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How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2021 Ford Bronco Sport?

ford bronco sport 2021 01 dynamic  exterior  profile  silver jpg 2021 Ford Bronco Sport Badlands | Cars.com photo by Christian Lantry

The verdict: The 2021 Ford Bronco Sport is a compact SUV that’s ready for going off-road, but it’s not ready for family duty. We ran into some issues fitting our rear-facing car seats into the SUV’s small backseat. 

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 Sport.

Related: Search Car Seat Checks

ford bronco sport 2021 csc scorecard svg

B Grade

  • Latch: The Bronco Sport has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard rear seats. The seat cushions partially obstruct access to the anchors, which was noticeable with our convertible car seat’s hooklike Latch connectors. The Bronco Sport has three top tether anchors midway down the seatback, which are exposed and easy to use.
  • Forward-facing convertible: We had to work to connect this car seat to the Latch anchors. Once connected, however, this car seat fit well in the rear seat. We routed the top tether anchor under the head restraint without any problem. 

C Grade

  • Infant seat: Because of the infant seat’s more rigid Latch connectors, it was easier to push past the upholstery to connect to the Latch anchors.  However, once installed, this rear-facing car seat took up so much backseat space that we had to move the front passenger seat forward several inches. This left our tester with her knees too close to the glove box. 
  • Booster seat: With no seat bolsters, our high-back booster easily slid over the rear seat buckle, which sits low in the seat cushion. This adds a level of difficulty for little ones trying to buckle up on their own.

D Grade

  • None

F Grade

  • Rear-facing convertible: To fit the rear convertible seat in the Bronco Sport’s backseat, we had to move the front passenger seat forward a significant distance. This left our tester with her knees jammed into the glove box, which is unsafe.  

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.

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.

Editor-in-Chief
Jennifer Newman

Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Newman is a journalist with more than 25 years of experience, including 15 years as an automotive journalist at Cars.com. Jennifer leads the Editorial team in its mission of helping car shoppers find the vehicle that best fits their life. A mom of two, she’s graduated from kids in car seats to teens behind the steering wheel. She’s also a certified car-seat technician with more than 12 years of experience, as well as member of the World Car Jury, Automotive Press Association and Midwest Automotive Media Association. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennilnewman/ Instagram: @jennilnewman

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