2012 Volkswagen Beetle: Car Seat Check

With its redesign, the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle didn’t just get a new look. It also gained 3.3 inches in width and 6 inches in length, which surprisingly didn’t help when it came to installing child-safety seats. It won’t surprise many to learn that none of our car seats fit well in the four-seater, but other brands of car seats might fit better.

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.

&&&&&EMBEDDED_ELEMENT_START&&&&& {“id”:1420668684923,”originalName”:”2015_03_04_17_04_12_975_http___blogs_cars_com__a_6a00d83451b3c669e2015437ac8687970c_800wi”,”name”:”MMS ID 51729 (created by CM Utility)”,”URI”:”/75/-132090485-1425510253675.”,”createDate”:”2015-03-04 05:04:13″,”metadata”:{“AUTHOR”:”automatic-content-migration”,”KEYWORDS”:””},”href”:”https://www.cstatic-images.com/stock/1170×1170/75/-132090485-1425510253675.”,”description”:”Came from http://blogs.cars.com/.a/6a00d83451b3c669e2015437ac8687970c-800wi”,”externalid”:”51729″,”updatedby”:”cmuadmin”,”updateddate”:1425511533552,”associations”:{}} &&&&&EMBEDDED_ELEMENT_END&&&&&

Infant-safety seat: This rear-facing car seat was too long for the Beetle’s bottom seat cushion. We had to move the front passenger seat forward significantly to create enough room in the backseat for the infant seat. The seat was moved so far forward that the front passenger’s knees were shifted off to the side and jammed into the side of the center console.

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.