How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2018 Nissan Titan?

Editor’s note: This Car Seat Check was written in December 2016 about the 2017 Nissan Titan. Little of substance has changed with this year’s model. To see what’s new for 2018, click here, or check out a side-by-side comparison of the two model years.

Nissan’s redesigned 2017 Titan competes with other full-size pickup trucks such as the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and Ram 1500. When properly equipped, the Titan can tow more than 9,000 pounds and carry more than 1,500 pounds of payload. What we loaded it with in our Car Seat Check won’t tip the scales quite that high. We tested the 2017 Titan Platinum Reserve crew cab with a leather interior and room for five. It easily fit our three car seats across its roomy backseat.

How many car seats fit in the second row? Three

Related: More Car Seat Checks

Solid

• Latch, grade A: The Titan has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard seats. The anchors are in slits in the seat cushions and are easy to use. The three tether anchors sit behind the rear seatbacks. They were surprisingly easy to use despite their hidden location.
• Infant, grade A: This seat fit well. There were no installation issues and no need to move the front passenger seat forward.
• Rear-facing convertible, grade A: This seat also fit well. There were no installation issues and again, there was ample front passenger legroom.
• Forward-facing convertible, grade A: To install the forward-facing convertible, the owner’s manual recommends removing the head restraint first and then installing the car seat using the lower Latch anchors before connecting to the top tether anchors. We followed those instructions but made sure to add a lot of slack to the Latch straps before connecting to the lower anchors. Next, we folded the seatback forward and connected the tether strap to the anchor, tightening the strap as much as possible. After putting the Titan’s rear seatback into the upright position, we were able to keep tightening the tether strap (that’s not always possible with this tether design). We then tightened the lower Latch straps to get a secure fit. After all that effort, the forward convertible fit well.

So-So

• Booster, grade B: The booster fit well, but the Titan’s floppy seat belt buckles will likely make it difficult for kids to buckle up independently.

Skip It

• None

Grading Scale

Solid indicates an A grade for optimum ease of use and fit. So-So indicates B or C grades for one to two ease-of-use or fit issues. Skip It indicates D or F grades.

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: One room, fit or connection issue. Some problems accessing third row when available.

C: Marginal room plus one fit or connection issue. Difficult to access third row when available.

D: Insufficient room, plus multiple 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.

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