous return window, so if I had a smaller car, I'd just keep trying convertible seats until I found one that fit well. I have a feeling that if I'd bought a Britax seat like everyone else, there would be no issue in the Rogue. But during my research, it was clear that Britax seats are known for having short seat-backs and I liked the idea of being able to use the same seat until the booster stage. I also liked the idea of getting a Recaro seat, but then I read that legroom (for a rear-facing kid) can be a problem with those. So we went a different route and bought this very large seat.

    This seat would in fact fit in my husband's daily driver (a 2015 Mazda 6), but it wouldn't fit well in our third car, a 2004 WRX sedan. For that reason, our backup car seat is smaller and less expensive -- a Safety 1st Guide 65. It's also a lot lighter and I plan to use it for air travel.
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    emajoremajor Member Posts: 332
    The car seat is the problem here, as Erin and others have mentioned. There are less bulky convertible rear/forward facing seats that would not make a big vehicle like a Rogue feel like a Mazda 3. Our carseat has a telescoping seatback, so when the kid is rear facing, the seatback is not nearly as long as in the pictures above, freeing up a lot of rearseat space. Once the kiddo's too big for rear facing, you flip the seat around to forward-facing and extend the seatback in increments to match the kid's height. Fits kids up to 70lbs and was not expensive.

    I'm six feet tall and can comfortably drive our Jetta Sportwagen with those seats in rear-facing mode, and that is a considerably smaller vehicle than the Rogue. Our local baby big-box store allowed us to haul the demo models out to see if they fit in our car before purchase, which was enormously helpful.
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    agent0090agent0090 Member Posts: 26
    Car seat research is almost as involved as car research. Maybe Edmunds should do car seat comparison using the stable of long-term test cars (different seats in different types of cars). It would probably get some clicks.
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    twobuck40twobuck40 Member Posts: 1
    I agree with fordson1 about child car seat makers. I have 3 kids 8, 6 and 18 months. While it was not my intention to have 3 kids in this particular car, life happened and we were unable to upgrade yet.

    When it was time to turn around the littlest one trying to find a seat that would fit in a sedan (for 3 across) was very difficult. For me and my car finding one that had a narrow base was the key - it had to fit in the middle - and between the seat belts. the other issue is that with the GIANT (I'm talking Lay-Z-Boy here) child seat - the other 2 really have problems getting themselves buckled - they cant see/reach it anymore. a short extender remedied that for us.

    There has been a definite increase in the size of the seats over the last 6 years (IMO) and I think most of the manufactures couldn't careless about the size of the seats, I guess they figure that we all have SUV\minivans. just try and get 3 across (any of the group 0-3 seats) in anything other than a large sedan - its comical. This should actually be a rating on Edmunds - of there are 4 doors and 3 seat belts in back how well do a Forward-facing child seat, a High-backed Booster Seat and a Booster Cushion fit - if at all. clearly you not going to be able to do this in a small sedan (civic/corolla, etc) but look at some of the mid size sedans - Maxima, Accord, Camry, Fusion - there's not much room in the middle. They are really only designed to have that 5th person occasionally - not all the time.

    If you need some one to run the test - call me up ;-) I love my sedans and dread the SUV/minivan that were ultimately going to have to get (NoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOooo!!!).
    At the current rate of child card seat inflation by 2025 your going to need a 4th row (if you have 3 kids) in you no-longer-mini-van because they will no longer fit side by side (your Star Trek doors wont close properly)

    Twobuck40
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