2014 Nissan Versa Note: Car Seat Check

Although Nissan’s hatchback is compact, there’s nothing small about its backseat. The Versa Note was redesigned for 2014, and accessible Latch anchors, a flat seat cushion and loads of legroom made it easy to install our child-safety seats into it. In fact, it earned high marks across all areas of testing in our Car Seat Check.

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

What We Like

• The two sets of Latch anchors are buried only about a quarter-inch into the seat bight, and the fabric upholstery is easy to push aside, making connection a breeze.
• There was enough room for both the rear-facing convertible and infant safety seats; no need to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate them.
• After lifting the head restraint, the forward-facing convertible was easy to install and fit well.

What We Don’t

• Although we didn’t have any problems with Latch connection with the other car seats, it was tough to install the rear-facing convertible. The car seat’s base and inboard seat belt buckle crowd the anchor, complicating access.
• Ample legroom and a nice flat seat meant the booster fit well, but the buckles are floppy. Kids may have trouble with them.

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.

Parents should also remember that they can use the Latch system or a seat belt to install a car seat.

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