Fiat pumped up its tiny 500 to create the 500X, a subcompact SUV based on the Jeep Renegade. The 500X stands out on the road thanks to its distinctive styling, but can it stand up to family duty? We tested the 500X Trekking trim with cloth seats at our Car Seat Check.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- Two sets of lower Latch anchors are clearly marked in the 500X; they sit just a half-inch into the seat cushions. Three tether anchors are at the base of the rear seatbacks; they're well-marked and easy to use.
- The forward-facing convertible fit well in the 500X and installed easily.
- The flat rear seats made it a snap to get our high-back booster seat quickly installed.
What We Don't
- With both our rear-facing convertible and infant seats, we had to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the car seats. For the infant seat, we moved the front seat so far forward that the 5-foot-6 tester's knees were pushed into the glove box.
- The backseat seat belt buckles are recessed into the bottom seat cushion, which makes them difficult for younger kids in booster seats to use independently.
Grading Scale
A: Plenty of room for the car seat and the child; doesn't impact driver or front-passenger legroom. Easy to find and connect to Latch and tether anchors. No fit issues involving head restraint or seat contouring. Easy access to the third row.
B: Plenty of room. One fit or connection issue. Some problems accessing third row when available.
C: Marginal room. Two fit or connection issues. Difficult to access third row when available.
D: Insufficient room. Two or more fit or connection issues.
F: Does not fit or is unsafe.
About Cars.com's Car Seat Checks
Editors Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman are certified child safety seat installation technicians.
For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide Classic Connect 30 infant-safety seat, a Britax Marathon convertible seat and Graco TurboBooster seat. The front seats are adjusted for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The three child seats are installed in the second row. The booster seat sits behind the driver's seat, and the infant and convertible seats are installed behind the front passenger seat.
We also install the forward-facing convertible in the second row's middle seat with the booster and infant seat in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit; a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. If there's a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible. To learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks, go here.
Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat, and that Latch anchors have a weight limit of 65 pounds, including the weight of the child and the weight of the seat itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment