HELP finding infant car seat for 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo

[jbalon]

My husband and I recently bought a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee thinking it would be a great family car as well as one for long road trips. We went to BabiesRUs to fit an infant car seat and found that the Graco car seat we wanted did not fit at all (not sure if the BRU employee installed incorrectly or if the leather seats caused a problem or what). I talked to Customer Service at Daimler-Chrysler-Jeep for suggestions on brands of infant car seats that would fit our car better and they said that we should have a LATCH retrofit system installed and most car seats should fit fine. We were about to have the system installed, but found out that the car seat will not be installed in the center seat and that the anchors will be attached in the ceiling(?). Does this sound correct to anyone? I really would like our baby to sit in the center back seat and want to know if anyone knows of an infant car seat that might work in our Cherokee using just a seat belt restraint.

[Momof3Labs]

How did the Graco seat not fit (what was the problem)? You can try Toby's database - www.carseatdata.org - to see what experience others have had.

Sounds like customer service was talking about just the tether anchors, which will help with a forward-facing seat but not a rear-facing one. I wasn't aware that Jeep would retrofit the anchors that go in the crack of the seat (what most people think of as LATCH) - very few car companies will do that.

Hope this helps!

Lori & Colin 9/28/02

[jbalon]

Thank you for your response. I thought that the piece the dealership ordered was not what we needed. It just didn't sound right and the people I talked to at both Jeep and the dealership didn't seem too confident in their suggestions. I did check Toby's database, but there wasn't much on 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokees for infant seats and nothing was mentioned of leather seating. I'm not sure if the leather makes a difference or not.

[luvtoshop]

Hi--We have a 2001 Cherokee Limited with leather seats and the Graco Snugride LX fits perfectly in the back middle seat using the seat belt restraints. The dealership also installed the side retrofit system before we realized that it wasn't exactly what we needed--oh, well. We (I) threw such a fit that it wasn't LATCH since the salesperson promised that it was so the dealership put in the retrofit for free.

Good luck!

[Windy City Heather]

I have a 2001 Larado with Leather. We have a Stay in View and it fits rock solid in the middle rear. We used two noodles and a piece of Gripper Paper (like you would put in your kitchen cabinets under glasses). The leather seats should not have caused a problem. Try finding a car seat tech in your area to install it. I am in the Chicago area and most Police stations have a tech. Daimler-Chrysler-Jeep dealers are suppose to have a tech but some don't, ask if yours does. I asked at our Jeep dealer and their tech's certificate was not up to date.

[jbalon]

Thanks, Heather, for the input. I assume we will need to get some type of gripper paper/seat grabber, but someone was nice enough to warn us that those made of rubber may melt in hot places (we live in Bakersfield, CA which gets up to the 100s in the summer). I will have to shop around. However, you mentioned noodles...what are those and where do we get them? The local Fire Dept. checks/installs car seats. Will they have them there or should I be prepared and bring some?

[Windy City Heather]

Our Police Department had them when they check our seat. Noodles are pool toys. I think they will be hard to find this time of year but then again you are in California.