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2013 Nissan Armada Car Seat Check

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With its towering ride height and loads of cargo and passenger room, Nissan’s largest SUV is king of the road and easily handled all of our child-safety seats. The eight-passenger Armada joins the list of vehicles that can comfortably accommodate three car seats in the second row. Its roomy third row held two with room to spare for an additional small passenger.

More Car Seat Checks

How many car seats fit in the second row? Three

How many car seats fit in the third row? Two, with room leftover

What We Like

  • We had no problem fitting three car seats across the second row; two car seats fit well in the third row.
  • Our rear-facing car seats fit well, and we didn’t need to move the front-passenger seat forward to accommodate them.
  • There are two sets of lower Latch anchors in the second row’s outboard seats; they’re set close to seat bight, making them a breeze to use.

What We Don’t

  • Although the second-row’s seat easily tumbles forward for third-row access, the step-in is uncomfortably high and then there’s an additional floor hump to step over once inside.
  • The two second-row tether anchors are on the floor behind the seatbacks, pushed far off to side under carpet flaps. They’re awkward to access, and with a forward-facing seat installed, you can’t get to third row.
  • There’s one third-row tether anchor on the cargo area’s lip. When you connect, it cuts across cargo area, so you won’t be able to fit bulky items back there with a child seat connected.
  • The second row doesn’t slide forward to share legroom with the third row, so the kids back there might be kicking the seatbacks.
  • The third-row’s seat belt is floppy, and it can easily fall into the seat bight and get stuck.
  • The third-row seat sits on angle. The seatback position is too upright and the bottom cushion angles sharply, making for an uncomfortable spot.
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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.

C: Marginal room. Two fit or connection issues. Difficult to access third row.

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 30 infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout 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.

Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat.

Jennifer Geiger
News Editor Jennifer Geiger joined the automotive industry in 2003, much to the delight of her Corvette-obsessed dad. Jennifer is an expert reviewer, certified car-seat technician and mom of three. She wears a lot of hats — many of them while driving a minivan.
Email Jennifer Geiger

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