3 cars seats in Cayenne

[VULCANT]

Hi,

We're expecting twins in Feb and already have a 1 yr old.

Is it possible to fit (safely!) 3 child seats in the back of a Cayenne (newest model)? The dealerships can't seem to give me a straight answer on it. Has anyone here done it?

I realise that only the outer two are isofix, but would there be enough room for a belt secured seat in the middle?

Any advice much appreciated.

[5to1]

I have the current model and have 2 car seats in it:

- Maxi Cosi Pebble, with 2way-fix base for our 2m/o

- Cybex Pallas MFix for our 3y/o

I'm pretty sure I could get another Pebble in, so I'm sure 2 pebbles plus a Group 1 will fit. Thinking ahead I suspect 3 Group 1's will probably fit as well. So you'd be covered for ~3 years.

But once atleast two of them are >18KG I suspect it may get very tight back there.

Don't they have a demo? If so take it down to Mothercare and try some car seats

Good luck with the twins. My wife was having nightmares as she thought we were having twins until the scanned confirmed it was just one. Twins plus a one year old will be fun!

Edited by 5to1 on Tuesday 21st August 22:38

[5to1]

Also it looks like the middle seat does have a top tether. Unless its supposed to be a luggage tie or something.

[VULCANT]

Thanks for that. My plan is to buy the seats and take them to the dealership. I'll certainly check those models out. Someone had warned me against putting three across the back due to 'buckle crunch' which essentially means the plastic buckle from the seatbelt is in contact with the car seat, which isn't safe.

Apparently many models are makes as safe when in fact they are not: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/938770/c...

No specific mention of the Cayenne above but I wondered if it fel into the same 'not safe for 3 seats' category?

I did notice the middle seat had a top tether too. Are both of your seats isofix? Obviously there's no isofix in the middle seat so I wondered if either of yours weren't isofix if you could perhaps try fitting one of them to the middle seat position and see if it has enough clearence and whether or not the belt buckles touch the seat base?

Thanks again, very helpful.

[Welshbeef]

All the SUBs we looked at even old XC90 which had I Sofix on he outer two seats meant you couldn’t put a non isofix in. D middle as such all 3 had to be non isofix.



So few cars have the ability those that we found that do have 3x isofix in the rear are
S Max
Ford Galaxy
Seat Alhambra
VW Shannan
Merc GL (no lesser Merc model does)
We didn’t find any BMW which does - so my F19 5 series is redundant for family dutires
Merc R Class

I think Tesla do but that’s puwly an assumption vs fact as per above.

We never got around to trying Discovery 4 or RRover.

[5to1]

I'm using them both with ISOFIX right now.

The Cybex Pallas (GROUP 1/2/3) has a shield which you strap in using the seatbelt. You can get a non ISOFIX version which uses the top tether and seatbelt only.

The Pebble uses a 2wayfix ISOFIX base. My older daughter used this until 6 months, then the same base with the Maxi Cosi Pearl until the new arrival. The Pearl would have taken her to ~4 y/o, but it made no sense to get another base for less then a year, so I got her the Cybex:



The Pebble (egg type seat) can be used with seatbelt rather then ISOFIX. I haven't strapped it in, but do put it in the centre whilst fitting the base when i've taken it out to use in my parents car. The Pearl is also quite narrow, so this may be a good, albeit expensive, combo for the twins. But I don't think the Pearl can be fitted without ISOFIX. So you'll have to find a top tether/seatbelt seat for your 1 y/o.

I'll have a quick check tomorrow to see if it straps in the centre, but wont get a full picture as only the base will be on one side.

Edited by 5to1 on Tuesday 21st August 22:59

[M3ax]

Have you had a look at multimac or similar. I seem to remember them being quite pricey when I was looking but a neat solution.

https://multimac.co.uk/what_it_is

[athomp04]

It may "just" be possible - I have the same issue with my FFRR. I spoke to some experts who advise the best way to get space would be to go for belted child seats where possible due to the isofix positioning giving you no room for manoeuvre and as such you could position the seats outer most to create space in the middle.

I hope that makes sense!

[chriscoates81]

Do you actually need all 3 to be isofix? Coudalways have eldest in the from when they are forward facing

[jackliebling]

roofbox?

[Welshbeef]

chriscoates81 said:

Do you actually need all 3 to be isofix? Coudalways have eldest in the from when they are forward facing

Clearly it’s safer as if you have an accident Isofix seats are tight to the seat just like all the other car seats so the child then moved forward and back as an adult would. If he seat is not isofix then the seat and child will move forward violently and back in an accident. Which means potentially more harm/injury to the child in an accident.

If you put 3 seats next to each other all non isofix (as that’s the only way you can get all 3 into a car unless S Max/list I gave above) then you will have some of the seats physically on top of the seat buckle release. Again emergency exit where car is crushed in some way or those seats are squished together you might not be able quickly to release the seatbelt - imagine a fast moving fire and you have 3 to release.

So isofix is safer - the alternative is where you compromise.

Oh and if you use 2x isofix in the back and out the 3rd in the front then your missus has defied biology or likes to sit with her body torso at 90 degrees to her bum for the entire car trip.


We’ve been through this ourselves and it’s a nightmare / realisation that frankly for family trips it’s S Max or similar only to do the job. Taxi.... it’s Minibus only

[Welshbeef]

This short video shows what I was trying to explain re how much extra potential damage a non isofix child’s car seat can cause.

https://youtu.be/bBNDfEVlrw8

[chriscoates81]

Wow thats quite a difference, however i'm not sure theres that much give in my seat belts in the rear (or do they slacken off slightly in an impact?).

[Welshbeef]

chriscoates81 said:

Wow thats quite a difference, however i'm not sure theres that much give in my seat belts in the rear (or do they slacken off slightly in an impact?).

I can only go by that video and the ones I’d watched previously which made us choose isofix over non. (We do have non isofix too but they are sat in the garage and only used in emergencies or when we go overseas).

It’s a dramatic difference & frankly until you watch it I didn’t think it would be much but then... gulp your kiddies not in the best possible safe seat.... no thanks

[henrycrun]

No need to worry, the Canyonero is invincible, they never crash.

[5to1]

Welshbeef said:

Oh and if you use 2x isofix in the back and out the 3rd in the front then your missus has defied biology or likes to sit with her body torso at 90 degrees to her bum for the entire car trip.

Do you mean the Mrs sitting in the back in between the two car seats? If so thats not our experience with the Cayenne. As our youngest is only a couple of months old my Wife sat in the back until recently. And in fact still does sometimes when our daughter is unsettled as being able to see my wife usually helps.

Getting in and out is a bit of a pain due to the leg of the ISOFIX base, but on the other as you can easily click the pebble out its easier then squeezing past the Cybex Pallas which doesn't have the leg. But my wife has no complaints, including on medium length trips (~ 1 hour). Can't comment on longer trips as we haven't done any. (This is with the front seat in its default position, as far back as it will go without touching the rear facing pebble).

[5to1]

Also wrt ISOFIX debate one huge advantage is its largely idiot proof. Fixing with the seatbelt leaves potential for you to get it wrong, particularly for the early seats where it needs to slot into various parts of the egg type seats. Can easily happen when you're doing it day in day out, in a hurry, have another child demanding your attention, etc. I wouldn't want to use 3 non ISOFIX seats with very young children.

[chriscoates81]

5to1 said:

Do you mean the Mrs sitting in the back in between the two car seats? If so thats not our experience with the Cayenne. As our youngest is only a couple of months old my Wife sat in the back until recently. And in fact still does sometimes when our daughter is unsettled as being able to see my wife usually helps.

Getting in and out is a bit of a pain due to the leg of the ISOFIX base, but on the other as you can easily click the pebble out its easier then squeezing past the Cybex Pallas which doesn't have the leg. But my wife has no complaints, including on medium length trips (~ 1 hour). Can't comment on longer trips as we haven't done any. (This is with the front seat in its default position, as far back as it will go without touching the rear facing pebble).

Thats what i was envisioning, neither of my car seats are isofix, however thats due to them being from the back of my old 911. I wish i'd gone iso for my daughter as shes in a backed booster and i had to clip it back in if shes not it as it moves around too much when cornering. ISO chairs do tend to rattle annoyingly though, moreso if they swivel as well.

[troc]

Slight thread resurrection.....

We are looking at a new Cayenne and was wondering what people's experience was with two isofix group 3 car seats and an adult in the back of the (latest model) car?

Our car seats are on the wide side of things but I guess I could always get narrower ones if necessary.

Alternatively, if someone could measure the size of the gap between the inner two isofix points (i.e. right-hand mount of the uk passenger side and left-hand mount uk drivers side), that would help It's unfortunately quite a trek to the local Porsche dealer for us