2014 Volkswagen Tiguan: Car Seat Check
Volkswagen’s compact crossover is at the smallest end of the class, so it’s no surprise that the Tiguan didn’t exactly excel in accommodating child-safety seats. During our Car Seat Check, Latch access wasn’t the best and backseat room was an issue for one of our two rear-facing child seats. The Tiguan’s stable seat belt buckles, however, helped earned it an A in the booster category.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The backseat slides to increase legroom; we slid the seat all the way back when installing child-safety seats.
- The three tether anchors are low and near the cargo floor, but they are easy to access and use.
- The convertible in both forward- and rear-facing modes fit well; we did not have to move the front-passenger seat forward to make room for it in rear-facing mode.
- The booster fit well, and the outboard buckles are on stable bases, making it easier for kids to buckle up.
What We Don’t
- The Tiguan’s two sets of Latch anchors are a little buried in the seat bight, and the car’s stiff cushions further complicate access.
- We had to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the infant-safety seat; taller occupants will be uncomfortable in the front row.
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
