Rx330 With Baby Car Seats

[sonoria]

I have a 2004 RX330 and we're thinking of trading it in for the 2008 RX350. Does anyone have any feedback on baby car seats with the RX? Difficult to install (which I realize is also dependent on the particular car seat brand)? Doesn't seem secure?

Any feedback is appreciated. We want our April, 2008 bini to be safe so if I have to switch from the RX that's fine.

x-posted

[Grumpa72]

I have a 2004 RX330 and we're thinking of trading it in for the 2008 RX350. Does anyone have any feedback on baby car seats with the RX? Difficult to install (which I realize is also dependent on the particular car seat brand)? Doesn't seem secure?

Any feedback is appreciated. We want our April, 2008 bini to be safe so if I have to switch from the RX that's fine.

x-posted

As a grandparent, I must periodically install car seats in our '05 330, both forward and rear facing, for a four year old and a 14 month old. Since ALL car seats are now compliant with the industry standard mounting clips as well as the clips over the back of the seat, infant car seats are easier to install and more secure than ever. I can install a car seat with the seat clips and hook in under three minutes.

I will note that once you have two car seats installed, a stroller in the back and a diaper bag along with associated baby stuff, there isn't much room left. That is why my daughter and son-in-law went with a minvan. Not cool but practical. Again, another note, my good friend is trained and certified by the Phoenix, AZ fire department to install infant car seats. She said that, nationwide, more than 50% of all car seats are installed improperly in one manner or another. She also said that most police departments have several officers trained to do this. Even in my little town of 25000.

[Kamz]

We have twin boys that are 20 months old. I recently turned both the car seats around to be forward facing in our 04 RX 330. I have not had any problem with installing the car seats either way. As the previous poster noted, make sure you go to the Fire Dept and see how they install it to get a feel for how tight it should be.

Good luck

K

[sonoria]

Thanks Kamz & Grumpa72 for the feedback. That helps with our decision! :D

[thielejet]

I have a 2004 RX330 and we're thinking of trading it in for the 2008 RX350. Does anyone have any feedback on baby car seats with the RX? Difficult to install (which I realize is also dependent on the particular car seat brand)? Doesn't seem secure?

Any feedback is appreciated. We want our April, 2008 bini to be safe so if I have to switch from the RX that's fine.

x-posted

Just switched our granddaughter's seat from rear to forward facing... I thought I had it tight and my wife ran it by the police station who will install (or check) a car seat. He said I had done a good job but tightened it up a bit by nearly sitting in the seat and pulling on the straps. In the end, the RX-series complies with the LATCH standards and provides excellent installation. There is a tether strap on the back of the seat that provides and add'l point to secure the seat and really helps stabilize the restraint. ONE important point that I feel needs to be stressed is the angle of recline for the seat. At first I thought it would be safer to have the seats straight up. My wife noticed that this was too vertical and asked me to figure out a way to recline the car seat. After playing around with both the Lexus seat and the car seat, I came up with the right angles. This caused me to have to retighten the car seat so be careful not to make the adjustment without checking for tightness...

Hope this helps. Agree that there's not much room left after ALL is loaded. With grandbaby #2 on the way, we're too looking at minivan options...

[tkinla]

We had no trouble with the infant car seat but now that our baby is bigger and *graduated* to a convertible seat, we am having trouble getting the convertible car seat for our baby to fit properly in our rx330. I can't get those level lines on the car seat to be level to the ground as stated in the instructions without moving our seats so far forward that we have NO leg room. I am starting to think we need to get rid of the lexus for a minivan! Can I ask which convertible car seat (rear to forward) you are using so that we could perhaps try it?

Thanks for your help!

x-posted

As a grandparent, I must periodically install car seats in our '05 330, both forward and rear facing, for a four year old and a 14 month old. Since ALL car seats are now compliant with the industry standard mounting clips as well as the clips over the back of the seat, infant car seats are easier to install and more secure than ever. I can install a car seat with the seat clips and hook in under three minutes.

I will note that once you have two car seats installed, a stroller in the back and a diaper bag along with associated baby stuff, there isn't much room left. That is why my daughter and son-in-law went with a minvan. Not cool but practical. Again, another note, my good friend is trained and certified by the Phoenix, AZ fire department to install infant car seats. She said that, nationwide, more than 50% of all car seats are installed improperly in one manner or another. She also said that most police departments have several officers trained to do this. Even in my little town of 25000.