plain jane Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 (edited) Dh and I have our eyes on a sweet 2008 Suburban but an amazing deal just came up on a 2006 that we're thinking we shouldn't pass up. Thing is, I noticed that in the 2006 body style the middle seats in the back benches do not have a shoulder belt- just a lap belt and also, neither body style interiors have head rests for the passenger who sits in the middle seats. I'm a bit concerned with the safety of having a child sit in these seats and was wondering if others have found this to be an issue or not. Also, I had thought that the Suburban would be wide enough to fit 3 car seats across the back but it's no bigger than our minivan :glare: so having a booster, especially a high back one in the middle seat is not an option. If you own one of these vehicles... what do you do? Is the lack of head rest a concern for you? What about not having a shoulder belt? How old/big should a child be to not have to ride with a shoulder belt? Thanks for any thoughts you may have. :) Edited October 12, 2010 by plain jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juelle Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 2003 Suburban here. You're quite right about the lap belts in the middle, the lack of headrests and the size of the rear-most seat. When we bought it (used), it seemed so much bigger than our ancient mini-van that we didn't care. The non-retractable belts are a real problem, though. It's impossible to tighten them enough for the baby's seat :-( Sorry I can't be more helpful. We love it overall, and while these are real issues, they weren't and aren't deal-breakers for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie of KY Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 1999 Suburban - lap belts and lack of head rests are not a problem for me. I can fit three full size carseat/boosters across the middle seat and three can fit in the third seat depending on the make. Love my Suburbans - my current one replaced my 1979 one and I'll probably get a new one again someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Our last Suburban was totaled in an accident in March--rear-ended at high speeds... the girl sitting in the back bench seat (lap belt only no head rest) broke her back (but it has completely healed!!!). The girls on either side with lap belts and headrests had severe concussions (one hit her head on the window and the other (my middle dd) on the ceiling as the impact crumpled the back end enough to raise the bench over 6 inches! Girls in the center bench (also lap belt only in center) were fine--2 with shoulder belts had mild whiplash--girl with lap belt only was fine. Driver (my DH) and front passenger (oldest dd) had moderate/severe whiplash... The cargo area saved the lives of the three girls in the back... I'm glad we had the larger Suburban instead of the shorter version (whatever it is called now). Our current Suburban has the captains chairs in the center--but back seat config is the same as the last one. We don't put people in the center back unless absolutely necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 Our last Suburban was totaled in an accident in March--rear-ended at high speeds... the girl sitting in the back bench seat (lap belt only no head rest) broke her back (but it has completely healed!!!). The girls on either side with lap belts and headrests had severe concussions (one hit her head on the window and the other (my middle dd) on the ceiling as the impact crumpled the back end enough to raise the bench over 6 inches! Girls in the center bench (also lap belt only in center) were fine--2 with shoulder belts had mild whiplash--girl with lap belt only was fine. Driver (my DH) and front passenger (oldest dd) had moderate/severe whiplash... The cargo area saved the lives of the three girls in the back... I'm glad we had the larger Suburban instead of the shorter version (whatever it is called now). Our current Suburban has the captains chairs in the center--but back seat config is the same as the last one. We don't put people in the center back unless absolutely necessary. Oh wow!! :grouphug: I'm so glad to read that everyone is okay now. How frightening. This is part of the reason dh wants to get into a Suburban vs a minivan. He feels his family would all be safer in a truck. Looks like we may have to spring for the 2008 version to get the shoulder belt, but there's still no head rest. Why is that? :confused::glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 :lurk5: :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Looks like we may have to spring for the 2008 version to get the shoulder belt, but there's still no head rest. Why is that? :confused::glare: I wish I knew why there were no middle headrests - that annoys me too. We have a 2008 suburban, with three carseats across the third row, and another three across the second row bench. The middle seats do have shoulder belts. Note that the middle seat in the third row has very little space between the seatbelt buckles on either side. That is the real issue when it comes to carseats, moreso than the total width (our third row is an inch or two wider than our old Odyssey). It's irritating and inconvenient. I think ds's booster is slightly askew (it's a very narrow fisher price model - can't remember the name). Also, we filled the buckle "holes" with cloths - otherwise it's very hard to buckle around carseats because the buckle keeps falling back into the hole when you try to push the clip in one-handed and there just isn't much room for two hands with the carseats. By the way, we bought ours in Dec 2008 new, and it was a pretty good bargain at the time. I hope there are even better bargains out there for you :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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