2014 Lexus GS 350: Car Seat Check
The Lexus GS‘ impressive blend of nimble handling, quiet road manners and intriguing looks might make it appeal to a wide range of shoppers, but families may not be as impressed. Although Lexus’ GS 350 sedan is in the midsize class, we had some trouble installing child-safety seats into its backseat. Heavily bolstered rear seats, less than optimal legroom and difficult-to-access Latch anchors complicated installation.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The forward-facing convertible fit well after we removed the head restraint; it was pushing the car seat too far forward.
- We did not have to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the rear-facing convertible.
What We Don’t
- The two sets of Latch anchors sit about a quarter-inch into the seat bight, but they’re pushed into the top of the seatback cushion, so it’s tough to connect to them. The stiff leather seats only add to the problem.
- The buckles are on recessed stalks, so the booster can slide over them. Also, the heavily bolstered seats cause the booster to sit at an awkward angle.
- We had to move the front-passenger seat forward to accommodate the infant seat and the front passenger wasn’t comfortable. The car seat was also tough to install because of the inaccessible Latch anchors.
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, and that Latch anchors have a weight limit of 65 pounds, including the weight of the child and the weight of the seat itself.
