Hi All

New here. I'm currently a Civic owner but have wanted a Fit for years. I hadn't pulled the trigger because my Civic was in perfectly good shape and because I was holding out for a Fit hybrid.

Well, now I need to trade in the two door for a four door car before next May some time. I'm disappointed that the hybrid is being kept from Americans but still like the Fit and how configurable it is.

So if you have a Fit and a car seat, what is your opinion? It's it manageable or do you wish you had a different car? Does it hold car seat, stroller and all the various doodads needed to cart around a kiddo?

We're only planning to have one kid, btw, so I'm not concerned about two car seats or anything like that.

Thanks for your help!

 

plenty of flexibility for your infant(s). i speak from experience on both the 08 and 09 FitSports.

GL!

 

I have a 08 and it has plenty of space for an infant, diaper bags, and stroller. The Graco infant car seat we bought fit perfectly in the center seat (which is the safest spot for them during an accident), leaving enough room for my wife and I up front. If I remember correctly the seats can slide all the way back, but neither can recline fully.

I had some issues when my son graduated to the rear-facing convertible car seat. TO LATCH it properly it needs to be on either side of the car and the required angel of the seat left the passenger seat pretty much all the way forward. Here's a link to the pictures when I first installed it.
https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/1st-g...-troubles.html

Other than that, the Fit is great for one kid. If you're only "planning" to have one it will FIT your situation. <---that was bad, I know.

 

plenty of room, use the space under the back seats for the diaper bag and stroller, enough head room for me at least to get the car seat in and out. would suggest that you get a car seat with the latch system and multiple bases. congrats on the new kid.

 

Thanks for the replies, advice and good wishes all!

 

I have two rear-facing carseats in the back for my 2 year old and infant. It also holds a chicco double stroller in the "trunk". I've also fit a 200$ bill of groceries with the double stroller somehow. It isn't my main family vehicle, but it gets the job done on occasion.

 

I have a 1yo kid and I love my 09 Fit. The stroller (pushchair? sorry for bad english). The only thing I wanted more from the Fit is more space for passenger after the babyseat... It depends on the babyseat I know but with my babyseat, passenger weren't able to be confortable.

My 2 cents!

 

For rear facing seats, I'd argue that the latch system is pointless, as you can't use latch in the middle and in the outboard seats, there just isn't enough room for a rear facing seat.

Anyway, I've got a 1 MO and a keyfit30. I've found that I can't quite recline my seat as far as I'd like; it's one click position away from right with the seat in the center rear. That said, I'm relatively tall 5'11" and like my seat inclined. There's still plenty of room. When he outgrows the infant seat and needs the rear facing convertible, what I might end up doing is just removing the front passenger seat till I can have the carseat forward facing.

One thing you can do is ask to take a test drive to a BabysRUs and try out all the carseats in the Fit to see if it will work for you.

 

I have an almost 2 year old. When he was in his Graco infant carrier, of course it was rear facing, but I had him in the right outboard position using the LATCH anchors. I know having him in the center is the safest for the kid, but having it in the center killed my rear visibility. I went with having more visibility for an safer overall ride. Our Graco infant seat was one the the SAFESEATS that has a higher back and goes to 35lbs.

Now we have him (still rear facing) in a Britax Marathon (also a high back) in the same outboard position using LATCH. My installations are rock solid with less than an inch movement laterally and front to back. The drawback is the front passenger seat is limited in how much they can recline and slide back, until we put him forward facing, but with the Fit you'll run into that with any carseat you put in there. Luckily my wife and I are the usual occupants of that seat, and we're not super tall, so it's comfortable for us.

We plan on keeping our kids rear facing for as long as the seats recommend because all the studies have shown that that is the safest position for kids (and even adults) to be in. Some states are even considering making rear facing until 2 years old a law.

We have another on the way due in May. I'll be installing the other seat in the back behind the driver seat. Any more kids after that, and I'll probably be trading in for a CRV!

Hope this helps.

 

well ive had my fit since 08 and i have 2 boys. 2and 4yrs old and i have more than enough room for them and all theyre carry ons! and i had that problem with the mirror but the was an easy solution broadway mirror and i can even see out the c pilar windows with it so as for haveing enough room you will have enough!

 

I have an 09 Fit with a 'Safety 1st' rear-facing infant seat installed in the center of the back seat using the latch system. Somehow it fits perfectly and both front seats can recline comfortably. One thing I did to give us an extra couple of inches is to recline the rear seats and lock them into place...we then went to the local fire department to have everything installed correctly and certified. Good luck with the new addition, ours is a week old today.

 

Nitpick, if you're using latch in the center seat, it's not installed correctly.

 

Our daughter has grown out of the infant seat and my wife tells me she will now be using the convertible rear facing car seat , which is a bit bigger. We used the infant seat rear facing behind the passenger seat with no problems. It fit fine. Now, with a little bigger baby seat, is it safe and possible to place the seat in the middle using the seat belt to secure it?

This way we could still move the passenger seat back and be comfortable instead of squashed up front. Thanks.

 

Center rear with rear facing is the safest. The center seat only supports using the belt, but there's no safety advantage to either the belt or latch. you might find that it gets to be a pain to get the kid in there though, since you can't just drop the carrier into the base.

As an aside, you might be able to tilt the rear facing seat more vertical. Most are designed for the right angle for newborns, but toddlers have enough neck muscles to not die from sitting upright. Since the rear facing advice is still pretty new, most seats don't indicate what to do for the 1-2 year old kids while still rear facing.

As an aside, depending on th

 

Thanks for the reply, we will just probably leave the seat in the fit , so it we won't have to take it in and out with the belt. I have to review the manual as it seems confusing to secure the seat with the seat belt. It seems easy with the latch on the bottom, but the belt seems tricky. I will review the manual and I see a belt/clip hanging from the roof, I had no idea what this was for....

 

The belt in the roof is the belt for the center position. The end clips into a plug on onside, and the regular belt buckle on the other.

 

What do you mean clips into a plug on onside?
I looked in the manual , but it still is confusing...

 

my daughter is four... plenty of room, 5 star crash safety (most), and she enjoys it as well. only gripe she has with it, is the color, lol.

 

i think there was a buckle that is shaped differently from the others. i think that is what he's referring to.

 

my kid is almost 3, but I wish I had the fit when she was younger. I had a golf 4 door tdi and the lesser headroom made entry and exit a mission. with the fit you have so much more headroom so it's comfortable. I have not tested for rear facing though but it should still be more pleasant than the golf or the civic for that matter.