Car seats in GX550

[Adelorenzo]

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on rear facing car seats in the new GX. I have a newborn coming right when I’ll be getting this and just concerned. I also have a 2 year old who is still rear facing for the time being. Thanks!

I would like to test it out but no dealers have these to look at.

 

[Lord Helmet]

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on rear facing car seats in the new GX. I have a newborn coming right when I’ll be getting this and just concerned. I also have a 2 year old who is still rear facing for the time being. Thanks!

I would like to test it out but no dealers have these to look at.

Mount the seat in the middle of the 2nd row bench. It's doable with the 2nd row captain chairs but depends on how tall the front driver and passenger are with their seat adjustments.

 

[NoriGreen]

We also have a baby in a rear facing seat (and a six year old in a front facing seat). From the looks of the GX550, it seems there is plenty of room. We have them in our Cayenne now and it's pretty comfortable. And the Cayenne has way less space.

We were just on a trip where we had a Toyota Sienna minivan and man, there was so much room back there, for about 1.5 seconds I almost debated getting a mini van! Oh man...

 

[MN550]

Wife and I are looking at the new 550. We have a one month old in a rear facing. We tested the car seat and it was tight. Anyone have any experience running a car seat? Any pictures that show your setup?

 

[killy]

There aren’t many cars that will accommodate a rear facing convertible car seat without some tightness.

Unless full size SUV or minivan is in the cards there will be some level of compromise

 

[MN550]

There aren’t many cars that will accommodate a rear facing convertible car seat without some tightness.

Unless full size SUV or minivan is in the cards there will be some level of compromise

Fair point. I guess we’ve been spoiled with my wife’s Tiguan, that one has loads of rear seat space.

 

[pmchampion]

I saw a video on youtube where an owner had a rear facing seat installed. His only complaint was getting his pants dirty against the rear tire while leaning in to reach the child. It seems that with the door open the tire is exposed.

 

[1407Techsan]

Boys (5 and 6) are in boosters now so not a problem for us, but the 3rd row does not have any anchors for carseats. I had them back there just sitting on top of their boosters and strapped in which I guess is ok. We got bench but not sure if it has seperate anchors for a 3rd car seat...my guess is 3 seats in the 2nd row would not work and be too tight a fit.

 

[rwessinger233]

Does anyone have any thoughts or opinions on rear facing car seats in the new GX. I have a newborn coming right when I’ll be getting this and just concerned. I also have a 2 year old who is still rear facing for the time being. Thanks!

I would like to test it out but no dealers have these to look at.

Any updates on this? I am in your exact situation

 

[deadlikeme]

We tested our car seat in the new Landcruiser, a Chicco KeyFit35 directly behind the passenger seat. I kept the front seat back at least 1" from touching the car seat. I at 6' had a roughly 1" to an 1.5" in space for knees. My wife at 5'6 had no complaints at all. Both of us were at a comfortable level of seat recline. I would say we have 2-3" of space than our RAV4.

Measured (did not install) the car seat at the Lexus dealership on the GX and had the same room.

I would say if the regular front passenger is greater than 6', I would consider a bench seat to be safe and give the middle seat option which will likely work without issue.

Overall, the only other vehicle we tested a car seat in that was better was a Tundra.

 

[rwessinger233]

We tested our car seat in the new Landcruiser, a Chicco KeyFit35 directly behind the passenger seat. I kept the front seat back at least 1" from touching the car seat. I at 6' had a roughly 1" to an 1.5" in space for knees. My wife at 5'6 had no complaints at all. Both of us were at a comfortable level of seat recline. I would say we have 2-3" of space than our RAV4.

Measured (did not install) the car seat at the Lexus dealership on the GX and had the same room.

I would say if the regular front passenger is greater than 6', I would consider a bench seat to be safe and give the middle seat option which will likely work without issue.

Overall, the only other vehicle we tested a car seat in that was better was a Tundra.

So at your height, you felt comfortable in the front seats with that space?

 

[NoriGreen]

We have two little ones, a 6-year and a 1 year old baby. We use the Nuna Pipa rear facing car seat for our baby, positioned behind the passenger seat.

When it's fitted, the front passenger seat does have to move forward slightly but it's not too bad. My wife didn't complain about it.

One thing I did notice... the attachment points for the carseat seem to be positioned more forward than our Cayenne. While the room is much better in the GX, because the attachment points are more forward, it causes the car seat to be positioned more forward, requiring the front seat to move more. Our Cayenne, while less space, has the attachment points buried deeper in the seat so the carseat sits more flush. Just something I noticed.

I'll snap some pics of it later.

 

[deadlikeme]

So at your height, you felt comfortable in the front seats with that space?

Yes, I did. It makes me sit with better posture/more upright than I would like on a long road trip. We had just test driven the Tundra which felt like a limo in the backseat so I think I was being more critical given that comparison. The GX is not prohibitive by any means especially in town where I wouldn't notice it all. Our preference is still the captains chairs with the rear facing car seat behind the passenger.

I think my wife and I would both be annoyed with the car seat in the middle in terms of getting our child in and out.