3 car seats in back seat?
 

I drive my daily 110 mile commute in my 03 Honda Insight and love it! What I don't love is the horrible mileage we get in my wife's minivan.

Does anyone have experience with fitting 3 car seats in the back of a second generation Prius?

My 3 sons, 17 mo, 4 yrs and 6 yrs are all in Britax car seats which are absolutely fantastic,, but take up a fair amount of space. I could barely fit them in my 98 Audi A8 that I sold when I got my Insight.

Before I waste my time treking to the dealer to try and fit the seats in a Prius, I figured I'd check in here first.

Re: 3 car seats in back seat?
 

It won't work. I've got two car seats in my car. No way a third would fit.

Re: 3 car seats in back seat?
 

The Camry hybrid is a very nice car with a lot of internal space. I don't know the size of your child seats but that would be my first suggestion. You can do a fit test with an ordinary Camry.

Bob Wilson

Re: 3 car seats in back seat?
 

We are in the same situation . . . minus the 110-mile commute (drive into Boston every day? I had coworkers in Providence who did the opposite commute, from Boston-area into Providence). I love my Prius' mileage, but hate what we get in the van. We have three kids, similar ages (7, 5, 3), and that's why we're waiting for a hybrid van to come out. No one has one yet (at least, here in the states, there is a Toyota hybrid van in Japan apparently), but as soon as a Sienna or Odyssey come out in a hybrid model, we're all over it.

Re: 3 car seats in back seat?
 

Spacebug, I applaud your priorities. I used to do child safety in autos, focusing on carseats. Would you consider getting a booster seat for your four and seven year old instead of the carseats? Not sure if Britax makes one, but you may find that the smaller "footprint", with NO compromise in safety, would work great. I would check with NHTSA on how safe it is to put any child device in the middle where the armrest folds back to make the seat back. That used to be a major NO NO.