Don't forget the 24 inch fart canister!!

 

Another vote for parents keeping the Mini. The rear facing seat is only for a few months. Don't sell or you'll be crying in the summer. The wife and I have three kids and while they can't all ride in it, we find our minivan boring and rarely use it except for long trips together. The four-year old rides in his car seat next to a load of groceries from our weekly grocery run.

 

 

Damn! Ugly ricers.

 

Well it's supposed to relieve the stress on the suspension when you lay the body on the ground

 

If youre gonna pimp a van you gotta do it right

 

Do you have an ArtCar Parade like we have here in Houston?

 

Looks....Aerodynamic?

 

Those things all are the rage in Japan.

 

Just to clarify: rear facing is required for a minimum of 1 year AND 20 lbs. Best practice is to keep rear facing for as long as your seat manufacturer will allow. In the case of Britax seats, that is roughly 35 lbs. Now, realistically, I know that is difficult as many 3 year olds don't weigh 35 lbs. But the point is that it is much safer to ride rear facing - especially for children. I kept my first child rear facing until he was 2.

[BTW, I am a certified Child Passenger Safety Tech. So I'm one of those people who volunteer their time on weekends to conduct safety checks.]

Thanks for the replies and (entertaining) photos of Japanese mini-vans.

 

My guilty pleasure... more pictures

 

Wow, never knew that. We went through three kids (now 17, 13 and 4), but now thinking back I can't honestly remember how long we kept them rear-facing, but it seemed like such a short time. We're done with our breeding so it does us no good , but still good to know to pass it on.

Back to the OP's situation, is a rear-facing seat actually not possible in the mini?

 

Rear facing is totally possible, but could be tricky with two in car seats.

 

I think I'm going to need to install two rear facing car seats and take a photo to demonstrate the difficulty level. One seat rear facing is easier because you can actually get in the back of the car and position the child (or go throught the back hatch with one seat folded down. Personally I don't think there is enough room to install a rear seat (properly reclined) in the back of a Mini and still be able to transport a normal sized adult passenger and/or driver simultaneously.

 

Sweet ride, man. My inlaws have one and after borrowing it for a week, I hated the fact that I liked it so much!

 

The thing is, that unless it is twins, it would be rare to have both kids rear facing at the same time. (Though I have seen a picture of twins in Peg Perrago car seats in the back of a minin!) Even if I got pregnant tomorrow, by the time kiddo number two arrived, kiddo number one would be forward-facing. Yes, it is safer to leave other children rear-facing as long as possible.

Is it worth keeping the mini and having about a year of a total pain in the bootie with two? I don't know. My mini hasn't been delivered yet.

Then again, we have an SUV as well for family trips. The mini is just the mommy and kiddo-mobile. And we're thinking it will be at least two years before we have another baby. Kiddo #1 is 4 months old.

 

I still think you need to take a closer look at the Clubman

Those 3 extra inches in the rear plus the 1 or so inches of rear shoulder room do make a HUGE difference.

Aside from having a rear door (and a HUGE opening) I don't see why the Clubman could not handle a properly reclined rear facing car seat and still leave sufficient space for the front passenger seat.

Before you settle and sign the dotted line on a gas guzzler SUV or Minivan (Anything with a V6 or V8 these days is a gas guzzler), visit your MINI dealer and test fit the car seat in the Clubman. You'll be surprised the extra 11 inches length overall the Clubman has over the standard R56 make.

 

Beware that some Honda minivans have had quality and reliability problems in the past. Minivans tend to be the least reliable products on any given carline. I do not know why. Those power slide side doors are a PITA when the motors start to fail.

I am not dissing the Honda Oddessey. But be aware that these cars become money pits after the warranty (Which is 3 years in Hondas) goes away.

It is too bad the lack of available car based station wagons in our market. Most of us grew up in family sedans and station wagons. What ever happen to that?