2015 Lexus RX 350: Car Seat Check

Lexus’ five-seat luxury crossover comes in two versions: the gas-powered RX 350 and hybrid RX 450h. When it comes to interior space, the two crossovers are nearly identical except for backseat legroom. Our test car, the 2015 RX 350, has 36.8 inches of rear legroom, but the hybrid version has slightly more at 37.1 inches. In our tests, we had to move the RX 350’s front passenger seat forward to fit one of our rear-facing infant-safety seats behind it.

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

More Car Seat Checks

What We Like

• The RX 350’s two sets of lower Latch anchors are in the outboard seats and easy to use, as are the three tether anchors on the rear seatbacks.
• Making car-seat installation a little easier, the RX’s rear seatbacks recline and the backseat slides forward and back.
• Unlike the infant-safety seat, we didn’t have to move the front passenger seat forward to fit the rear-facing convertible behind it. The convertible installed easily.

What We Don’t

• We had to move the front passenger seat forward to fit the infant-safety seat behind it. Our 5-foot-8 tester was able to sit comfortably in the front seat, but taller passengers could feel squeezed.
• Although the RX’s seat belt buckle is on a stable base (something we appreciate since it makes it easier for kids to buckle up independently), it was positioned too close to our booster seat’s base, making it difficult for younger kids to grasp the buckle stalk. Otherwise, the booster seat fit well in the RX 350.

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 Classic Connect 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