2012 GMC Terrain: Car Seat Check

The GMC Terrain is a five-seat crossover and a boxier version of its corporate twin, the Chevrolet Equinox. Although it looks like a truck-based SUV, the Terrain is built on a car platform and has a comfortable ride, thanks to its four-wheel-independent suspension. Families also will appreciate the Terrain’s standard backup camera.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat.

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The front seats are adjusted to a comfortable position 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 seat and convertible seats are installed behind the passenger seat. We also install the infant seat in the second row’s middle seat with the booster and convertible in the outboard seats to see if three car seats will fit. If there’s a third row, we install the booster seat and a forward-facing convertible.

Here’s how the 2012 Terrain did in Cars.com’s Car Seat Check:

Latch system: The Terrain’s two sets of lower Latch anchors will make parents quite happy. The anchors, which are in the outboard seats, are visible between the back and bottom seat cushions. Three tether anchors are found midway down the second row’s seatbacks. They’re also easy to use.

Booster seat: Our high-back booster seat fit well in the Terrain. The second row has some seat bolstering that helps to cradle the booster seat, keeping it in place. The seat belt buckles are floppy but don’t fall behind the booster seat base because they’re placed far away from it.

Convertible seat: The second row’s head restraints are fixed and pushed our forward-facing convertible far forward on the bottom seat cushion. Parents can counteract this by reclining the seatback, giving the car seat a little more room to fit securely on the seat cushion. The rear-facing convertible fit well in the second row. One bonus to the Terrain’s floppy seat belt buckles is they can be moved out of the way, allowing better access to the Latch anchor it covers.

Infant-safety seat: This rear-facing car seat also fit well in the Terrain.

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

Editor’s note: For three car seats — infant-safety seat, convertible and booster seats — to fit in a car, our criterion is that a child sitting in the booster seat must be able to reach the seat belt buckle. Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat.