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How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2019 GMC Canyon?

gmc canyon 2019 csc scorecard png Cars.com graphic by Melissa Galicia Vega

The verdict: The 2019 GMC Canyon delivers a refined driving experience, and it mostly delivers when it comes to hauling kids in car seats. In our testing, we found this mid-size pickup truck to work well for our three car seats: infant seat, booster seat and convertible car seat in rear- and forward-facing modes.

Does it fit three car seats? No

Take a look at how the Latch system and each car seat scored below in our Car Seat Check of the 2019 GMC Canyon Denali crew cab.

Related: Search Car Seat Checks

gmc canyon 2019 01 csc  forward facing  interior  latch jpg 2019 GMC Canyon | Cars.com photo by Brian Normile

A Grade

  • Rear-facing convertible: This rear-facing car seat fit well in the Canyon’s crew cab. The Latch anchors worked well with the convertible’s rigid plastic connectors. We didn’t need to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the car seat behind it.

B Grade

  • Latch system: The GMC Canyon has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard seats and three top tether anchors behind the rear seats. The tether anchors are marked, but their location can make installation difficult. However, we do appreciate that the rear seats are split, so if you need to access one of the tether anchors, you only have to fold down part of the rear seatbacks.
  • Infant seat: We had to use a little muscle to connect the rear-facing infant seat’s hooklike connectors to the Canyon’s lower Latch anchors. We also had to move the front passenger seat forward an inch or so to accommodate this car seat. Our 5-foot-7-inch tester had plenty of legroom.
  • Forward-facing convertible: The convertible also fit well in the Canyon but connecting to the tether anchor, behind the rear seat, was frustrating.
  • Booster seat: The seat belt buckle is on a floppy base that was difficult for our tester to grasp, and our booster seat slid over the top of the buckle. The other rear seat belt buckles are on stable bases. The high-back booster seat fit well in the second row.

C Grade

  • None

Shop the 2019 GMC Canyon near you

Used
2019 GMC Canyon SLE
84,610 mi.
$22,000 $850 price drop
Used
2019 GMC Canyon Denali
126,954 mi.
$22,000

About Cars.com’s Car Seat Checks

Editors Jennifer Geiger, Jennifer Newman and Matt Schmitz 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 shorter 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. Learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks.

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.

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.

Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer Newman

Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Newman is a journalist with more than 25 years of experience, including 15 years as an automotive journalist at Cars.com. Jennifer leads the Editorial team in its mission of helping car shoppers find the vehicle that best fits their life. A mom of two, she’s graduated from kids in car seats to teens behind the steering wheel. She’s also a certified car-seat technician with more than 12 years of experience, as well as member of the World Car Jury, Automotive Press Association and Midwest Automotive Media Association. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennilnewman/ Instagram: @jennilnewman