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How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2021 Nissan Sentra?

nissan sentra 2020 01 angle  dynamic  exterior  front  maroon jpg 2020 Nissan Sentra | Cars.com photo by Christian Lantry

The verdict: The 2021 Nissan Sentra is a budget-friendly option for small families. We last tested the 2020 Nissan Sentra, but we’ve since updated our car seats, and the Sentra’s roomy backseat played nicely with our new car seats.

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 Nissan Sentra.

Related: Search Car Seat Checks

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A Grade

  • Latch: The Sentra’s Latch system gets a high grade thanks to its exposed lower Latch anchors in the outboard rear seats and easy-to-use top tether anchors on the rear shelf. 
  • Infant: This rear-facing car seat fit well in the Sentra’s roomy backseat. There were no installation issues.
  • Rear-facing convertible: The convertible car seat in the rear-facing position installed easily. Our tester had to move the front passenger seat forward roughly a half-inch to accommodate this car seat, but it didn’t impact our tester’s legroom in the front passenger seat. 
  • Forward-facing convertible: There were no fit or installation issues with the forward convertible.
  • Booster: Our high-back booster seat fit well in the backseat. The rear seat belt buckles are held in place by the seat cushions, and the buckles sit up high enough that they’re easy for little ones to use on their own.

B Grade

  • None

C Grade

  • None

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.

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
Email Jennifer Newman

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