2014 Kia Forte: Car Seat Check

Thanks to its redesign, the 2014 Kia Forte sedan is now longer and wider than the previous generation. While that translates into a little more legroom — up 0.9 inch to 35.9 inches — it doesn’t mean three child-safety seats can fit across this compact sedan.

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

What We Like

• There was plenty of backseat room for our two rear-facing child-safety seats; we didn’t have to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate either the infant or rear-facing convertible. 
• The lightly bolstered rear seats cradled our high-back booster seat in the proper position. 
• The forward-facing convertible also fit well in the Forte, and the tether anchor was easy to use.

What We Don’t

• The two sets of lower Latch anchors sit about a half-inch into seat cushions. All but one of the anchors were easy to access; the middle seat belt blocked access to an inboard anchor. 
• The seat belt buckles are on floppy bases, which can make it difficult for younger kids in boosters to buckle up 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.

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.

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