How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2021 Ford Bronco?

The verdict: Ford resurrected its Bronco for 2021 and the off-road-ready SUV is available in several flavors, including two-door and four-door versions; it also comes as a smaller, more on-road-inclined Bronco Sport version. For this Car Seat Check, we tested the two-door model in the rugged Wildtrak trim. It has seating for four, and putting car seats in the rear was wild — and not in a good way — due to the challenges that come with the two-door body style.

Does it fit three car seats?  No.

Take a look at how the Latch system and each car seat scored below in our Car Seat Check of the 2021 Ford Bronco.

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A Grade

• None

B Grade

• Latch: The two sets of lower anchors sit about a half-inch into the seat bight, where the back and bottom cushions meet. They aren’t too difficult to access once you part the cushions. Two top tether anchors sit halfway down the seatback. They’re clearly marked and easy to use.
• Booster: The Bronco’s fixed head restraint pushed the booster seat’s back off the seatback; it should sit flush against it. The SUV’s stable buckles should be easy for kids to grasp.

C Grade

• Infant seat: Getting the car seat through the small opening behind the front passenger seat was a struggle because of the two-door body style. I also struggled to access the car seat once it was back there. The Latch anchors, however, were OK to use after applying just a bit of force to connect to them. Our 5-foot 6-inch front passenger was comfortable in the front passenger seat.
• Rear-facing convertible: As with the infant seat, the hardest part about this install was getting the seat back there then climbing around to install it. The Latch anchors required a little bit of muscle to connect. Once installed, the front passenger had a comfortable amount of legroom.
• Forward-facing convertible: Again, it was a struggle to get this seat to the backseat because of the two-door body style. The fixed head restraints fold down when the seat folds but aren’t otherwise adjustable. When installing our convertible in forward mode, the head restraint pushed the car seat off the seatback but it should sit flush against it. Connecting to the lower anchors required just a bit of muscle, and we had no trouble finding and using the top tether anchor.

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

C: Marginal room plus one fit or connection issue. Difficult to access the 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 and Jennifer Newman are certified child safety seat installation technicians.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a Chicco KeyFit 30 infant-safety seat, a Graco Contender 65 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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