2017 Ford Escape: Car Seat Check

CARS.COM — For the 2017 model year, Ford restyled its Escape, with updates to both the compact SUV’s exterior and interior. Those tweaks helped the 2017 Escape earn A grades in all categories; the 2016 Escape received B grades in its Car Seat Check. We tested a 2017 Escape SE trim with a cloth interior.

More Car Seat Checks

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two

What We Like

• The two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard seats are exposed and easy to find. Three tether anchors sit near the base of the seatbacks. There are upholstery-covered flaps that would normally cover the tether anchors, but cutouts in the flaps keep the anchors in sight.
• The rear-facing infant seat installed easily. We moved the front passenger seat forward slightly — one click forward — to give it a little more room. Because this adjustment didn’t impact the 5-foot-8 tester’s legroom, the Escape earned an A.
• In forward- and rear-facing modes, the convertible car seat installed easily and fit well. The rear seatbacks recline and the head restraints are removable, both of which aid car-seat installation.
• Our high-back booster seat fit well. The seat belt buckles are on stable bases and sit high enough that they should be easy for kids to use independently.

What We Don’t

• Nothing

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.