Baby Seats

[johnnylakes]

Quick question. Looking to purchase a baby seat for a new arrival. I have a 2019 Corolla saloon. What seats do you recommend? Was looking at the joie spin, but not sure are all baby seats compatible with the Corolla. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Could have a look at - kit.honestjohn.co.uk/car-seat-chooser/

[johnnylakes]

Honest john doesnt give the full information of the seats I was looking at. Some had no information for the 2019 model and others gave info for the 2018 model instead.

Im looking for real world information from Corolla owners that have seats installed in their cars. Heard not all seats fit perfectly.

Which ever one I decide on must meet the Swedish plus tests. More stringent than the ECE 129 tests. I can find that from users recommendations.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Perhaps it would have been better to include that detail in the initial post.

Also you have to bear in mind that the majority of our members are in the UK, and Toyota GB didn't import the Corolla saloon between 2007 and 2019, as sales of saloons in this market sector are usually low volume due to UK owners historically preferring hatchbacks or estates.

For the whole of 2019, 15,537 Corollas were sold in the UK, and 699 of which were saloons (only 4.5% of total sales). Answers from members who own saloons will be limited for this reason.

 

[johnnylakes]

Rarely see a hatch or estate this side of the water. Dont have figures but at a guess i would would say 90% here are saloons sold. 

Over 4000 sold here 2019 and as far as I know the 1st or second most bought car here so far this year.  Dont mean to sterotype but anyone putting a baby seat in a Corolla here would be for the grandkids 🤣🤣

[TonyHSD]

Any baby seat will fit the Corolla, just pick the one that you like the most, important to watch safety and functionality, age group etc. You can check Amazon for custumer review and prices. 
Regards 

[Gray86]

I’ve got the Joie 360 (spin) in my Corolla TS, it fits well

[johnnylakes]

Great thanks for that. Have my eye on the Joie 360. Being able to spin it around should make life a bit easier

On 2/10/2021 at 10:20 AM, Gray86 said:

I’ve got the Joie 360 (spin) in my Corolla TS, it fits well

 

[AKLZ]

On 2/10/2021 at 10:20 AM, Gray86 said:

I’ve got the Joie 360 (spin) in my Corolla TS, it fits well

Interesting. I bought the Corolla TS specifically as were expecting twins and needed a new larger car, fast. 

I also bought 2 x Joie iSpin 360 seats.

They are a very tight fit, and I have had to move both front seats up significantly in order to fit them. My seat has had to move forwards a full 5” !

Bearing in mind I am 6’ tall, with long legs, this makes my driving position extremely difficult now. Thank goodness it’s an automatic. My knees touch the dash, almost and the wheel is pretty close to my body. It feels odd and uncomfortable.

I bought an estate as I thought I’d be swimming in space. It’s very tight. I wished I’d gone for the Audi A6 but I was seduced by the Hybrid and the exceptional reliability reputation of the Toyota. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

The A6 is a much larger car - bigger than the Camry. Wheelbase 225mm longer than the Corolla and 100mm longer than the Camry. So comparisons between the A6 and Corolla are nonsensical.

[AKLZ]

9 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The A6 is a much larger car - bigger than the Camry. Wheelbase 225mm longer than the Corolla and 100mm longer than the Camry. So comparisons between the A6 and Corolla are nonsensical.

I know, I wasn’t comparing them. That’s why I said I wished I’d gone for the [bigger] Audi A6

[johnnylakes]

57 minutes ago, AKLZ said:

Interesting. I bought the Corolla TS specifically as were expecting twins and needed a new larger car, fast. 

I also bought 2 x Joie iSpin 360 seats.

They are a very tight fit, and I have had to move both front seats up significantly in order to fit them. My seat has had to move forwards a full 5” !

Bearing in mind I am 6’ tall, with long legs, this makes my driving position extremely difficult now. Thank goodness it’s an automatic. My knees touch the dash, almost and the wheel is pretty close to my body. It feels odd and uncomfortable.

I bought an estate as I thought I’d be swimming in space. It’s very tight. I wished I’d gone for the Audi A6 but I was seduced by the Hybrid and the exceptional reliability reputation of the Toyota. 

If your knees are touching the dash and your practically sitting on top of the steering to hell with that. You will be in bits after a long drive. Never mind any potential control issues. Im thinking myself I might have issues with space. Problem is what do you go for that has the reliability of the Toyota. 

[AKLZ]

Just now, johnnylakes said:

If your knees are touching the dash and your practically sitting on top of the steering to hell with that. You will be in bits after a long drive. Never mind any potential control issues. Im thinking myself I might have issues with space. Problem is what do you go for that has the reliability of the Toyota. 

That was precisely my thought process. I never even thought that a pretty standard baby seat would cause such space issues in any estate car, tbh, so getting the Toyota Hybrid estate seemed a no brainier. It seems that for the Corolla, the internal space is the same as the smaller versions - just with a larger boot. With larger estates eg the A6 Avant, the whole car is stretched and you have much more internal space.

if you have just one baby seat, then put it behind the passenger seat and you’ll be fine. 

[FROSTYBALLS]

25 minutes ago, johnnylakes said:

If your knees are touching the dash and your practically sitting on top of the steering to hell with that. You will be in bits after a long drive. Never mind any potential control issues. Im thinking myself I might have issues with space. Problem is what do you go for that has the reliability of the Toyota. 

Camry.

[Gray86]

1 hour ago, AKLZ said:

Interesting. I bought the Corolla TS specifically as were expecting twins and needed a new larger car, fast. 

I also bought 2 x Joie iSpin 360 seats.

They are a very tight fit, and I have had to move both front seats up significantly in order to fit them. My seat has had to move forwards a full 5” !

Bearing in mind I am 6’ tall, with long legs, this makes my driving position extremely difficult now. Thank goodness it’s an automatic. My knees touch the dash, almost and the wheel is pretty close to my body. It feels odd and uncomfortable.

I bought an estate as I thought I’d be swimming in space. It’s very tight. I wished I’d gone for the Audi A6 but I was seduced by the Hybrid and the exceptional reliability reputation of the Toyota. 

I’m sorry to hear that. The rear of the TS isn’t as spacious as Toyota’s marketing blurb suggests. . . Leg room is marginally better than a golf. 
 

I’m 6ft 1, and there’s decent clearance for our 3.5yr old boy to sit behind, although I like to sit up in the drivers seat, rather than lie back which may be why there’s still a reasonable amount of space behind. 
 

we are about to swap our 360 for another Joie seat as we are close to out-growing it. Probably go for the Joie Stages seat 

[johnnylakes]

36 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Camry.

Possibly. Would need to look at it in more detail. More so from a resale point of view. Not sure what the depreciation is like on them. Not many of them around to compare. Maybe like the Avensis. Taxi drivers used to mad looking for clean models.

[johnnylakes]

1 hour ago, AKLZ said:

That was precisely my thought process. I never even thought that a pretty standard baby seat would cause such space issues in any estate car, tbh, so getting the Toyota Hybrid estate seemed a no brainier. It seems that for the Corolla, the internal space is the same as the smaller versions - just with a larger boot. With larger estates eg the A6 Avant, the whole car is stretched and you have much more internal space.

if you have just one baby seat, then put it behind the passenger seat and you’ll be fine. 

Im sure with twins you will be carrying alot more gear too. So bigger the boot the better. Must say the boot space is the SUVs is poor

[TonyHSD]

RAV4 hybrid, it’s the car with ton of space on rear seats, it’s very roomy and bright inside, I don’t know why Toyota has made Corolla so cramped on the rear and in general, perhaps to push to buy larger models or to copy Audi and BMWs . , ah and the dark roof lining.....

[Rolando1]

16 minutes ago, johnnylakes said:

Possibly. Would need to look at it in more detail. More so from a resale point of view. Not sure what the depreciation is like on them. Not many of them around to compare. Maybe like the Avensis. Taxi drivers used to mad looking for clean models.

Very much so the depreciation will probably be worse on the Camry due to popularity of SUV's and Estates and it probably will be a lot harder to shift than the Corolla TS

[Gray86]

57 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

RAV4 hybrid, it’s the car with ton of space on rear seats, it’s very roomy and bright inside, I don’t know why Toyota has made Corolla so cramped on the rear and in general, perhaps to push to buy larger models or to copy Audi and BMWs . , ah and the dark roof lining.....

The RAV is much more spacious inside - and the boot is comparable with the TS also. I really wanted one instead of the Corolla, but couldn’t quite stretch to it, and I’m not sure it will be as good to drive as the Corolla. 
 

I think the lack of headroom is the ‘shooting brake’ styling, rather than the boxy estate styling like a Golf. 

[johnnylakes]

1 hour ago, Rolando1 said:

1 hour ago, Gray86 said:

The RAV is much more spacious inside - and the boot is comparable with the TS also. I really wanted one instead of the Corolla, but couldn’t quite stretch to it, and I’m not sure it will be as good to drive as the Corolla. 
 

I think the lack of headroom is the ‘shooting brake’ styling, rather than the boxy estate styling like a Golf. 

 

I would love a RAV or a Camry but like that it would  be a bit of a stretch. The Avensis would probably be a better candidate. Think the SUV killed off the Avensis segment.

[FROSTYBALLS]

29 minutes ago, johnnylakes said:

Think the SUV killed off the Avensis segment.

The SUV largely wiped out both the MPV (Verso/Prius+) and the large family car (Avensis) market sectors.

For Toyota, in terms of major markets, Europe comes third behind, firstly, the US, and, secondly, Japan. For Europe, Toyota decided to use the Corolla Touring Sports/saloon, Prius (both of these have the same size wheelbase as the Avensis) and the Camry to bridge the large family car sector.

[AKLZ]

I echo the above. I had my heart set on RAV4 but at (at least) £10k more than the Corolla TS model (used models), I didn’t want to stretch that far. Plus it seemed a little too big, but on reflection it would have been a better choice for twins from the Toyota stock.

[TonyHSD]

Prius plus, the ultimate alternative to the estate car or suv, only the styling puts many potential buyers off, and price perhaps as it’s hot buy in taxi business. Corolla it’s not a small car and could have been done better in terms of interior look and design IMO, leg room and head room, but it’s is what it is and I rather have Corolla estate hybrid than anything else for obvious reasons. 👍

[johnnylakes]

The price of the RAV and the Camry is just a bit out of range. Not sure what the second hand market is like.

But I would have to agree with Tony HSD. In terms of spec, reliability, resale,price and everything else it is hard to beat the Corolla. Just a tiny bit more interior room. I compared against Skoda and Seat and they dont come close in terms of spec and price Cant comment on the room part. Not sure about the whole 1.0 tsí. Socks and dead man comes to mind