Car hire and Car Seats for 3 kids

[Jade+3]

Is it difficult to get 3 cars seats in a vehicle? We will be travelling with 3 kids aged 4, 3 and 10 months. I am having trouble getting information from the car hire companies (have tried Alamo, National and Avis) as to how many car seats can fit in a vehicle.

Here in Australia it can be difficult to find a car that will fit 3 seats, and we need to use narrow seats to get them all in. We will probably hire car seats from the car hire company.

At this stage we are looking at hiring either a full size sedan (Chevrolet Impala) or a standard SUV (Trailblazer). We would prefer the sedan as our dollar has crashed this past month, and the sedan is much cheaper.

 

[Bren's Mom]

Most full size American cars will fit 3 seats across. It all depends on the type of car and the type of seats, though. One thing to think about; most US seats harness to 40lbs. I know that most of the car rental companies rent out the Cosco Scenera car seat which is a 35lb rear-facing/40lb forward facing convertible seat. Your 10 month old should be rear-facing, that will help with getting 3 seats in. Depending on the weights and heights of your 3 and 4 year old, though, they may not fit into a Scenera or any regular 40lb seat. So even if you could get 3 Sceneras across, your older kids might be too big to safely use them. Have they said what, if any, other seats they use??

 

[Jade+3]

Thankyou for the info. I do not know what other seats they use. I emailed them last Thursday and they still have not replied.

We are not travelling until this time next year. DD currently weighs 39lb and DS 28lb. We were trying to avoid bringing our seats with us as it is too hard getting through the airports, but I may have to look at bringing DD's booster seat, which would probably be narrower than the Scenera. I will have to wait and see how much DS weighs. He has always been on the small side.

 

[all4fun]

How much would you be spending on renting a car seat for your children? I could be wrong but I thought that rental companies charge about $10 a day for car seats so that could be cost prohibitive.

Still if you're going to spend the money, then one thing I would recommend for your oldest child is a ride safer travel vest (see here) - unfortunately the site is down right now but check back, hopefully it will be back up. I have one of these for my son(5). I bought mine from elitecarseats.com (HERE), for about $100 US. It is very safe (trust me, he is my miracle baby so I take his safety in vehicles very seriously)- I would say this is almost as safe as a car seat except it has no side impact protection. Not a problem if you use it in the middle seating position, which is what I would suggest. This vest starts at 35lbs for the small size, and requires a top tether anchor when used on children under 6yrs old or when there is a lap-only belt. The vehicles you are looking at should have 3 tether anchors across the back seat, and so this option should work for you.

As far as a 3-across scenerio goes, I've rented an Impala before and that vehicle has a very wide back seat. I really think that is your best option. It also has a large cargo area (trunk) as well. If I had to guess, I would think this vehicle is probably going to have more cargo space AND a wider back seat than a trailblazer would. That's just a guess but I have ridden in both vehicles at one time or another.

Edit to add, I also agree w/the pp that most 4yr olds are going to be too tall for a Scenera. If any of the seats are Cosco/Safety1st/Eddie Bauer brand then those typically have 15-16" top harness slots. Your best bet for your older kids are something like an Evenflo Chase, which have 17"~ish top slots and is also a fairly narrow seat. The Scenera would work perfectly for your baby though.

hth!

 

[Jade+3]

Thanks so much for that information. It looks like we may hire the seat for baby and bring the other seats from home. I drive a full size sedan, and we have narrow seats so they should fit. We were hoping to avoid the extra luggage as it will be hard enough with 2 kids, 1 baby, 3 cases and 2 strollers.

We had a hired a Trailblazer last year, which was fine, but we only had 2 kids. DH would prefer the SUV as it is higher, but the sedan is heaps cheaper. Good to know the Impala also has a large trunk.