2013 Hyundai Elantra: Car Seat Check
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.
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 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 Marathon 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. To learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks, go here
Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat.
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