6ft driver with a rear facing carseat behind commuter? options?

Our 08 Honda Fit is decent but not incredible with a RF infant seat behind it. My 5'5 wife is comfortable. We had a Mazda5 and the clearance was no better than the Fit. The Versa Note I just returned was noticeably better for room, but wasn't as nice to drive as our 7 year old Fit. I'm not really able to put a RF infant seat in the middle of the Versa or the Fit with a forward facing seat installed.

Our Honda Element was the King of rear seat clearance. The seats had a good 3-4" of clearance on an infant seat, even fully set back. However egress in a crowded parking lot was impossible thanks to the clamshell doors. I've actually heard of people loading and unloading kids through the hatch, and that would probably work fine.

This kind of data would make an excellent addition to a car reviews website.

Jalopnik had a guy do a couple "will it baby" writeups. Maybe I should start a youtube channel lol.

A bit subjective, but still a good preliminary resource: Car Seat Check

Interesting thats a good link. Too bad it doesn't cover rear facing in a side position

I must be out of the loop on new car rear seating arrangements, if behind the passenger side seat doesn't count as a side position.

I find myself saying this a lot.... Check out the Koreans. Elantra/forte or sonata/optima. More real read seat room than most cars out there.

Another car I haven't seen yet is the Ford Fusion. I'm 6'1" with long legs, and from what I remember, I can drive without having to put the seat in the rearmost position, and can sit behind myself comfortably, which is rare for me to find. The first gen Fusion has the most rear leg room of any car I have ever driven. The 4 cylinder car gets around 28-30 mpg mixed driving, which is another good reason to swap it for your Montero. The downsides to the Fusion is that the Mazda 6 is made from the same chassis and is probably a much more fun car to drive. I highly suggest getting a hybrid. My opinion is that too many of us that drive penalty boxes aren't driving enough hybrids. On the used market, I'm not so sure that they are commanding a premium like diesel VWs do.

Driven5 wrote: I must be out of the loop on new car rear seating arrangements, if behind the passenger side seat doesn't count as a side position.

I noted they say 2-3 seats but they dont specify rear facing, so I assumed 2 seats meant 2 front facing seats

I saw some Volts used for like 15k with under 40k miles they sell new for 35k

The newest Fusion with the inflatable rear seat belts is supposed to be a pain to install seats into. Its latch tethers are recessed 3 inches into the seat backs.

Jaynen wrote: I noted they say 2-3 seats but they dont specify rear facing, so I assumed 2 seats meant 2 front facing seats

Click on either the vehicle year/make/model header, or below the descriptions where it says "read more" for each one.

(reads thread title and OP, scrolls to bottom of page to skip past all the economy cars and smallish wanna be SUV's that have surely already been recommended and posts this)

Driven5 wrote:

Jaynen wrote: I noted they say 2-3 seats but they dont specify rear facing, so I assumed 2 seats meant 2 front facing seats

Click on either the vehicle year/make/model header, or below the descriptions where it says "read more" for each one.

Aha wow! That is better

It's all about what seats you buy. The combi coccoro car seat fits rear-facing in the center position in my 2010 Fit with a 5'11 driver and 5'9 passenger. On one side is a Diono R100 front facing, on the other is an evenflo booster. It's very doable for weekend road trips. Bonus points that the Combi can be tethered to the front seat rails when rear-facing, which makes it VERY secure.

Same seats fit 3-across in the E36 and Accord, so I can't imagine you'd have problems in many vehicles.

tuna55 wrote: Tesla model S. Ok, seriously, you need to buy the seat first and then go put it in various vehicles. That's the only way to tell since carseats fit so differently. There are a few baby-esque parenting forums which talk extensively about carseat combos too.

this is the truth. I rented a CX5 once.. Britax seats no fit in back seat. Rear door don't open wide enough.. What a misfire for such an otherwise good vehicle.

Funny enough the 2015 Honda Fit rates as poorly as a new Mustang on that car seat check

Haha, yeah...Like I said, it's a bit subjective. Some of their complaints that can knock it down a grade or two I see as pretty minor, especially compared to actual fitment. I find the individual comments more useful than the simplified grades.