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And the features that make it easier whichever car you’re considering
If you’re the parent or caregiver of any child, you know that car seats are a safety must from when they’re a newborn to when they’re about 12. But if you’re traveling with more than two young ones, the ability to fit and securely install three car seats across a rear row of any vehicle can be a challenge.
Choosing the right child seat for a three-across installation may be only a part of the puzzle.
Based on our tests, the following features stand out in the vehicles where the three-across task is a bit easier.
Width: It makes sense that a wider vehicle makes it easier to fit three seats and access the hardware needed for secure car seat installations. But you’ll note that though many larger vehicles appear in the list below, a vehicle doesn’t have to be particularly large to make it work. Looks may be deceiving. Some larger vehicles may have more narrow second-row benches that limit your ability to fit that third car seat.
Flat seats: While the contours and bolsters of a rear seat cushion and seatback may be great for adult comfort, they can make securing three car seats more challenging. Seat humps and bolsters make getting an individual car seat securely installed more difficult, and when you’re lining up three across, the car seat may be tilted from the bolsters, preventing a good fit. Remember: In a secure installation, the car seat sits flush against both the vehicle seatback and seat cushion. Look for vehicles with flat seat cushions and seatbacks.
Center seats: The rear center seat is the highly coveted car seat location because it’s the farthest from any impact direction, but as we’ve learned in our testing, it can also be one of the most difficult in which to achieve a secure installation. Center seat humps, hinges for folding seats, and narrow placement of seat belt hardware can all be a detriment to secure installation. Lower LATCH anchor (the lower bars of the LATCH car seat system located between the seatback and cushion of your vehicle seat) installations can help in getting a better fit in any seat as they eliminate incompatibilities often associated with seat belt installations. But while lower anchors are required for the outboard seats, only some vehicles offer them in the rear center. Even if they don’t have dedicated lower anchors, many models allow for “borrowing” of the inboard-most anchors for use with the outboard seats. Check the vehicle owner’s manual to see if center borrowing is allowed and keep in mind that you also need to check your car seat’s manual to be sure it’s permitted for the car seat. If your car seat has rigid LATCH connectors, center borrowing is not an option for you because they require standard-spaced lower anchors for attachment. If your car allows for center borrowing, two car seats cannot be attached simultaneously to the same lower anchor.
Non-overlapping hardware: In many vehicles, you’ll find overlapping belt or lower anchor hardware for seating positions next to each other. You may find that the center seat belt buckle actually sits into the outboard seating positions. More commonly, lower LATCH anchors may be offset into the outboard seats. Look for cars where rear seat hardware resides within its own seating position. If center lower LATCH hardware is offset into an adjacent seat, you may need to switch to a seat belt installation instead.
Head restraint position: Because three-across installations often include arrangements of car seats for older and taller children, watch for head restraints that are positioned very far forward and may interfere with the back of the car seat. Look for head restraints that can be adjusted upward or that can be removed to eliminate that interference.
Try before you buy: If you’re shopping for a new or used vehicle and already have the car seats you will be using, take the time to try them out in the vehicle you’re considering before you buy. New-car dealers will surely provide that opportunity. It’s much better to know ahead of time or at least be aware that you may need a different car seat before you make a car purchase.
Make use of your local car seat technicians: As three-across seating is becoming a more common challenge, child passenger safety technicians are getting better at advising on seats and tricks that can help to get a secure installation for all seats, even in cars where you’d think it may be impossible. You can find a car seat inspection station near you.
The list of vehicles below are those where we have been successful at fitting a combination of a rear-facing-only infant seat, a forward-facing convertible seat, and a highback booster seat. Each is a CR Recommended vehicle based on its Overall Score, factoring road test performance, reliability, and safety features, in addition to allowing the three-across fit. They are listed in alphabetical order.
Bold indicates models with center LATCH or center LATCH borrowing.
Click the model names below to access their full road test and ratings (available to members).
As part of our vehicle test program, we assess how friendly each car is to children and child-restraint installation. As part of that process, we assess a vehicle’s ability to accommodate three child restraints in the second row. (We position a rear-facing-only infant seat in the center and a high-back belt positioning booster seat and forward-facing convertible seat in each of the two outboard seats.) From our test results, we highlight vehicles below that make it possible to fit those three car seats, as well as features to watch for that can make it easier.
Jen Stockburger
Jennifer Stockburger is the director of operations at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center, focusing on the day-to-day operations of CR’s 327-acre testing facility as well as overseeing the child seat and tire test programs and contributing to CR’s comprehensive vehicle ratings. Jennifer joined CR in 2000; before that she gained auto industry experience as a tire test and fuel systems engineer, and has been a certified child passenger safety technician (CPST) since 2001.
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