BMW’s 7 Series if a full-size luxury sedan that offers lots of room for all its passengers. Our test car, the 2010 750Li, has a longer wheelbase that’s stretched 5.5 inches compared to its sibling, the 750i. The 750Li’s extra length benefits backseat passengers or adults installing child-safety seats.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a rear-facing infant-safety seat, a convertible child-safety seat and a high-back booster seat, all made by Graco. The front seats are adjusted to a comfortable position for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The child seats are installed in the second row and, if available, third row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant seat and convertible seats are installed behind the passenger seat.

Here’s how the 2010 750Li scored in MotherProof.com’s Car Seat Check:

Latch system: Our test car had two bucket seats in the second row with two sets of lower Latch anchors. The anchors are buried under the seat cushions and difficult to access. The two top tether anchors sit on the shelf behind the head restraints.

Booster seat: This car seat fit easily in the backseat.

Convertible child-safety seat: The forward-facing convertible seat also fit well in this car, but it took awhile to install it because the lower Latch anchors were so difficult to use. The car’s extra length helped the rear-facing convertible to fit easily in the backseat after we struggled with the Latch anchors for a while.

Rear-facing infant-safety seat: This car seat also fit well in the backseat of this four-seater.

Do two car seats fit? Yes

Do three car seats fit? No
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Here in the Denver area, last Sunday afternoon was a crisp, cool autumnal day perfect for having a Sunday football game on in the background. While the kids played outside in the leaves, my attention was caught by a Bud Light commercial for the ultimate tailgating car. 
In this fictional vehicle, the gas tank was replaced with a keg of Bud Light, the heating vents blew freshly popped popcorn and under the hood was a mac-daddy bilevel grill complete with condiments’ drawer. I’m not a beer drinker so I could pass on the keg, but as a mom chauffeuring hungry mouths all around town, the in-car popcorn popper is a great idea. Though the Bud Light vehicle isn’t real, the popper still makes it as this week’s feature of the week.

My ultimate family car would also have a central vacuum system to suck up all those leftover popcorn kernels and a soundproof barrier between the front and rear seats so I can Zen out to the Spa channel on XM Satellite Radio while the kids rock out to Justin Bieber in the back.

What fantasy features would your ideal family car have in it? The sky’s the limit. Tell us in the comment section below.
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With three rows standard, the 2010 Lexus GX 460 can easily handle the neighborhood carpool or a visit from the grandparents. Earlier this year, Consumer Reports flagged the GX 460 with a “Don’t Buy” status because it could tip over during extreme cornering. Toyota stopped selling the GX and fixed the problem, leading to Consumer Reports removing its “Don’t Buy” flag from this SUV.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a rear-facing infant-safety seat, a convertible child-safety seat and a high-back booster seat, all made by Graco. The front seats are adjusted to a comfortable position for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The child seats are installed in the second row and, if available, third row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant seat and convertible seats are installed behind the passenger seat.

Here’s how the 2010 GX 460 scored in MotherProof.com’s Car Seat Check:

Latch system: There are only two sets of lower Latch anchors in the GX 460, and they’re found in the outboard seats in the second row. The anchors sit in slits in the seat bight, which is where the seat bottom and back cushions meet, under long leather flaps that are held in place with Velcro. When using the Latch anchors, we had to use the car seat to hold the flap down and out of the way. This was annoying because it was another step in the installation process. There are three tether anchors midway down the second row’s seatbacks. They’re easy to reach and use. There are no tether anchors in the third row.

Booster seat: In the second row, the reclining seatbacks led to a good fit for our booster seat. We raised the head restraint to accommodate our booster’s high back. The outboard seats’ head restraints are removable, but the center position’s head restraint can’t be removed. The second row’s seat belt buckles are stored in wells in the seat bottom cushion. This could be problematic because the booster seat could slide over the buckle. In the two-seat third row (photo above), the booster seat fit well in the wide seating area. The seat belt buckles are on stable bases, making it easy for kids to buckle independently.

Convertible child-safety seat: The forward- and rear-facing convertible fit well in the second row, which moved backward and forward.

Rear-facing infant-safety seat: This seat also fit well in the second row.

Do two car seats fit? Yes

Do three car seats fit? Yes, we fit three car seats in the second row. Two car seats will fit in the third row.
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After completing the first leg of our family road trip from Denver to Flagstaff, Ariz., I realized that the first leg of any trip has two purposes: It gives everyone time to get excited about the trip, and it allows you time to remember all the stuff you forgot at home. I have to say that this was a pretty small list as we brought almost all of our earthly possessions, and what we forgot could be easily replaced.
We rolled into Flagstaff on Saturday night and were incredibly hungry. The restaurant choices were about as regional as the Olive Garden, which is where we went for dinner since it was right next to our hotel. So much for taking in the local cuisine! Isn’t that the story of parenting, though? You always think you’re going to do something a certain way and then course-correct as you go. I’m making a mental note to plan our road-trip dining options better next time. I might even tap my Facebook friends to recommend local eateries in the areas we’re traveling.

The other thing I thought would be easy about this road trip was corralling all our stuff in the 2011 Toyota Sienna. Ha. Just because a minivan is filled with many cubbies and cupholders doesn’t mean they’ll get used. I tried to keep track of the kids’ headphones, video games and pencils to little or no avail. And all the trash and wrappers? I had to turn a blind eye to it, and frankly, I didn’t want to be cleaning the whole trip, either. The lesson here is that I’ll edit what I bring and what I let the kids bring in the car next time. I didn’t realize how much they’d stashed away in addition to all the stuff I packed for them. It truly was a spectacle.

It’s not that I wasn’t prepared for the mess. I had plastic bags, reusable grocery bags, backpacks and even a nylon basket with a zippered top to stow stuff in for the road trip. However, the kids ignore these detritus-containing entities and just put everything on the minivan’s floor. The Sienna’s reclining captain’s chairs with footrests in the second row were great, but they also swept stuff on the floor under the seats when they’re closed. Needless to say, cleaning the Sienna out upon our return home was interesting! I tried not to think about it during the road trip.

The next stop for our first family road trip was the Grand Canyon. At this point in our road trip the kids still didn’t know that we were heading to Disneyland. I can’t believe I didn’t crack and tell them.

Share your road-trip tactics with Sara in the comment section below. To read the first installment of Sara’s Project Griswold road trip, click here.
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Driving a pickup puts teen drivers at a higher risk of injury than driving a car, a recent study suggests.
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New technologies needed to meet proposed fuel efficiency standard for heavy-duty pickup trucks could add approximately $1,249 to $1,592 to window stickers by 2018.
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Lexus Enform® recently launched an all-new mobile application to provide customers with more convenience on-the-go and valuable additions to services they have come to rely on and trust. Customers with an iPhone, iPod touch, or select Android™ phones and RIM BlackBerry® devices can download the complimentary Lexus Enform mobile app from the Apple App Store, Android Marketplace, or Blackberry App World for quick access to resources and information.

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We are pleased by the number of Toyota, Lexus, and Scion vehicles identified as Recommended and Most Reliable in Consumer Reports’ 2010 Annual Car Reliability Survey.

We’re also encouraged that Consumer Reports is reinstating recommendations on eight Toyota models and appreciate this recognition of the progress Toyota and its dealers have made in addressing recent recalls.
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Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Toyota Chemical Engineering Co., Ltd. (Toyota Chemical Engineering), Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., Ltd. (Sumitomo Metal Mining) and Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd. (PEVE) announce the launch of the world’s first* business to recycle nickel in used hybrid-vehicle nickel-metal-hydride batteries for use in new nickel-metal-hydride batteries.

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Celebrating its 21st anniversary, the Toyota TAPESTRY Grants for Science Teachers program, the largest science teacher grant program of its kind in the nation, is now accepting entries for the 2011-2012 program year.
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