Carseat issues, middle seat belt conversion?

[abrose]

I have a 2002 New Beetle and am expecting a baby in three weeks. It is safest for the carseat to be placed in the center rear position, except there is no middle seat belt. Because of the size of the car I'm not comfortable having the carseat on the side.

I found a lap seat belt-- I'm wondering if I can install this in the back instead of the two side seatbelts. I'm thinking by removing the two buckles, this belt could maybe be installed in the center on those anchorage points of the two buckles.

Any thoughts? I may just have to sell the car and get a new one because this has become a huge issue.

[jfoj]

I have a 2003 Convertible and we had a baby booster seat in the rear for a while and just had it in the passenger side.

Although you might want to put the seat in the center, be careful as these cars did not have the newer tether points so you will rely on the seat belts.

I find that you can safely get a seat in the passenger side and what is nice about these cars is the front seats move so far forward, I recall being able to stand in the rear of the car and I was able to arrange and buckle up my son without any issues.

Many times you have to put folded & rolled towels under the seat to really get a solid base for the seat so it will not rock around. We had real problems getting any seat to be stable in our older Chevy Lumina (1994??) that we ended up moving on in 2001 to a SUV.

I would not have any problem putting the seat in the passenger side if you can get is belted in safely and again, I recall the Beetle easy to get into and arrange the child in the seat. The convertible may have had more room? But it was nice to be able to stand in the rear of the car, but you did have to bend over.

[mat3833]

i may do something similar to whatever beetle i get. i may have to tote around my 2 kids and my neice/nephew(baby to be born in the next 6 months) and i would prefer to have him/her in the center. i will probobly shave the center hump down a bit as well as shave some of the sides down some to give a bit more room. if im not mistaken there were mounting points for a center seatbelt in my 2003 Turbo S.

Matt

[bme]

If you pull the rear seat belt completely out it will ratchet back locking as it goes so it will hold very, very well. As stated, they don't have the upper mounts, but they do have the lower LATCH system points. With the hump in the center I don't think I would trust a car seat in mine since it was clearly designed to go to the side as also stated above. I am also not sure it would be legal either, you may want to check.


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[CoriBug]

The Beetle is a very safe car. Size doesn't guarantee safety. I understand where you're coming from but it doesn't seem safe to put a carseat where there was never intended to be one. Get a good carseat and baby will be fine. It is a big pain to transport a stroller plus carseat with baby and anything else you need so you might want a different car if the Beetle is your main car. The Graco Snugride is a good system. The rear facing car seat fits and the stroller fits in the trunk or next to the car seat.

[Darwin]

As you suggested , in the UK this is NOT legal and would invalidate insurance.

Originally Posted by bme

If you pull the rear seat belt completely out it will ratchet back locking as it goes so it will hold very, very well. As stated, they don't have the upper mounts, but they do have the lower LATCH system points. With the hump in the center I don't think I would trust a car seat in mine since it was clearly designed to go to the side as also stated above. I am also not sure it would be legal either, you may want to check.


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[macdave]

All the brackets are there for center seatbelts, just like a golf or jetta. You could likely just get the golf or jetta center belt from the parts counter.

[CoriBug]

Where are brackets for center belts?

[IggysMom]

I will have to look for these brackets. It would be nice to have a center seatbelt for my Iggy. Sometimes I really need to transport an extra kid but can't with no seatbelt in the center.