2016 Nissan Maxima: Car Seat Check
For 2016, the Nissan Maxima sheds its boring looks for a face that should get shoppers’ blood pumping. Nissan says the five-passenger Maxima competes with full-size sedans such as the Chevrolet Impala and Toyota Avalon, but it falls short when comparing numbers. It measures 192.8 inches long, while the Impala is 201.3 inches and the Avalon, 195.3. In the backseat, the Maxima has 53.5 inches of rear hip room and 34.2 inches of rear legroom. The Impala comes in with 54.1 inches of rear hip room and 39.8 inches of rear legroom. The Avalon has 54.6 (hip room) and 39.2 inches (legroom). For our Car Seat Check, we tested a Maxima SL trim with leather seats.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The Maxima has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard seats. The anchors sit about an inch into the seat bight, where the back and bottom cushions meet, behind stiff seat cushions. We were able to get at the anchors using just a little muscle. Three tether anchors sit on the rear shelf. They were easy to use.
- Both the rear-facing infant and convertible seats easily fit in the Maxima’s backseat. We didn’t have to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate either car seat.
- The forward-facing convertible also installed easily, though we removed the head restraint to get a better fit. The Maxima’s bolstered rear seats didn’t affect this car seat’s fit.
What We Don’t
- With the high-back booster seat, the Maxima’s rear seat bolsters pushed the car seat over slightly, so it sat against the rigid buckle. With the booster seat positioned so close to the seat belt buckle, we found it difficult to connect to the buckle without yanking the booster seat over to create more space between the two.
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.
