Motoring Discussion > Rear Facing Seats Miscellaneous
Thread Author: Netsur Replies: 13
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 09:17 
 Rear Facing Seats - Netsur
I am still not getting on with the XC90 and Espadrille is not overly keen to take it over. She will if pushed, but only to keep me quiet rather than actually wanting to...........

So, have been looking on-line at Merc E-Class estates with the rear facing seats in the boot. For a small child, they seem ideal. The rear facing seat means the back and head a protected in the event of a forward facing shunt, and there is more bodywork between the rear of the car add the seat than in a regular seven seater.

Has anyone experience of such seats. Do the children like them? How comfortable are they?
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 09:57 
 Rear Facing Seats - Cliff Pope
We used them for some years in a Volvo estate.
Children in general love them. The get endless fun watching other cars and drivers, making faces at them, waving etc. They like the feeling of being in a separate world, out of touch with the grown ups in the rest of the car.
They got the biggest thrill whenever I had to do a long reverse down a narrow lane.

But as soon as they get tall enough for their heads to touch the headlining, the charm goes, and they start complaining.

Watch out for the proportion of children who find facing backwards makes them sick.
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 10:14 
 Rear Facing Seats - Boxsterboy
We had an E-class with these, and initially the (small) kids think they are great fun and they fight to get in them. But ours kids have outgrown them and a 'conventional' 7-seater (like your XC90!) will do a better job of accommodating 7. There is also little boot space when they are in use, unlike most conventional 7-seater which have a small space. Car sickness didn't seem to be a problem.

When I came to get another E-class, they weren't on my list of requirements as they do inflate the second-hand value, and we don't need them.

I think you will need to try them for size to see if they suit your requirements.
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 10:51 
 Rear Facing Seats - Netsur
Thanks.

My younger children are 5 and 9. Assuming that the youngest sits in the back how long do I have until she gets uncomfortable?
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 20:01 
 Rear Facing Seats - Boxsterboy
>> Assuming that the youngest sits in the back
>> how long do I have until she gets uncomfortable?
>>

Our fairly tall 9-year old is too big to sit now comfortably (the seat is fairly low set to give headroom but this means long legs get a bit tangled up). I think there is a weight limit on them, but I cannot recall what it is.
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 11:22 
 Rear Facing Seats - idle_chatterer
A slightly tangential question - are they 'safe' ?

I've considered both the E Class and Volvo as alternatives to MPVs (which SWMBO doesn't like although I'd comment that we both think the S-Max drives very well).

However SWMBO is also concerned about the safety of these rear facing seats, facing backwards would seem a 'plus' in a frontal impact (despite the lack of airbags) but what of rear-end shunts?

I think it was footage of someone being rear-ended on a motorway by a lorry which concerned her, filling the crumple zone with kids (in an estate or MPV) seems risky ?

Any thoughts ?
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 11:40 
 Rear Facing Seats - Cliff Pope
It's a dangerous world, and the most dangerous place to be is in your own home, or so we are told.
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New Wed 24 Mar 10 20:06 
 Rear Facing Seats - Boxsterboy
An E class or Volvo does not have the space of an MPV and is less flexible. But they drive like the proper car that they are.

MPV rear seats have passengers heads within inches of the rear screen, whereas rear-facing estate seats have the passengers heads further foward, but their feet inches from the rear. In the event of a crash I would have thought heads are more valuable than feet.

There is no mandatory rear impact testing of cars so far that I am aware, unlike the Ncap testing of frontal and side impacts - perhaps that's something Max Moseley should be thinking about (instead of another bondage session ...)
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New Sat 27 Mar 10 21:28 
 Rear Facing Seats - Mike H
>> However SWMBO is also concerned about the safety of these rear facing seats facing backwards
>> would seem a 'plus' in a frontal impact (despite the lack of airbags) but what
>> of rear-end shunts?

It's the reason why Saab never offered 7 seats in the 9-5 estate - they felt the rearward facing seats provided insufficient protection in the event of a rear-end collision.
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New Sat 27 Mar 10 23:45 
 Rear Facing Seats - rtj70
I must admit I find this view a surprise from a safety point of view. Although Saab will have a view on what I'll say now too.

Smaller people carriers have the rear most seats very close to the rear of the car. So heads and body vulnerable to impact from the rear. A rear facing seat in the boot has your feet close to the rear of the car... And intended for smaller children but the seats in an MPV could have an adult in them.

And for a bad rear impact I know from experience the roof at the front of the car can be compromised enough to injure the front passengers. I have the scar to prove it and the necessary CT scan images. So for rear most seats I would not want be head there.... although once sat in the rear of a Zafira...
Last edited by: rtj70 on Sat 27 Mar 10 at 23:46
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New Sun 28 Mar 10 09:56 
 Rear Facing Seats - Mike H
Just found a link with more information about Saab's decision not to fit rear-facing seats. IMHO the article could apply to any modern vehicle with rear-facing seats.

tinyurl.com/yesyrg4
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New Thu 25 Mar 10 00:26 
 Rear Facing Seats - Avant
If an S-Max, which you thought about earlier, is too big, an E-class must be of similar length. The S-Max has the advantage of all seats facing the front: I too would worry about safety if it were my children in the bsck facing backwards.

Or live with the Swedish tank for a few months until the Grand C-Max comes out - although of couree you'd have to buy new.

Or tempt Espadrille out of her A-class into some compact 7=seater like a Verso or Mazda 5 - then you could have what you like!

(PS - I have a feeling that Max Mosley may not be into rear impact testing....)
Last edited by: Avant on Thu 25 Mar 10 at 00:28
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New Sat 27 Mar 10 23:54 
 Rear Facing Seats - hawkeye
>> Has anyone experience of such seats. Do the children like them? How comfortable are they?
>>

We used rear-facing seats in our much-hated Volvo 760. The children always had a scuffle to make sure the rear-facing seats weren't theirs but inevitably one poor soul was banished to the rear. We had to organise a rota. Towing the caravan didn't give the rear-facers much of a view either. Completely opposite to Cliff's experience. I fitted mirror tints to the rear area to give some privacy and was then allocated a budget to replace the Volvo by Mrs H.
Last edited by: hawkeye on Sat 27 Mar 10 at 23:54
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New Sun 28 Mar 10 00:04 
 Rear Facing Seats - rtj70
As a child we used to go to the beach in a neighbours Volvo. We weren't in seats in the boot though!
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