"Dad" advice for putting car seat in 2001 Mustang?

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TigerKitty

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Calling all Dads…(and maybe some EMT’s, firefighters, and mechanics)…

Can you share your thoughts about putting an infant car seat in the back of a 2001 Ford Mustang? I’m wondering if it’s safe or not. Main concerns are:
  1. small size of back seat area, poor access because only 2 doors - afraid baby would be entrapped in case of a crash
  2. proximity of the back seat to rear of car - possible severe injury to baby in a rear end crash
  3. glass for back window directly above rear-facting baby - (see concern for point 2)
Should I be worried or are my concerns just “worrying too much”?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
 
I’m not a DAD, but I’m married to an Engineer… lol I have a 1995 Mustang Convertible and I couldn’t imagine that any car seat would even fit in the back seat! Are you sure you can even get it in there?

My first gut reaction is don’t do it. FWIW.

Steph
 
TigerKitty said:
Calling all Dads…(and maybe some EMT’s, firefighters, and mechanics)…
Can you share your thoughts about putting an infant car seat in the back of a 2001 Ford Mustang? I’m wondering if it’s safe or not. Main concerns are:
  1. small size of back seat area, poor access because only 2 doors - afraid baby would be entrapped in case of a crash
  2. proximity of the back seat to rear of car - possible severe injury to baby in a rear end crash
  3. glass for back window directly above rear-facting baby - (see concern for point 2)
    Should I be worried or are my concerns just “worrying too much”?
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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Time to sell it and buy a stationwagon . . . .😛

.
 
If you do have to sell the Mustang and buy a van, be sure to take plenty of pictures of the car and you with it. My adult sons are in awe of the fact that their mother actually owned a Mustang! I have the pictures to prove it! These pictures helped my sons, when they were younger, understand that their mother was young once, and had a life that did not include them.
 
I have one, and I have done this. Had an infant seat AND a toddler seat. Never again. I hate feet in the back for one thing, but then when I got my job as a 911 dispatcher, I learned more legitimate reasons for not doing it again.

The back seat is dangerously close to the fuel tank…

If I knew how to post pics I would… I’ll pm them to you if you want…
 
Here are some pics and discussion from another forum: car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=1170599

It pretty much renders the front passenger seat unusable, at least IMHO.

I’d make sure if you do it you get an infant bucket seat that allows the handle to be UP when installed (read the manual to find out which position the handle must be in), since many infant carriers require the carry handle to be in the down or intermediate position when installed, which would make popping it in and out very difficult in that car.
 
sanctareparata said:
Here are some pics and discussion from another forum: car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=1170599

It pretty much renders the front passenger seat unusable, at least IMHO.

I’d make sure if you do it you get an infant bucket seat that allows the handle to be UP when installed (read the manual to find out which position the handle must be in), since many infant carriers require the carry handle to be in the down or intermediate position when installed, which would make popping it in and out very difficult in that car.
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I just have to second this… as a 5’10" woman who rode around in a passanger seat pulled up that far- and this was in a '97 4-door Escort. My head was in the windshield and my face was right over the airbag. My knees were in my chest. Definitely not safe.

I can’t imagine you could use the passenger seat in a 2 door Mustang.
 
We don’t own a mustang, but we do have an car seat in a 2 door vehicle. We have a 2 door chevy cavalier, and the only reason we can have a car seat in it and still use it, is that is has a middle seat in the back. That is where we put the seat. Also getting the baby out is no fun. Also it is impossible to have our convertable car seat rear facing once the baby out grew the infant seat. So something to think about.
 
Actually, I’m going to do some disagreeing here:

The Mustang is a well built car, so it’s probably safer then a four door Ford Focus or Toyota RAV 4, for example in a rear end collision. The proximity to the rear isn’t as important as the results of the rear crash ratings. Compare those with whatever other car you might be purchasing.

Secondly, is it just you in the family or is there another car? You can have one car that primarily transports the family and only using this one occasionally.

Entrapment can happen in just about any vehicle, however. I’ve seen kids having to be cut out of Jeeps. I don’t know if it’s statistically more common in cars like that. Be some interesting research.

As far as the glass goes, it is designed to break into safe pieces. Again, a valid concern…but I don’t think the odds of a problem are as large as you might think.

Is there more risk? Possibly? But it’s really up to you to decide if it’s worth it.
 
Good thoughts here…thanks for weighing in. I’m still leaning toward NOT putting the baby in this car. Actually terrified to. We do have a different vehicle…BUT…it’s a LONG story. (it’s a stick, DH doesn’t drive stick, it’s still in excellent shape, 4wd for the winter, and only 65K miles, paid off so don’t want to trade - would have to spend $$$ to get something similar quality in an automatic - and DH told me I’d have to use my own savings, he won’t contribute, even though he would be driving - and I’d be buying a new vehicle essentially so he could drive it 🤷 ) Don’t really have family around who can advise us on this, so need all the external (name removed by moderator)ut we can get.
 
TigerKitty said:
Good thoughts here…thanks for weighing in. I’m still leaning toward NOT putting the baby in this car. Actually terrified to. We do have a different vehicle…BUT…it’s a LONG story. (it’s a stick, DH doesn’t drive stick, it’s still in excellent shape, 4wd for the winter, and only 65K miles, paid off so don’t want to trade - would have to spend $$$ to get something similar quality in an automatic - and DH told me I’d have to use my own savings, he won’t contribute, even though he would be driving - and I’d be buying a new vehicle essentially so he could drive it 🤷 ) Don’t really have family around who can advise us on this, so need all the external (name removed by moderator)ut we can get.
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sounds like DH needs to man up to family life. He needs to a) learn how to drive stick or b) realized that this is a family decision and not make you dip into your savings for a new (used) car.

Driving stick isn’t that difficult. I don’t yet, but I have a friend who’s teaching me the basics…and I don’t find it too hard.

As far as saftey…depending on the year mustangs are either dangerous or safe. That much I know. It’s no less or more safe if there’s a baby inside. Remember, there have been plenty of Minivan, SUV, and 15 passanger van tragedies that had to do with their large size…tragidies that wouldn’t of happened with a smaller car.

ALSO. If you are incapable of installing the car seat laws do allow for front seat car installation with a disabled air-bag when back-seat car seat installation is impossible (such as in a pick-up with a bench seat). You’d have to see your town and state laws but this is also a possibility.
 
A little late here on the reply, but thought I’d toss it out there

We have a 2001 mustang GT and have carseats in it just fine.

Graco snugride allows the handle to be in the upright position, so that works. But you still need to have it in the passenger side of the car. I’m 5-0 so I can still ride up front ok and have hubby drive

For when you need to go rear facing in something other than the infant carrier, the only thing we found that you could recline enough was the Britax Roundabout – it has a short back on it. But still, you need it on the passenger side. I didn’t have to move the seat totally forward either - I was far enough from the dash. Further away than when I’m driving. You’ll find that when you have an older child forward facing, the roundabout has too short of a back – let’s say when your kid is around 4, over 40 inches, but not yet big enough for a booster. Then you’ll have to find a 5pt with a higher back. You MIGHT be able to get away with an infant carrier with a higher weight limit like the graco safeseat - but only if the handle position can stay upright on that one too. And then you could just skip the whole fiasco of finding a short-backed rear facing seat. Depends how chubby your kids are. We had 20lb 1yr olds, but I know people who have 25lb 6 month olds.

Now, we’re in the position where we are getting close to a booster, and I found this post of yours while researching what the rear belts are like in the car. DH is at work so i can’t go check it out right now. But I think the seatbelt comes out from the side wall - and if that’s the case a booster cannot be installed at all in this car from what I’ve seen so far…
 
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