MRonan83

Wondered if anyone has ever had 3 young kids in the back of their GS and how well it fit? I'd end up having a booster, convertible child seat for 3 year old and an infant carrier in the back seat. Wondering if it would fit or if I need to start looking at SUV's. Really don't want to get rid of my car so hoping that I can make it work.

Thanks!

bclexus

Forget it! The rear center seat is raised and no child seat fits there adequately. Plus, the rear seat leg room is marginal at best when two adults are sitting back there, but having child seats back there will require that you and your front seat passenger will be hugging the steering wheel and glove box with the kids [still] kicking the back of the front seats. If you do make it work somehow, it will be a total pain in the *** for everyone...

JDR76

I have two car seats in mine with plenty of room for all, but I am not sure a 3rd would squeeze in back there. That would be pretty tight.

jonathancl

There are latch points for the two proper seats, and there is a attachment on the rear deck in the middle, but you're asking for a world of difficulty fitting it all together.
The owner's manual does not depict installing a child seat in the center.

If you have three kids in seats, this isn't right right ride.

bob256k

I have had 1 car seat for a 5 year old and a 13 year old in the back, your seat backs are going to get dirty, and you MUST get something like this: AND rotate the car seat and unbuckle and remove it after every drive, other wise you are going to get the severe indentations in the leather that might not go away.

When i was shopping for a GS i found one that was perfect , except there was really bad indentations from a car seat in the seat directly behind the driver, so it can and will happen.
I even noticed the indentations left after the car seat was removed and this was just over a weekend.

np20412

​Have you tested all the car seats out there to definitively say none fit properly in the middle of the GS? Assuming no, because I have 2 that do.
​​​​​​
They were both properly installed and did not move more than half an inch either direction when shaking them. One was a rear facing convertible seat (which does not fit as well in the middle when forward facing) and one is a forward facing convertible that is a different brand and fits just fine with LATCH and tether.

That said, I would never try to put 3 in the back of the GS.

MRonan83

bob256k

try giving the GS a month off car seat duty, see what happens. Also you can possibly reverse some of the damage using a blow dryer ( NO HEAT GUNS)

UDel

When I was young, parents had 80's Accord hatches and 80's Accord sedans, Cutlass Supreme coupe and I had no issues sitting in back even with friends or on long trips that lasted days, I never felt cramped even though rear seat room is pretty cramped, less then modern civic sized by modern standards. I even had to squeeze in a 240Z a couple times. Just because kids don't have tons of leg room does not mean a mid size sedan is inappropriate for young children. GS is kind of cramped for 6 foot adults in back but it is perfectly fine for small kids/young teens.

MRonan83

bclexus

A Toyota Corolla has much more rear seat legroom than the Lexus GS 350 - 41.4" compared to only 36.8". That is almost 5 more inches in rear seat legroom, which is actually huge!

er34

Alot of the new compacts these days "cheat" legroom measurements by having the rear seating position tilted further back. The seating surface slopes towards the back to create the feeling of more leg room(and empirically too depending on . It makes getting in/out the car more difficult, but more importantly, it becomes problematic with car seat installation because you need to install those as level as possible. When you add padding to level the seat, you find that the actual legroom is significantly reduced.

Don't trust the measurements on paper, you really need to actually sit in the car, better yet, bring your car seat and test it in the showroom.

donkiboy

I totally agree. I rode in the back of a late model Hyundai Elantra and it was very uncomfortable to say the least. The seats are tilted in a way legs are raised and your butt is lowered into the seat.

bclexus

I've ridden in the back seat of both a GS 350 and a Corolla. The Corolla's rear seat legroom is surprisingly much greater than the GS 350...by so much that it stands out in comparison. There's no 'cheating' in legroom - it's a fact!

NickL

Minivan..........