2014 Nissan Armada: Car Seat Check
Editor’s note: This Car Seat Check is repurposed from our test of the 2013 Nissan Armada, but our results apply to the 2014 model.
With its towering ride height and loads of cargo and passenger room, Nissan’s largest SUV is king of the road and easily handled all of our child-safety seats. The eight-passenger Armada joins the list of vehicles that can comfortably accommodate three car seats in the second row. Its roomy third row held two with room to spare for an additional small passenger.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Three
How many car seats fit in the third row? Two, with room leftover
What We Like
- We had no problem fitting three car seats across the second row; two car seats fit well in the third row.
- Our rear-facing car seats fit well, and we didn’t need to move the front-passenger seat forward to accommodate them.
- There are two sets of lower Latch anchors in the second row’s outboard seats; they’re set close to seat bight, making them a breeze to use.
What We Don’t
- Although the second-row’s seat easily tumbles forward for third-row access, the step-in is uncomfortably high and then there’s an additional floor hump to step over once inside.
- The two second-row tether anchors are on the floor behind the seatbacks, pushed far off to side under carpet flaps. They’re awkward to access, and with a forward-facing seat installed, you can’t get to third row.
- There’s one third-row tether anchor on the cargo area’s lip. When you connect, it cuts across cargo area, so you won’t be able to fit bulky items back there with a child seat connected.
- The second row doesn’t slide forward to share legroom with the third row, so the kids back there might be kicking the seatbacks.
- The third-row’s seat belt is floppy, and it can easily fall into the seat bight and get stuck.
- The third-row seat sits on angle. The seatback position is too upright and the bottom cushion angles sharply, making for an uncomfortable spot.
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. 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.
Cars.com photos by Evan Sears
