Definitely a phase. My ds hated the car seat a lot of times and would scream and scream when I tried to go places. I'm very anti-cio, but this was something I figured was non-negotiable since he HAS to sit in the car seat and I wasn't going to be a prisoner in the house waiting for my dh to come home so I could drive somewhere.
I tried taking him out every day starting with short trips to get him more used to the trip. I'd build up over time. It got better, but my ds definitely preferred being forward facing when the time came. I have a jetta and I think he couldn't see a whole lot when he was backwards and he's very interested in things as a general rule.
It gets better. I know how awful it felt to listen to him scream and I felt like such a bad mom. Try and not take it personally.