Three car seats across Lexus RX 350?

[BeachBum]

My son will be 3.5 when our twins are born. He is currently in a Marathon and weighs about 32 lbs now.
I drive a new Lexus RX 350 (which is the small/average sized SUV). Am I going to be able to fit all 3 cars seats in there? Or do I need to start shopping for a van?

[Joolsplus2]

Hmmm...maybe? They seem to work in a Pilot...
Can you go down to BRU and try a couple of Safeseats or Snugrides and see? Or ask a couple of mommy friends to try out their seats to see if something works? Combi infant seats are quite narrow at the foot area, and you *may* find that putting something narrower in the middle like a Sunshine Kids Radian or possibly a Safeguard Go (Not my fave for an everyday seat, but some kids do love it and it doesn't have any 'wings' to get in the way of the foot area of an infant seat) works better than the MA.

[Melbel]

My DH drives a 2 year old RX 330 and we cannot fit 3 boosters across for carpooling. We have not yet tried the infant seat plus 2 boosters, but do not see how we could possibly make it work. Unless Lexus widened the back seat with it's model update, it is unlikely that you will be able to get 2 infant seats plus a marathon. It couldn't hurt to try, however, if you are able to borrow some seats.

[Joolsplus2]

It really depends on the seats you are trying to fit in there... Turbo Boosters, for example, are extremely boxy and hard to buckle next to other seats, but a Radian/Cargo/Marathon in the middle and two Parkways or Cleks outboard are probably fine :). It's just how you fit certain particular seats that matters and how well they puzzle.

[supercalifragilous]

We have the RX300 - DD sits in a Safeguard Child Seat and I can fit a Compass B510 on each side when we carpool. It's tight, but it fits, and it seems like the Safeguard is as wide as the MA (which DD used to be in before she outgrew it by height).

I think it would be worth trying going to BRU to try out infant seats.

[BeachBum]

Thanks for the prompt responses. I guess I just will not know until I try. Does anyone want to chime in on the PITA factor of 3 across?

[Joolsplus2]

Oh, it's definitely a PITA, no question about that :D
It's much worse once one or more are in boosters. And the fighting...oh, the fighting...

But really, it's not THAT bad once the kids fit and as long as they are happy enough being next to each other. Buckling three into a minivan is no walk in the park, either.

[mom2binsd]

I think with two or more kids so many of us love our minivans...especially those with captains chairs...the kids can't even touch each other...well my two hold hands but that's about it....my Dh just bought a Durango and I was even irritated just installing the MA for DD in it...granted part of the pain is that the darn vehicle seems to be about 3 feet off the ground I'm less than 5 feet off the ground...but minivans are so convenient for so many reasons...sliding doors, height for lifting infant seats in, kids climbing in and the space!

[murphydog77]

I have an RX 330 and if the middle seat is like ours, it'll be tough because of the plastic pieces that are at the crack (technical term is "bight")--those get in the way sometimes of a good install.

In terms of size, I've had 2 of the narrowest boosters on the market in the outboard seats and I could squeeze into the middle seat to sit. It'll be tight! Your best bet will probably be to put the infant seats outboard and the convertible/combo seat in the middle because that's probably how they'll puzzle together the best. The Marathon sits high on a base, so the infant seats might slide in underneath.

If you go to BRU, don't just set the seats on the vehicle seat--actually install them. A lot of times a car seat looks like it will fit, but when you actually install it, it's a different story altogether.

Good luck!

[mfrasier]

I have a 2002 Lexus Rx300. I can get three across there. alpha sport rear-facing and forward facing. backless turbo booster and turbo booster in outboard positions. That being said it is can be a squish to get the passenger side booster buckled.

[BeachBum]

Well since this got bumped, I'll update.
We ended up selling the car. I tried to fit 2 RF snug rides and either the MA or a Nautilus and couldn't get it to work.

[AnnieW625]

What car did you end up replacing it with?

A friend of mine who has a Camry, has her 4 year old, and 1 year old twins in three Radian 65s in the back of her Camry.

[supercalifragilous]

I haven't been here in a while and just noticed how old this post was but thought I'd add to it anyway just to put the info out there...

I have an RX300 and have a SafeGuard seat FF in the middle. I can fit 2 Compass boosters on either side, though it's a tight fit. I tried the Sunshine Monterey and it wouldn't fit at all; the wings were too wide.