2016 Jeep Wrangler: Car Seat Check

CARS.COM — The Jeep Wrangler is known for its ability to crawl over any terrain, but how does this four-seater handle kids crawling in and out of it for family duty? The Wrangler isn’t exactly family-friendly; its tall step-in height means kids will need a boost into this SUV for years and years. However, it surprised us by earning a couple of As in our Car Seat Check.

More Car Seat Checks

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

What We Like

• The Wrangler’s backseat has two sets of lower Latch anchors. The anchors are exposed and easy to use. Two top tether anchors sit at the base of the rear seatbacks.
• Despite the cramped backseat, the forward-facing convertible installed easily after we removed the head restraint.
• Our high-back booster seat also fit well in the backseat, and we didn’t need to remove the head restraint.

What We Don’t Like

• While the rear-facing infant seat installed easily, we had to move the front passenger seat forward significantly to fit the car seat behind it. Our 5-foot-8 tester’s knees were pushed into the glove box.
• We also had to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate a rear-facing convertible behind it, but our tester’s knees only grazed the glove box.
• The rear seat belt buckles are floppy, which can be difficult for kids to grasp on their own.

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, Jennifer Newman and Matt Schmitz 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 shorter 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. Learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks.

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.