The Toyota Corolla is one of the most popular and widely seen smaller car makes in America. It’s also a favourite among first-time parents, who love its wonderful safety record as well as the highly affordable price tag! However, smaller cars, although wonderful, can cause small complications when it comes to choosing the best car seat. But this doesn’t mean that choosing a car seat for your smaller vehicle has to be complicated! There are still a whole range of wonderful car seats that work perfectly with a smaller car. We’ve put this article together to help guide you through your options for the best convertible car seat for a Toyota Corolla.
As many of the parents out there already know, finding a car seat that fits your vehicle is only half the battle. The other half is making sure that your child finds it super comfortable! The comfort factor is one of the core reasons that going with a convertible car seat is such a good idea. This is especially important for the parents of younger children, as you want to make sure that you’ve selected a car seat that your child will adore, and which will, quite literally, go the distance with them. Convertible car seats allow you to convert them from being rear facing to front facing, in keeping with the recommended safety instructions commensurate with the children’s age. It’s also a total misconception that having a smaller car means that there’s going to be automatically less room for your child. The convertible seats that are featured in this article will hopefully do away with this misconception once and for all. There are plenty of seats out there with designs that ensure that the comfort quality for the child riding in the said seat isn’t compromised at all! In assessing the best convertible car seats for the Toyota Corolla, we’ve used the following features to come to an overall conclusion on their quality: comfort, ability to clean, age range served, and safety features.
Chicco NextFit iX Zip Convertible Car Seat Review | £££
Features
The Chicco NextFit iX Zip Convertible Car Seat measures 21 x 19.2 x 28 inches, which is ideal for the Corolla’s dimensions. coming in pretty perfectly for a smaller-sized car. It has features a 9-position reclining system and Right Ride bubble levels on either side of the seats so that you can be sure that your children are riding securely and level. It also features premium harness connectors and a Super Clinch tightening system that help achieve a straightforward installation system with LATCH. The NextFit also clips into your vehicle using the vehicle’s seat belt, making it incredibly easy to secure.
Review
Pros
- Breathable fabric, allowing for excellent temperature control, especially for hotter days
- Nine-position easy adjust headrest and reclining system
- Ride Right bubble levels so that you can ensure the seat is well levelled. This is especially important for younger children
- Fully LATCH equipped
- Comfort Flex harness system allow for maximum comfort for passengers
- An Amazon top choice
- Convertible from rear-facing to forward facing as children grow
- The minimum weight recommended is 5 pounds, which means that it can be used from birth!
- New-born positioner which provides extra support to infants who weigh from 5 to 11 pounds
- ComfortFlex harness which keeps passengers as comfortable as possible
- Excellent safety record
- Popular accessories include a baby car mirror
- Machine washable
- Steel-reinforced frame and lined with EPS energy-absorbing foam
Cons
- As the seat is only designed to 65 pounds, it covers a smaller age-range than some of the other convertible car seats available
- Seat itself is fairly heavy
- High sides which can make taking children in and out challenging
Rating
Comfort: 5/5
Age range served: 4/5
Ability to clean: 4/5
Safety features: 5/5
Overall: 18/20
Disney APT Mouseketeer Review
Features
Disney’s Mouseketeer convertible car seat is sure to delight both parents and kids alike. The seat measures 24 x 21.5 x 23 inches, which makes it perfect for smaller vehicles as well as larger ones. It also only weighs 12 pounds, which makes it one of the lighters car seats currently available! Its breathable fabric allows for good temperature control on hot days, and it has a rear facing design that’s idea for younger children. It has adjustable shoulder pads, alongside body inserts for infants to ensure maximum safety. It also features 6 different reclining positions, all of which can be used in a rear facing position. The car seat itself weighs almost 24 pounds, and the harness features have the Simply Safe Adjust feature, which allows you to adjust them to accommodate for children of different sizes, and also feature the LATCH installation system.
Review
Pros
- Breathable fabric, allowing for excellent temperature control, especially for hotter days
- Flexible design allows for adjustment to child’s specific size, including removable shoulder pads which are particularly helpful for infants
- Five-point harness for maximum safety
- Handy and easily accessible double cup-holders perfect for bottles and snacks!
- An Amazon top choice and the number one best-selling car seat for infants
- The minimum weight recommended is 5 pounds, which means that the seat can be used right from birth!
- Very easy to install, with rave reviews from parents praising it
- Excellent safety record
- Popular accessories include a baby car mirror and seat protector
- Available in both “Minnie” and “Micky” prints
Cons
- As the APT Mousekeeteer is only designed to support children that weigh up to 40 pounds, it covers a smaller age-range than some of the other car seats on the market. If your child grows quickly or is getting close to the 40-pound mark, this might not be the ideal seat for you!
- Reviews indicate that larger children are occasionally able to loosen the straps themselves
- A small number of reviews indicated that the buckles can be very hard to release
- Not machine washable; would have to be hand-wiped down
Rating
Age range that can be served: 3/5
Ability to clean: 3/5
Comfort: 4/5
Safety features: 4/5
Overall: 14/20
Graco Contender 65 Review |££
Features
The Graco Contender 65 is one of the most popular convertible car seats among small-car owners. It’s petite size, coming in at 27 x 20 x 26 is perfect for small vehicles like the Toyota Corolla. Much like the NextFit, the seat is designed to seat an infant in a rear-facing position from 4 to 35 pounds, and a toddler in front-facing position from 22 to 69 pounds. The Graco has undergone intensive Safe Seat engineering, which exceeds the US federal crash testing requirements, including being tested for side impact. It also features a SimplySafe adjust harness system.
Pros
- SafeSeat engineered, which means that the seat has been engineered to meet or surpass the US safety crash standards for car seats. This also includes side impact testing
- Fabric has also been tested for extreme indoor temperatures, to ensure that children will still find it comfortable, even on very hot or very cold days!
- Features a Right Fit one-hand adjustment system with eight different settings, which will help ensure that your child is as comfortable as possible
- LATCH equipped for installation, which means that the installation can be done either using your vehicle’s seat belt, or the internal LATCH system – whichever you prefer
- Integrated cupholders which ensure that favourite snacks are always going to be within reach
- Five-point harness for quick transportation of children in and out of the car seat
- Removeable head and body support to give extra comfort for young children
- Build with energy absorbing EPS foam
- Goes all the way up to 69 pounds, which gives you four extra pounds on the average 65!
- Excellent safety record, with parents who had experienced accidents in the Toyota Corolla indicating that they were particularly satisfied
Cons
- Not machine washable; would have to be hand-wiped down
- Some reviews indicated that the harnesses can be very hard to tighten
- The recline functions are not as strong as many of the other designs on the market
Rating
Age range that can be served: 5/5
Comfort: 4/5
Ability to clean: 3/5
Safety features: 5/5
Overall: 17/20
Summary
Choosing a car seat for a smaller car such as Toyota Corolla isn’t always straightforward, but there are a number of really great designs out there on the market that mean that even in a smaller car, you’re not compromising on quality or comfort for your child, while still feeling reassured that all the relevant safety measures have been met. After considering the various options available, we have come to the conclusion that the best overall values for money for parents who own a Toyota Corolla is the Graco Contender 65.
The Graco’s unique SafeSecure seat engineering means that it both meets all and exceeds all of the relevant US Federal crash safety standards, while also having the wonderful extra of having been texted for extreme temperatures. As a major reoccurring issue among parents is that their children get uncomfortable in their seats when they’re exposed to sun for a long time, this makes the Graco an especially appealing option.
While the NextFit features all of the same options (minus the temperature testing), it comes with a higher price tag. However, it does feature a wider selection of reclining options, which aren’t as varied with the Graco. The more expensive designs to feature more customizable features when it comes to tailor-fitting the seat to your child’s physical specifications, but the Graco still does feature removeable head and body supports which give extra comfort and security to infant passengers in particular. Finally, it’s excellent safety record specifically with Toyota Corollas, with many parents who own the car swearing by the compatibility of the LATCH system with the cars’ specification, make it the best model in our eyes!
