2014 Lexus RX 450h: Car Seat Check
Lexus’ midsize crossover is one of the best-selling luxury vehicles on the market. The popular 2014 RX is available in regular RX 350 and hybrid RX 450h trims. For this Car Seat Check, we tested the five-passenger RX 450h. Although the second row slides and reclines for passenger comfort, difficult-to-access Latch anchors mean installing child-safety seats isn’t easy.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- There are three tether anchors in the middle of the seatbacks; they’re easy to use.
- It was easy to install the forward-facing convertible, and it fit well on the rear seat.
- We didn’t need to remove the head restraint to install the booster seat; the outboard seat belt buckles are on stable bases, so kids should have no trouble grasping the buckle. Parents should note that the middle seat’s buckle is floppy and will likely be hard for kids to use.
What We Don’t
- There are two sets of Latch anchors in the outboard seats; they’re buried into the seat bight and the seat belt strap blocks access to the inboard anchor, making it difficult to connect. Although the seatback reclines, this didn’t help expose the anchors.
- We had to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the rear-facing infant seat; taller passengers will need more space to be comfortable.
- Although we didn’t need to move the front passenger seat forward to fit the rear-facing convertible, the installation was complicated by the hard-to-access inboard latch anchor.
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.
