2014 Lexus IS 350 F Sport: Car Seat Check
Sometimes parents have to choose between fast and stylish and roomy and comfortable. The Lexus IS with the F Sport Package is the perfect example. The compact sedan is powerful and stunning, but a cramped backseat made it tough to install child safety seats. Excellent Latch anchor exposure was a nice bonus during our tests, however.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The two sets of Latch anchors are under hinged rubber covers, so connection was easy.
- Both the forward-facing convertible and booster were easy to install and had plenty of room.
- The outboard buckles are on stable bases, so kids in boosters should have no trouble buckling themselves in.
What We Don’t
- There wasn’t enough room for the rear-facing infant and convertible seats. We had to move the front passenger seat far forward to accommodate them, and the passenger’s knees were hitting the glove box.
- For both rear-facing seats to fit, the front passenger seat angle had to be set to an upright position, increasing the front passenger’s discomfort.
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 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. 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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