2017 Toyota Corolla iM: Car Seat Check
CARS.COM — For 2017, Scion’s compact hatchback is now the Toyota Corolla iM. This hatchback is notable for its wallet-friendly EPA-estimated fuel economy of 28/36/31 mpg city/highway/combined, but its small backseat is not what we’d call family-friendly, at least for rear-facing car seats.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Two
What We Like
- The Corolla iM has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard rear seats that sit about an inch into the seat cushions. Caregivers should note that there’s a metal bar between the Latch anchor sets that should not be confused for the Latch anchors.
- The three tether anchors sit a third of the way down the seatbacks under plastic covers. They’re easy to find and use.
- We had to move the front passenger seat forward a couple of inches to fit the rear-facing convertible seat behind it; thankfully, the car seat’s installation was easy. Our 5-foot-8 tester had just enough legroom to sit comfortably in the front seat.
- After we removed the head restraint, the forward-facing convertible fit well in the Corolla iM’s rear seat. The car seat installed quickly into the hatchback.
- The high-back booster seat fit well and the seat belt buckles are on stable bases, so younger kids can buckle up independently.
What We Don’t Like
- To fit the rear-facing infant seat, we had to move the front passenger seat as far forward as possible, leaving our 5-foot-8 tester with her knees jammed into the glove box.
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.
