2014 Subaru XV Crosstrek Hybrid: Car Seat Check

Subaru’s new XV Crosstrek wagon was introduced for the 2013 model year and the brand’s first hybrid followed for 2014. The XV Crosstrek Hybrid retains the regular version’s cargo and passenger dimensions, so there was enough room for two child-safety seats in this five-passenger wagon; accessible Latch anchors also make it family-friendly.

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

More Car Seat Checks

What We Like

• The two sets of Latch anchors in the outboard seats sit under flaps in the seat material and are about an inch into the seat bight; connecting to the anchors was easy.
• The booster fit well and kids will be able to grasp the rigid seat belt buckle.
• The convertible fit well and installed easily in both forward- and rear-facing modes. There was no need to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate it in rear-facing mode.

What We Don’t

• The infant seat was easy to install, but we had to move the front passenger seat up to fit it, but there was still plenty of legroom for our tester.

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 Marathon 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