Locking clip on Apex 65 or boosters for car without locking seatbelts

[Twin Mom]

I have a 92 Celica convertible that doesn't have seatbelts that lock automatically. We want to use the car on the weekends when driving locally to avoid the cost of our gas guzzling SUV. My twins will be 6 in a few months and are small for their age. We have 2 MAs in my car, 2 Apex in harness mode in his car and will be buying 2 more seats for this car (unless we move the Apex as noted below.)

DH and I have been arguing about the type of seats to get since the seatbelts don't lock. I would like to move the Apex seats from his car to the Celica and buy replacements for his car (Frontier or Graco Nautilus) since I hate the Apex. Is it possible to use locking clips with the Apex in harness mode? He seems to think that locking clips aren't very reliable and feels like if we move the Apex it should be in booster mode. Is this correct?

If we do get boosters, I think we will get the Compass B510 boosters since they seem to be highly rated and fold up nicely for travel which is a bonus when traveling with 2 car seats.

We are willing to consider other seats as well if you have any other recommendations.

Thanks for your help ladies.

[Joolsplus2]

Locking clips are *totally* safe as long as you get the seat installed properly and put the locking clip on properly. Their job is just to hold the lapbelt tight so that the seat is in proper position when there's a crash and the REAL workhorse, the vehicle's retractor, can kick in and do it's job holding the seat from moving. The Celica has headrests, right? But, I've also had terrible luck getting anything installed in it due to the curvy bucket seats, so you need to give it a try installing those Apexes before you decide anything. Also, try buckling the seatbelt on the Apex, too...it's extremely wide and can be difficult to buckle. But rest assured, locking clips have been holding carseats in place since the 70's and are perfectly safe, they just may be the *least* of your issues in that car :/.

I think the Compass or the Recaro Vivo have grooves on the bottom to fit into deep seats well, do you have a better baby store locally where you could go try them out and see if your kiddos prefer them and make sure they are easy to buckle and that the shoulderbelts don't get stuck in the belt guides? (Tall order, but those are your most important things to look at)

:)

[Twin Mom]

Julie - Thank you so much for your response. I think besides the bucket seat issue, space between the front seats and the rear seats is also a major problem. DH tried my MA in the Celica and there was no leg room for DC. Based on that he could tell that there was no way an Apex would fit either. He also tried the Graco Nautilus at BRU which left no leg room as well. I think we've determined that a car seat with a harness probably won't work. Not sure if a true booster will be any better for leg room. I should have let DH try a booster at BRU just to see if there would be leg room but I didn't want him to get the idea that he was going to buy one of the ones they had because it was convenient.

I called Compass and was told they were carried at the big chains and of course called 4 different ones and noone had them. One local baby store has the Compass B505 so I think we will go try that one and see if it works in the bucket seats and leaves a little leg room. Am I correct in assuming it would be a similar fit to the B510? I will have to order the B510 online unless the other specialty baby store in town has them.

I was going to ask about the Safeguard Go but now that I'm looking at their site it looks like it only works as a backless booster. There wouldn't be any tethers so it couldn't be used in harness mode. Thought this might be small enough to fit. I know the same baby store has this one too. Darn.

Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. I'm hoping the Compass will work but if not, I don't know if I'll be able to try a Recaro anywhere. It is frustrating that none of the stores around here have any of the lesser known brands and I hate to buy online if it is likely that the seats won't fit.

Thanks again.