Trouble with what we have, need RF seat recommendation for Civic

[Letitia]

We have two cars, and the good news is that I am recently physically well enough to pickup my kids from preschool.  Until now, we have had no need for carseats in both cars for a long time.

We also this week had to temporarily move my son's seat into our 2006 4-door Civic because the other car needed servicing.  He's 2-1/2, RF in an Evenflo Triumph Advance.  The backseat of the Civic curves forward next to the door.  When the Evenflo was installed tightly (using LATCH), the knob to tighten the harness jammed against the curving part of seat of the car.  It was really tough to get him in and out.

He's a slender kid, just over 30 lbs now, but at least average height.  So he's not going to outgrow the Evenflo immediately, but it would likely happen sooner than I'd want to turn him FF.  We can't put him in the middle because his older sister is FF in an Evenflo Triumph Advance next to him.  

I have really liked the Evenflo, but for both fit of the kid and fit in the car it's not a good answer now.  Does anybody have any experience with a seat that will fit well RF in a Civic and hold a toddler to 40 or 45 lbs?  Money is a bit of an issue, but we'll do what we have to do.  I just don't have the stamina right now for carrying a bunch of seats out to the car with a teenage employee from Babies R' Us to try them out.

[leighi123]

Have you tried installing with the seatbelt?  You might be able to move it farther from the door.  The seatbelt is just as safe as LATCH and in the honda I find it easier for some reason anyway. 

In my grandma's honda civic I have installed:

-scenera, titan 5, radian XTSL, and a Truefit.  All on the passanger side, and all installed easily except the scenera, which required a rolled towel and was a pain to get tight (once it was in it was fine though).   The XTSL goes to 45lbs, the scencera some go to 40 (target!), the others go to 35lbs. 

[redvlagrl]

We have a Mazda 3 and an ETFA. We had the same trouble RFing. We now FF with that seat so no help there, but we do have a Britax Roundabout 55 installed RFing behind the driver with no problems. You might like to check it out. It has the more typical strap type tightener which is easier to access RFing, though personally I don't think you can 'crank it up' as tight as with the EFTA

[an_aurora]

The Radians install very well and very upright in that year and model of car.  There are some great sales going on right now, too.  You can also check out the Complete Air, which is on sale at Babies R Us (and our local Fred Meyer has them on sale too) for $120.