Car seats and tall people

[buck91]

I'm every inch of 6ft 3in tall and have noticed that the vast majority of passenger vehicles on the road become somewhere between a bit tight and downright small when I place a child/infant seat in the rear driverside seat behind me. I have heard there is actually an index or "finder" website out there to help suggest various vehicles with this in mind but I'd like to hear what BITOG has to say? For a frame of reference, my 2011 F150 subercab is uncomfortably small with a carseat directly behind the driverside, as is our 2014 Explorer Sport with middle row buckets.

I'm not sure I want to get rid of the truck as it is fully paid off, and I can run car seats on the passenger side and middle sections of the rear seat. The Explorer I would love to trade in, on the other hand. It was a terrible financial deal and is starting to show rust plus I don't want to be on the hook for high mileage high dollar repairs down the road. Wife completely refuses a minivan, though.

 

[jhellwig]

Unfortunately a Toyota minivan or a crew cab ford or expedition are your only options that I know of. I have never owned a crew cab ford or expedition only driven them but I am 6'5" and can put a five gallon bucket on the back floor board while having the front seat exactly where I want it.

We have a Toyota Sienna and can have the baby's car seat behind the drivers seat and have the seat all the way back. There is a massive amount of room in the middle row. The front doesn't have enough leg room for me but I am a very big guy so that is a good part of the issue.

I've got five kids so I know your struggle. Any rear facing car seat takes up a ton of room.

 

[IndyIan]

Some of the midsize cars have more car seat room in the back than the mid-size SUV's, as the seating position isn't as up right. The Outback is pretty decent back there, more rear leg room than our 06 CRV, also wider than the CRV.
I guess some of the midsize SUV's have sliding rear seats so they may help. We always put the rear facing car seat on the passenger side, and once they are front facing its not really a problem with the driver seat fully back.

 

[StevieC]

My Toyota Highlander has a ton of room, I'm 6'2" and have a generous amount of head room even with the Moon-Roof. Lots of leg room, and even if I have the seat all the way back the seat behind me still has a lot of room. It's not too high off the ground either which is nice for sliding on/off the seat.

 

[Nick1994]

I have trouble in most cars, and I'm 6'2". I'm very comfortable in my Sonata. With the seat all the way back, I can also sit in the back seat as far as leg room. Head room? Well I've yet to sit in a car with enough head room in the back for tall people except a minivan.

My head is in the ceiling of most cars even with the seat down all the way unless I'm slouched.

 

[92saturnsl2]

I'm 6'2 and rarely have issues with either headroom or legroom in vehicles. Sure, I've ridden in backseats of coupes and pony cars that were cramped and had no headroom, but that's to be expected.

As far as rear-facing car seats go, that's a challenge in most any vehicle except mini-vans and the largest sport-utes. I can comfortably fit a forward facing car seat on the drivers side in all of my vehicles (except my F-250) with the seat all the way back. Our Pacifica is the tightest fit, but it has three rows packed into a medium-ish size crossover. Still can put seat back without contacting child or car seat behind me.

 

[eljefino]

Post this question on car-seat.org as well. The geometry of seats varies. You may find one more upright. Wife & I went through a BUNCH of seats-- when you have an infant you think you'll just get a bucket and a convertible but then Grandma wants a seat to borrow etc. The convertibles are jacks of all trades but masters of none.

I'm 6ft and we had a rear-facing seat and a fronty in a saturn s-series. It was tight.

The taxi edition Crown Vic P73 had an extra few inches of rear legroom. Maybe the Edge if you can find one-- they are rumored to have tons of room.

 

[Kestas]

Ever wonder how they determine rear seat room?.... it is measured with the front seat all the way back. So manufacturers limit how far the front seat can go back to advertise lots of rear leg room.

I noticed this when our family bought a Ford Fairmont. I'm 6'4". When I first got in the car i thought a small person was driving it, so i went to move the seat back. I found it already was all the way back and can only move forward! What kind of freakish person would move the seat forward as far as it could go to drive? Ford made a big deal advertising the ample rear leg room in the Fairmont. Now I know how they did it. I ended up remounting the seat six inches back. It was comfortable for me and the short family members.

Another thing I noticed is driver's seat comfort for tall people is fundamentally determined by the distance of the steering wheel from the pedals. Designers can do anything they want with seat placement and travel, but it'll never be comfortable if the steering wheel is close to the pedals.

 

[AZjeff]

Pretty sure most studies and .orgs recommend middle position best and passenger side next for car seats. Passenger side mostly because you're dealing with the baby/child on the curb side not road side. Middle is safest but hardest to deal with and those special latches might not be there. How did we ever survive the old pre- car seat days??

 

[Boomer]

This is the main reason we bought a VW Passat. We have two small grandsons. The back seat in the Passat is almost cavernous and allows seat use without killing the driver! Take a look at one.

 

[Rand]

I would second the outback.. it had at least 3" more rear legroom than my forester. I'm 6'2" and with the drivers seat all the way back my knees didnt hit the back of the seat.

My new cherokee has about 2" less than the forester or around 5" less than the outback.

 

[JLTD]

Originally Posted by buck91
I'm every inch of 6ft 3in tall and have noticed that the vast majority of passenger vehicles on the road become somewhere between a bit tight and downright small when I place a child/infant seat in the rear driverside seat behind me. I have heard there is actually an index or "finder" website out there to help suggest various vehicles with this in mind but I'd like to hear what BITOG has to say? For a frame of reference, my 2011 F150 subercab is uncomfortably small with a carseat directly behind the driverside, as is our 2014 Explorer Sport with middle row buckets.

I'm not sure I want to get rid of the truck as it is fully paid off, and I can run car seats on the passenger side and middle sections of the rear seat. The Explorer I would love to trade in, on the other hand. It was a terrible financial deal and is starting to show rust plus I don't want to be on the hook for high mileage high dollar repairs down the road. Wife completely refuses a minivan, though.


Maybe check out a 4Runner. Scads of room inside, and top marks for reliability and longevity. MPG similar to the Explorer I believe, and definitely NOT a minivan.

 

[Audios]

Same reason why I had to move up from the X3 to the GL, I coudnt sit in the passenger seat with the baby seat behind it. The GL has plenty of room, I think an ML might be the same room for the second row, but no 3rd row option.

 

[DaRider34]

The newer passenger vehicles like an accord ,sonata or passat should have enough legroom with the seat all the way back in track. If u need an suv the ford edge probably has the most space, its one of the few vehicles that you have the both front seats pushed all the way back and still fold down the second row without have to readjust the fronts

 

[JTK]

The whole seat comfort thing is so subjective, you won't know with absolute certainty without test fitting and driving the vehicle yourself. As an example, I'm 6ft and feel cramped in my FILs 2017 crew cab Frontier pickup and the seat is all the way back. My FIL is 6'2" and is perfectly comfortable in that position.

 

[hatt]

I always get a kick out if 6'2 dudes complaining about room in cars.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted by hatt
I always get a kick out if 6'2 dudes complaining about room in cars.

What else are we supposed to transport in? A school bus?

 

[aquariuscsm]

How about a Suburban?

 

[Kestas]

To me the test of comfort is when I drive to Florida. My 95 Mercedes E320 with an inch of hard padding is horrible. I miss my 91 Mercury Marquis that had fully sprung seats.