How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2018 Toyota Avalon?

CARS.COM — The Avalon, Toyota’s largest sedan, returns for 2018 with no changes for the new model year. The Avalon remains a family-friendly choice for its long list of available safety features and the backseat’s ample headroom and legroom. Buried Latch anchors complicated installation in our Car Seat Check, however.

How many car seats fit in the second row? Two, but three narrower car seats might fit.

Related: More Car Seat Checks

Solid

• Booster, grade A: After removing the head restraint, the booster fit well. Stable buckles make it easy for kids to buckle up independently.

So-So

• Latch, grade B: The two sets of lower anchors sit about a half-inch into the seat bight. The leather cushions are stiff, and the inboard seat belt crowds the anchor, complicating connection. The three top tether anchors on the rear shelf sit under hinged plastic covers; they’re easy to use and access.
• Infant seat, grade B: After muscling past the stiff leather cushions to connect to the Latch anchor, the infant seat fit well. The front passenger had ample legroom.
• Rear-facing convertible, grade B: After muscling past the stiff leather cushions to connect to the Latch anchor, the infant seat fit well. The front passenger had ample legroom.
• Forward-facing convertible, grade B: Connecting to the lower anchors also required a lot of muscle to push past the leather cushions. Once we removed the head restraint, however, the seat fit well. We had no trouble connecting to the top tether anchor.

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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