2016 Scion tC: Car Seat Check
Scion’s tC coupe may not have fared as poorly as the brand’s FR-S coupe, which failed our Car Seat Check, but it didn’t do much better. For 2016, the tC got a standard 7-inch audio touch-screen system, but rear legroom is unchanged and it just doesn’t offer enough space to comfortably accommodate rear-facing car seats. Even our booster had trouble in our Car Seat Check.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The two sets of Latch anchors are not buried too deeply in the seat bight; the cushions move out of the way for easy access.
- We did not have to move the front passenger seat forward to comfortably fit the rear-facing convertible.
- The forward-facing convertible fit well, but installing it was difficult because of Latch system issues.
What We Don’t
- Although the Latch anchors weren’t difficult to find, floppy seat belt buckles crowded them and blocked the connection. Each time we installed a seat, we had to dislodge the seat belt buckle from underneath the car seat.
- Three tether anchors sit midway down seatbacks, but they aren’t easy to find. They sit under a slit in the seat upholstery and parents may have trouble locating them when installing a forward-facing convertible[JG4]. [JN5]
- Although the infant seat installed easily, the front passenger seat had to be moved forward to fit it. Our 5-foot-8-inch tester’s legroom was tight, but she had enough knee room thanks to the tC’s upright glove box.
- The bolstered seats aren’t wide enough to fit the booster. Since it wasn’t able to sit flat on the bottom seat cushion, it received a grade of F.
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-6 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.
