In my opinion the biggest let-down on the Mazda 5 is the middle, good for very little seat. It has turned out to be much more of an inconvenience than I'd anticipated, and I would have much preferred three individual seats than two and a bit

However seeing as it's what it is, I do need to put it to good use, which means occasionally putting a child there. I know that the instructions say it's not appropriate for a child seat (sadly not something that I was told when I did a test drive despite shoving three seats in to see if they fitted), but is this really the case? It's right in the middle of the car so I'd have thought perhaps it would be the safest place to be?

The problem is that due to the two big and one mini seat, there's not enough space to easily put a booster seat in the middle when there are child seats in the two proper seats. It can be done by pushing the child seats over to the far sides of their seats but it's all a bit of a struggle.

Does anyone have recommendations for a booster seat that can be used here when there are child seats on either side? I guess it would have to be narrower than average, but not so narrow it would slip out the back of the seat.

Many thanks

 

I know that I would even have a hard time fitting 3 seats across my Mazda6 (wider than the 5)

Didn't you think the fit was a bit tight when you installed the other 2 seats?

3 little seats in a vehicle the size of the Mazda5 would mean 100% of the people sitting in the back would be uncomfortable (none of the seats meeting a minimum width requirement for comfort), whereas with 2 main seats and a smaller location in the middle, you are able to make a vast majority of the people happy. Most vehicles have 3 seating positions in the 2nd row, I have never seen one that is even divided (always 2 big and 1 small) I would think this is even more the case in Europe where your cars tend to be smaller than here in the States.

I think having a child crammed between 2 fairly rigidly mounted child seats with no space to move isn't the safest way to get 3 kids in there. Think side impact collision.

Can the booster not fit in the 3rd row? I would think that would be the optimal solution to your problem.

 

Hi,

Well other cars in this class do have three seats - the Toyota Verso, the VW Touran, and lately the Ford S-Max.

Yes it was rather tight, but I went for the Mazda ahead of the first two of these three because of the air bags, and the S-Max wasn't out at the time.

Usually we have the three kids arranged two in the middle and one in the back, to stop them fighting! When we need the luggage space I do tend to try and use the middle seat but with a proper child seat which seems to work OK although it's quite difficult to get everything in place. If I were to get a booster for this seat it would only be for occasional use. I have occasionally been the adult in the middle and there's not a lot of shoulder space for me but I don't think it would be that tight for a child. However I am far from an expert and your point about side impact is a new one on me, and obviously safety first

 

If you need to spread them out over the 3 rows and still need the luggage/storage space. I've had good luck using roof boxes (I prefer Thule) You could then have it up there when you need the space, or off when you don't, and you don't have to move seats around...

 

i have 3 grand kids and can see as they grow up, the bench seat is just to small for 3 kids. The leg room back there is also tight. There is no grocery bag hooks or net in the trunk, making it difficult to carry anything without spilling everything all over the truck floor. But the car is very solid. Whilst built in Japan, looks like most of the parts have made in China stamped on them. But fit and finish is solid. Only 76km on it so far, so lets see. The led information screen in middle is useless. Just not going to be used much. Who is going to scroll thru led centre dial menu whilst driving! I have heard the led head lamps, if they fail cost $1000 each. My Toyota headlight bulb cost $15!