With standard all-wheel drive and a turbocharged four-cylinder engine, MotherProof.com reviewer Courtney Messenbaugh found the 2011 Subaru Forester to be a practical midsize SUV that can handle anything the road throws at it. However, she did find the Forester to be lacking on both the style and gadget fronts. One area where the Forester excels is safety. The 2011 Forester has been named a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Learn more about the Forester in Courtney’s review.

2011 Subaru Forester Review
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One of the things we’ve talked about here at MotherProof.com (and a question I get all the time) is whether rear entertainment systems are a good idea. I think they’re fine if your family spends a lot of time in the car for vacations and whatnot. For me, I don’t think it’s worthwhile because we don’t do road trips much, and if I’m being honest, my kids watch enough TV at home. Granted, if I do go on a road trip I’m using any and every gadget, gizmo, screen and outlet at my disposal.

I had a moment of “evaluating” another parent’s strategy (aka judging) the other day at the grocery store where I saw a new kind of kids’ cart there. This TV Kart was a typical rear-wheel-drive GUV (that’s Grocery Utility Vehicle) with two baskets on it. It was typical, mostly. However, inside the cart where the kids sit is a little video screen and the child inside happened to be watching “Handy Manny.” I thought, “Whoa, really? An in-cart entertainment system for grocery shopping?” Have rear entertainment systems in cars created a slippery slope that led to videos in kids’ grocery cars?

As I was evaluating this mom’s strategy, I realized there probably were moments I wished I could get through a simple grocery shopping trip without the mayhem and chaos of two kids going berserk. I also remember using the regular kid grocery cart and my daughter couldn’t get enough of getting in and out at every stop. This dragged every shopping trip into a longer experience than I would have cared for. And if, heaven forbid, there was no kid cart available? Tears. Crying. Carrying on.

My 6-year-old a) hasn’t watched Playhouse Disney in ages because “it’s for babies” and b) hasn’t wanted to ride in a kid cart for ages because “it’s for babies,” but she desperately wanted to ride in the Disney in-cart-entertainment GUV. I put my foot down. While in-car entertainment is good when used sparingly, in-cart entertainment is a Not for this mom.
Is in-cart entertainment a Hot or Not? Tell us in the comment section below.
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With its sleek lines, the 2011 Hyundai Tucson midsize SUV has a modern, sporty look. The Tucson was redesigned for the 2010 model year. It seats five passengers.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a Cosco rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Graco convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back booster seat. 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 2011 Tucson scored in MotherProof.com’s Car Seat Check:

Latch system: The Tucson has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard seats. We didn’t have any trouble finding the anchors, but we kept getting the Latch connector hooked on extra fabric that was around the anchors. It was a minor but annoying problem. Three tether anchors are found midway down the second-row seatbacks. These exposed anchors are easy to use.

Booster seat: Our high-back booster seat fit well in the Tucson’s second row. The head restraints are removable. However, the seat belt buckles are floppy, making it difficult for young kids to grasp and buckle up independently.

Convertible child-safety seat: The forward-facing convertible (above) fit well in the Tucson, as did the rear-facing convertible (below). One thing to note: The second row’s seatbacks are fixed, which could affect the fit of some forward-facing car seats.

Rear-facing infant-safety seat: There was plenty of space for our rear-facing infant-safety seat (below).

Do two car seats fit? Yes

Do three car seats fit? No
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I’m a working parent who’s often pulled in many directions, so it makes sense that I – like many parents—appreciate not having to struggle to make something work. I really like the 2012 Ford C-Max’s easy-to-stow middle seat, which is our Feature of the Week.

The 2012 C-Max is a compact minivan that can seat seven passengers in three rows of seats. The second row’s middle seat can be folded down and then stored in a compartment under the passenger seat cushions (see photos below). It’s a simple process that involves just a few steps.

The C-Max isn’t the only car to offer a stowable middle seat. The Toyota Highlander also has one, but I like the C-Max’s system better because I didn’t have to tug at the middle seat to disconnect it from the second row as I did with the Highlander.

Parents of three or more kids will really appreciate the C-Max’s stowable seat. Stowing the second row’s middle seat creates a passageway to the third row. This is especially helpful if a parent has child-safety seats installed in the second row’s outboard seats because kids can get to the third row without climbing over the second row or having to remove the car seats.
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Toyota announced today that it would begin a new round of voluntary recalls covering nearly 2 million more vehicles for various issues surrounding pedal entrapment. The recall includes popular models like the Toyota Highlander and RAV4. This brings Toyota’s total number of recalls since 2009 to nearly 15 million vehicles.

The move comes after a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and NASA concluded there was no electronic malfunction leading to unintended acceleration. These recalls address either the same floormat interference issue of past recalls or two new modifications of floormats, carpet and connectors.

Three models — totaling 1.4 million vehicles — are being added to the November 2009 recall for pedal entrapment.

Some of the fixes for that recall included a reinforced shim and reshaping the gas pedal. However, Toyota has not said how it will remedy the issue for the new models and will send out a preliminary notice “in the near future” to owners. The affected vehicles include:

  * 2008-11 Lexus LX 570: 17,000 vehicles
  * 2010 Toyota RAV4: 761,000 vehicles
  * 2003-09 Toyota 4Runner: 603,000 vehicles

New recalls include one that will replace the floormat and retention clips in Lexus RX and Toyota Highlander SUVs. If the clips aren’t installed properly, the mat can slide under the accelerator pedal and interfere in operation.  Again, Toyota doesn’t have a timeframe on the fix other than “in the near future.” The models include:

  * 2006-07 Lexus RX 330, RX 350, RX 400h: 372,000 vehicles
  * 2004-06 Toyota Highlander and Highlander Hybrid: 397,000 vehicles

The 2006-07 Lexus GS 300 and GS 350 with all-wheel drive feature a floormat with a plastic pad on it. If this mat is replaced incorrectly the padding could get stuck under the accelerator pedal. Toyota is going to modify the shape of this pad in the recall and will notify owners in early March.

  * 2006-07 Lexus GS 300, GS 350: 20,000 vehicles

If you’re concerned that your car has immediate issues, contact Toyota at www.toyota.com/recall or www.lexus.com/recall or Toyota customer service at 800-331-4331 or Lexus customer service at 800-255-3987.
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Ram Trucks has released the full towing and hauling specs for its 2011 Heavy Duty pickups armed with the new High Output Cummins diesel. We see how the numbers stack up against Chevy’s and Ford’s HDs.
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Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today announced that it will conduct a voluntary safety recall of approximately 20,000 2006 and early 2007 Model Year GS 300 and GS 350 All-Wheel Drive vehicles to modify the shape of the plastic pad embedded in the driver’s side floor carpet.
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German luxury carmaker BMW AG will display a mini version of its Mini car next month at the Geneva motor show. Dubbed the Rocketman, the two-door hatch is likely to appeal to fans of the original 1950s runabout famous for its cornering.
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Ford Motor Co. will recall 144,000 F-150 trucks over concerns raised by the government that air bags could deploy without warning.
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Last month, our spies snagged the first photos of the two-door regular cab 2011 Ford Ranger T6 global pickup, but it was wearing lots ofheavy camothat disguised its body.But not anymore. The global Ranger is about 90 percent of the size of today’s F-150 half-ton, Ford says. While it’s a bit tough to judge those dimensions in the four-door configuration, this single cab Ranger appears to be generously sized. We don’t know the pickup’s official dimensions, but we estimate the cargo box is 61/2 to 7 feet long. Even with the Ranger in disguise, we think the proportions look spot on. Ford says the T6 Ranger is the most capable small pickup it has ever built. It will go on sale next year in 188 countries but not the United States or Canada.
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