2014 Jeep Patriot: Car Seat Check
The rugged 2014 Jeep Patriot can easily handle going off-road, but can it handle child-safety seats? Well, sort of. This compact SUV easily handled our forward-facing car seats, but it didn’t fare as well with the rear-facing variety.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The two sets of lower Latch anchors are visible between the back and bottom seat cushions, and they were a snap to use because the seat cushions moved easily out of the way.
- The forward-facing convertible fit well in the Patriot thanks to its flat seat cushions, and the fixed head restraint sat back far enough that it didn’t interfere with this car seat or the booster seat.
What We Don’t
- Although Jeep says the Patriot seats five, there are only four head restraints — the rear middle seat doesn’t have one — so the only passenger who could sit there is a child in a high-back booster seat, which will provide head and neck protection.
- While the booster seat fit well, the Patriot’s floppy seat belt buckles could be a problem for young kids trying to buckle up on their own.
- To fit the rear-facing infant and convertible seats in the second row, we had to move the front passenger seat forward. While the front passenger’s legroom was livable with the infant seat installed behind it, the rear-facing convertible caused us to move the front seat all the way forward, leaving the passenger with no legroom.
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 when available.
C: Marginal room. Two fit or connection issues. Difficult to access third row when available.
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.
Related
2014 Jeep Patriot: Family Checklist
Child Passenger Safety Week: Resource Guide
More Car Seat Checks
