Convertible Car Seats in Dodge Neon

Go actually try installing some in your car. Some stores will let you take the display models out to your car so you can check fit before buying (since they can't resell the car seats after they've been opened). We tried installing some from Kid Stuff.

We also used this site: http://www.carseatdata.org/ to help us figure out what other people reported working well in different cars. (Recommended to me from http://www.car-seat.org/, a forum of car seat techs and fanatics).

We could not fit the Graco My Ride in our car at all when rear facing due to the position of the driver's seat needed for my husband (we have to kids in car seats so one has to be behind the driver). Our car is a subaru Impreza (small 4 door hatch back). Take your car to Babies R Us or someplace with a large selection of seats and see if you can try them to see what fits. Babies R Us allows this but try not to go at a super busy time. We have an Alpha Omega seat that has done well for us both rear and front facing. There may be others with higher safety ratings but it fits well in our car and is easy to use. We have the Graco Nautilus for our older child and it is a great seat for him (a large for his age kid) but not made to be used rear facing.

we have a Cosco Scenera and our 2 year old loves it. she does just fine on trips anywhere, even the 2 hours down to my husband's family. we've never had any problems with her being uncomfortable. they're very affordable too, and all my family has one for when they take her out on weekends - my mom has her own and my sister has one too. we even have an extra one, which we'll use for the next baby due in december.

I had an evenflo I think it was the Elite. It's the one where you have to pull the straps out the back rather than just slide them up. I spent $99 at Target. I really liked it. I did have to put a towel under the front of it to raise it enough but that's recommended it it doesn't lean back enough. Other than that I felt it fit great in the middle of the seat.

We too have a small car. We have a Britax Marathon for our 2 year old and LOVE IT!!!! It is a bit on the pricey side ($280), but it has very high saftey ratings. We never had any problems with it fitting in the car. We also have the Cosco Scenera for an extra seat for the grandparents to use and it works great, but it seems to not be a snug-fitting in the vehicle. It is also hard as you mentioned, but my son rides just fine in it. For our daughter, we just bought a Recaro Como and I haven't decided if I like it yet or not. She is on the small side as well 15 pounds at 9 months old. She fits great in it and rides rear-facing. However, the first few times she rode in it, while sleeping, her head would fall forward instead of off to the side. SHe only did that a few times, and now her heads falls to the side while sleeping. It is a very comfy seat and has awesome saftey ratings. But we haven't tried it in the car yet, as we have been driving my parent's van.
Hope this helps a little bit and Good Luck with your car seat search!

I LOVE my Graco MyRide 65 rear-facing...but I have a minivan. The Graco MyRide has one of the tallest shells of all of the convertible car seats. We love this, since our son is in the 92nd percentile for height, but it could cause problems rear-facing in a smaller car. I would go to Babies R Us and ask them if you can take their display MyRide out to your car to see if it will fit. That will help you make a decision. Good luck.