Hyundai has all its bases covered with the 2013 Elantra. This compact car comes in three body styles — sedan, coupe and hatchback. We’ve put both the Elantra coupe and the Elantra GT hatch through our Car Seat Checks, so it’s about time that we see how the sedan fares with child-safety seats.
While we normally use a Britax Roundabout convertible car seat in our checks, we used a Britax Marathon convertible in this one. The Marathon is roughly the same width and height as the Roundabout, but the Marathon’s depth is 21 inches while the Roundabout measures at 24.4 inches.
How many car seats fit in the second row?
Two
What We Like
- The infant seat installed easily in the backseat, with no need to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the car seat behind it.
- The convertible fit easily into the Elantra in both the forward- and rear-facing positions, though we did struggle to get at the Latch anchors with the car seats’ rigid Latch connectors.
- The three tether anchors, which sit on the rear shelf, are easy to use.
What We Don’t
- Latch access was difficult because of stiff seat cushions and an inboard Latch anchor that was covered by a seat belt strap.
- While the booster seat fit well in the Elantra, the seat belt buckles have floppy bases, which are difficult for kids to use independently.
