I was just going through things on the car yesterday and found something strange (other than the plastic fastener sitting loose on the floor behind the passenger seat).

I saw those two little round stickers on the seat and finally realized that those indicate that a child seat can be mounted there. The owners manual says that the passenger seat has the two lower achorage points for the LATCH system, but I don't see them or feel them. Either I'm completly missing where to look or they are simply not present (I have the SB package with the upgraded seats).

Has anyone else found our used this LATCH system on their C6?

 

Jay:

I don't have a C6 (yet!), but the Corvette started to come with the LATCH system beginning with the 2003 MY. My '03 Z06 has it, and I have used it to haul my daughter to/from a show.

On the '03, while the stickers are on the seat surface, you will have to search (with your fingers) for a fore/aft slit - through this you can access the anchor for the child seat. You will also have to find the rear tether attachment as well.

My three-year old loved her first ride in my Z06 - hope that your kid loves it too - we need to always excite the next wave of Corvette fans!

 

Tell me about it! I can't get the smile off my 12yr. old son's face, after his first ride. In a few years I'll be hearing "dad can I borrow the FOB?"

 

Locate the little latch stickers on the passenger seat. There are little slits in the leather right behind both stickers. "Finger" that area and when you poke your finger through, you'll find the latch hooks inside.

FWIW, I've been wanting to put one of our latch seats in there to take our 4 year old daughter for a ride because she loves fast cars. I've been hesitant though because there's nowhere to attach the top tether strap and the manual says that you should not use seats that require a top tether strap. This, when almost all car seats now require that you attach the top tether. IMO, if they were going to ruin the seats with those latch stickers and make an attempt to support the latch system, they should have put one more hook at the bottom/back of the seat for the top tether.

Mike

 

The C6 has the lower anchorages and a top tether, but the owner's manual (page 1) cautions that the vehicle does not have an anchor for the top tether strap. It also says that if the child seat you're using says that it must be anchored at all 3 anchors, do not use that child restraint in the C6.

 

I'm not being a smart ****, because the manual is just as contradictory as the above statement. Does the C6 have an anchor for the top tether or not? The above reads to me like "the C6 has an anchor for the top tether, but note that it doesn't have an anchor for the top tether."

What is this supposed to mean? Can you anchor the top tether or not? It doesn't make sense to say it has a "top tether" when there's no place to anchor it and the car doesn't come with its own tether.



Thanks,
Mike

 

No, I understand what you're asking. The page I'm quoting from actually came as a supplement to the owner's guide. If you reread my original post, it says it has a top tether, but that the top tether is not anchored. Let me type it verbatim.

"This system, designed to make installation of child restraints easier, does not use the vehicle's safety belts. Instead, it uses vehicle anchors and child restraint attachments to secure the restraints. Some restraints also use another vehicle anchor to secure a top tether strap. However, your vehicle does not have an anchor for a top tether strap. If the instructions that come with the child restraint say that it must be secured at all three anchors, do not use that child restraint in this vehicle. See Top Strap.

(Note, Top Strap is an entry in the index, referring to page 1-30). That page says," Some child restraints with a top strap are designed to be used whether or not the top strap is anchored. Others require that the top strap be anchored." "If your child restraint top strap must be anchored, then do not use the restraint in this vehicle, because in it, a top strap cannot be properly anchored".

Sounds pretty clear to me. Sorry.

 

Ah-ha. Thanks. Didn't see the little slits, I was looking between the seat and the seat-back.

I took my neice for a drive, but all she needed was a booster seat, so I haven't needed the LATCH system yet. I does definately say on that manual supplement that there is no top anchor. Remember, the seats that require 3 anchores can still be anchored with the seat belt (no anchors). I believe the car seats are still required to be usable with just the seat beat, regardless of whether or not they support the LATCH system.

 

And please make absolutely sure you turn off the passenger side airbag.

My 5 year old cannot wait for his first ride in "Daddy's new Corvette."

 

I read the manual several times, and your above paraphrasing several times and it still doesn't make sense. I must be a tard. I just can't stop until I understand this.

How can the car have a top tether, but it not be anchored? The tether is the strap on the car seat itself that has a little hook on the end to attach to an anchor. If there is no anchor for a top tether on a car seat, there is no reason talking about a tether other than to say it cannot be used in the car because there is no anchor for it. It doesn't make sense to say that the car has a tether, but it isn't anchored. First of all, the tether is on the car seat and not the car. Second, if we're talking about a top tether and the car has no anchor for a top tether, why not just state in the manual that a top tether from a car seat cannot be used because there is no anchor for it? Why all the side stepping around the word "tether" to try to make it sound like you can somehow use a top tether without a place to anchor it.

I'm really starting to question my sanity and my intelligence and am close to just crawling in a corner. If everyone else can understand this but me, I guess I'm just dumber than a bag of hammers.



Mike

 

I'll be honest with you: I don't understand it either. But evidently, some child restraint seats say you can use their seats with a top tether and it not be anchored. Must be something about the way the child seat is made that doesn't require a top anchor.

I'm guessing (just guessing, mind you) that a tether must withstand a certain amount of pull before it can be considered "anchored". Maybe that plays into the situation, I don't know.

Now run yourself down some more. We never get enough of that. Just kidding Mike.

 

I think I understand the intent now. I'm going to have several beers and then come back to see if it settles in any better.

Mike

 

 

I found that same loose fastener under the driver seat in mine! vin 4289

 

Glad I found this thread. I saw the decals but could notfind the latch, now I know they are there. I will look for the third achor my car seat says to leave that just with the slack out and not to crank down on it.


Mine is an 03 Z

 

For the future record. Only Z06 and ZR1 models have the top (actually in hatch area) hook for a latch system. Since the Targa version and convertible are both classified as convertibles and don't require it by fed mandate.

 

Now that someone did revive this thread, I have a question: Do all C6 coupes have the top tether? Almost all threads I've read made it sound like they don't.

I always wondered, because my '09 Z06 has the top tether.

eta: I see it was answered as I asked. Kind of ironic, though when you think of it; Let's put the capability for hauling a child around in the most powerful of our models, but not in the base model.

 

It could be due to the steel vs. aluminum frame, as the AL frame needed that mount point but the steel ones didn't. Also it is possible that the Targa Top placement in the hatch interferes with the Latch mount point as designed for the Z cars without the top storage.

It really came down to the fixed roof requiring it, if they had a FRC like in the C5 gen with the base engine. It too would have had it.

 

Finally got the car seat in mine yesterday. Those latches being hidden in the seat was a pain to get them to lock on. Being a Z I lucked out having the rear mounting point as well which you don't even pull tight just take the slack out of the belt.