Need a car with 3 full seatbelts in the back

O

ollie323

Registered User
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My ageing civic is due to be decommissioned next year as i have 3 kids and 2 of them will be going into booster seats next year. I need three point seatbelts for the three of them. I only need to carry them a couple of times a year so i don't need a big car. It's my commuter car too so fuel economy is the number one priority. Current car has gotten up to 67mpg over a tank!
My current list includes
Toyota Yaris 2004-2005 onwards. 1.4 Diesel/ 1.0 petrol
Ford Fiesta 2003-2004. 1.4 Diesel
Ford Fusion 2003-2004 1.4 diesel
Renault Clio 2003-2004 1.4 diesel
Honda civic hatchback 2 or 4 door, 2002, 1.4 petrol

I want to know if anyone here has had much experience with these cars and if you had much problems with them. Also what kind of mpg did you get? I've been told that the diesel clio would give trouble but i thought i'd ask here before commiting to anything.
Thanks guys.

ollie
 
Hi Ollie
I would have thought that none of the cars that you mentioned will have three three-point seatbelts in the back. The middle one will most likely be just a lap belt. I suspect that to get what you are looking for you will have to go up a size to a small MPV.
 
we have a skoda octavia 1.4 petrol and it has 3 full seatbelts in the back. HUGE boot too. Not a small car size wise but engine wise it is
 
setanta1 said:
Hi Ollie
I would have thought that none of the cars that you mentioned will have three three-point seatbelts in the back. The middle one will most likely be just a lap belt. I suspect that to get what you are looking for you will have to go up a size to a small MPV.
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Hi setanta1. I've looked them up on carzone and they do in fact have the full compliment of belts in the back. The yaris only started to have them in 2003 and all the 2004 models have them. I tried my one booster seat in the back of a 3 door yaris and measured the remaining space so 3 boosters should fit in snugly. The clio has full seatbelts as far back as 1999 as far as i can see. And the current model fiesta has them too. Surprised me too.
As far as getting an MPV is concerned, i'd rather not. The fuel economy hit is too much. I only need to carry the seats a few times a year so i'd be lugging around an MPV for 99% of the time with nothing in it only myself! Yeah life gets complicated with 3 kids in the house!

ollie
 
I had this issue a few years ago and found it very hard and expensive to resolve having to buy new seats. I think you got to start with the child seat and booster and find the smallest ones available as they are not all the same width.

I have a newish V70 which is a big car and had a lot of problems fitting 2 baby seats and a booster in mainly because the curve of the seat base and backrest. I did manage it eventually but this meant baby seats outside and a small booster in the middle however clicking in seatbelt was very difficult and time consuming as my fingers hardly would fit down between them and occasionally my eldest would unclick her belt or one of the baby seats. “This car can have built in booster seats at extra cost”

My wife has a Renault Scenic and its 3 rear seats are individual so it was much easier and the seats could be moved forward or back. It’s a 1.4 diesel with very good fuel economy 1000km + per fill. But I think the 1.9 Diesel would be a little better for power sometimes required on long trips. It is also great as she can also transport the kids friends home from school as well as it’s a 7 seated.
 
Thanks for the replies. I had a petrol scenic last year and it gave us a lot of trouble. Having said that, a diesel might be less troublesome??? That 1000km per fill is tempting for sure!
What i find funny about cars is that, quite often, the large cars have a smaller back seat than a small car would. Take the Golf for example. Back seat takes only two seats with a tiny space between them. A Yaris takes three seats no bother! A friend of mine has a 3 series bmw and i tried the 2 infant carriers and the booster in it. No way would it work. Go figure.

ollie
 
My last employer’s fleet of cars was Peugeot and mine gave me many problems but everyone else’s seemed ok. At home we have had 4 Diesel Renaults in recent years and never had any problems with them. But a friend purchased a new Laguna and just had one problem after another with it. So much so he swore he would never drive Renault again He said "The car came with free AA membership and I B**** well needed it”. I think when something like this happens it could be just a problem car which doesn't reflect the rest.
I wouldn't be put off too much by it and I think new diesel engines are very reliable. Also some of the newish people carriers are as economical as the smaller cars you mentioned.
 
The Renault Megane has 3 point seatbelts in the back (since 05 at least). I'm selling one at the moment, so drop me a PM if you're interseted in more info.
 
How about a Nissan Micra? It's a small car, but has 3 full seatbelts in the back. It's very fuel efficient - we have a 1.2 version, and get over 400km out of each tank. The boot space isn't huge, but you can fold down the rear seats. We managed to get a 110cm wide cooker hood (in its box) into ours, even with other shopping - including a bedside locker!
 
Hi Celtwytch, the micra is another one i was looking at alright. What size is the fuel tank on it?

ollie
 
I have a Daihatsu Terios (styled like a baby jeep) 2007 model, 1.5l engine, and has 3 full seatbelts in the back. It's essentially a Yaris in a different body!

The older models (pre-2006 I think) are only 4-seaters, so won't meet your requirements.
 
gipimann said:
I have a Daihatsu Terios ......... It's essentially a Yaris in a different body!
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Man! Cars are all becoming based on one chassis nowadays aren't they!
I'll have a look at the terios, thanks gipimann.
Celtwytch, "tanks" for the tank size!

ollie
 
Since you mention it is only occasional get yourself a 307SW in which you can either move the middle seat to the back (3 rows) or fit an additional seat in the third row. You would have to go to a 2006 model to get the economical 1.4 diesel though.

While a lot of cars may have the full 3 point seat belt in the back trying to get to the locking mechanism when you have the boosters/child seats in is sometimes difficult and imagine the issue you would have in an emergency trying to get them (the kids) out.
 
We have an Octavia 1.4 which has 3 full seat belts in the back however as we found out on Saturday when we got our new baby seat fitted for our impending arrival(already have one baby seat in) the booster will not fit at all the middle seat so now we have a big problem i.e. new car which we can't really afford.

We only bought this one in Feb 08 and I love it and the boot space is huge for double buggy, shopping etc. Most of the car seats are standard size so that isn't an option either - our online seat fitter said the Skoda could take the seats but in practice it doesn't and it wasn't a very nice lesson to learn I can tell you!
 
Hurricane4 said:
We have an Octavia 1.4 which has 3 full seat belts in the back however as we found out on Saturday when we got our new baby seat fitted for our impending arrival(already have one baby seat in) the booster will not fit at all the middle seat so now we have a big problem i.e. new car which we can't really afford.

We only bought this one in Feb 08 and I love it and the boot space is huge for double buggy, shopping etc. Most of the car seats are standard size so that isn't an option either - our online seat fitter said the Skoda could take the seats but in practice it doesn't and it wasn't a very nice lesson to learn I can tell you!
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Thats a painful experience for sure! I've been looking at car seats whenever possible and there are some differences in where the seats mate with the seats in the car. Some are really wide and leave no room for accessing the seatbelt latch jobbie with the red button. In the kia cee'd, the buckles are only just accessible with car seats installed. My wife won't touch them unless she has to. It'll be interesting with boosters. If you look up ebay there are seatbelt extensions you can get. All they are is a short bit of seat belt, probably 6 inches or so, with a male and female bit on each end. All you do is plug one end into the buckle in the seat, and the existing seatbelt plugs into the other end. Naturally they can only be used with booster seats but it might save you having to sell your car. Here's a link to ebay with the relevant search results:[broken link removed]
I may be getting these myself.
Anyway, my search for a replacement car is down to a diesel fiesta of 2004 to 2005 vintage and a diesel yaris of the same age. I've heard the diesel fiesta gives trouble with injectors leaking and steering racks failing. I need ultra reliability so i'm "steering" towards a yaris. It's just the extra cost of the yaris that has me still looking at the fiestas.
Best of luck with the car seats!

ollie
 
How safe is it to put 3 young children into the back of a yaris or fiesta? I am not trying stir things up here but I would imagine that they would be safer in a bigger car with a good safety rating.
 
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