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View Full Version : Vehicle/seat compatibility information (Chevy Venture van)



durgin
03-24-2003, 05:49 PM
Is anyone aware of any kind of data showing the compatibility of specific seats with specific vehicles? The reason I ask this is because of a problem I have with fitting my son's seat (Century Breverra Ascend) properly into my vehicle (Chevy Venture minivan model year prior to LATCH).

The Ascend fits well into my husband's sedan and, even without the ability to use the tether strap, allows me to get a very snug installation. However, installing in my Chevy Venture minivan is another story. We have a 3/4 split bench seat in the first row of passenger seating, and both sides of it have a lap/shoulder belt combination. The position of the anchor buckle (where the seat belt buckles in to the seat) is so far forward that it is almost impossible to get a snug fit with this seat. The seat always seems like it is cocked to one side, and even with the tether strap, it seems all loose and floppy. I am NOT comfortable using this seat and am shopping for another right now, but I don't want to run into the same problem with a new seat. I can probably get a small shop like Right Start to allow me to "borrow" a seat to try installing it in my vehicle before I buy it, but I don't know about larger stores (who have better selection and prices).

If anyone has the same vehicle and has any helpful advice, I would appreciate it. Or if you know of some kind of cross-reference of vehicles and seats, that would be great too.

Thank you!
Lisa Durgin

KathyO
03-24-2003, 09:38 PM
A great source of car-to-seat compatibility is the database at www.carseatdata.org. It's maintained on a volunteer basis by Toby McAdams, a car seat tech, who has no affiliations to one manufacturer or another.

Since the data in the database is submitted by people who have tried this or that particular combination, any one particular combination is not guaranteed to be there, but you can put in the make of your vehicle and see what data has been submitted for seats in it.

Hope that helps!

KathyO

durgin
03-29-2003, 12:23 AM
Thank you for the information - it was helpful, and I wrote and added my experience as well.

Lisa