2017 Dodge Durango: Car Seat Check

CARS.COM — Big and burly, the Dodge Durango is a bit of an SUV throwback, but it delivers when it comes to hauling kids and towing a boat or camper. When properly equipped, the Durango can tow up to 7,400 pounds. The Durango also delivers when it comes to child-safety seats, making installation easy for our various car seats. We tested the 2017 Durango GT with seven seats.

More Car Seat Checks

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

How many car seats fit in the third row? Two

What We Like

• The Durango has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard second-row seats. The anchors are exposed and easy to use. Three top tether anchors sit toward the bottom of the second-row seatbacks; they’re not well-marked, but they are easy to find.
• Both the rear-facing infant and convertible seats installed easily and fit well in the second row. There was no need to move the front passenger seat forward to accommodate the car seats behind it.
• The forward-facing convertible installed easily in both the second and third rows. In the second row, we used the lower Latch anchors for installation. The third row doesn’t have any lower Latch anchors, so we used a seat belt to install the car seat.
• Our high-back booster seat fit well in the Durango’s second and third rows, and all the seat belt buckles — except the second-row middle seat — are on stable bases, making them easier for little ones to use independently.
• The second-row seats fold and tumble forward to create a wide path to the third row.

What We Don’t Like

• The third row’s top tether anchors are partially covered by an upholstery flap on the seatbacks. 

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. 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.