Back seat widths on 2014 car models

daisypaige · Sep 20, 2013

Not sure if anyone here can help me, but I've been doing searches online to find out which car has the widest back seat (i.e. most likely to fit three across) between the 2014 Toyota Camry, 2014 Chevy Malibu, and the 2014 Subaru Legacy. I am not having much luck. My husband needs to pick one as a replacement for his current work car. Last time we chose the Ford Fusion because it had the biggest trunk space but I HATED those headrests. I will be so glad to get rid of that car.

Anyway, we're hoping to add a third child to the mix next year, so we figured we'd check if there's a major difference in the seat width of his car options. I just don't know how to find this info, short of going to test drive every car and taking a measuring tape with me.

Any suggestions or info?

nannykates · Sep 20, 2013

The camry and malibu are pretty doable for three across i think. Its possible in the subaru but they are notoriously quirky for car seats.

Jeanum · Sep 20, 2013

You can usually find the surface width across the back seat ("rear hiproom" is usually how it's labeled) on the car manufacturer's website under specifications or dimensions for the particular vehicle model. If that width info. doesn't show up on the car manufacturer's website, then car buying/research websites like cars.com or carsdirect.com typically list dimensions under the specifications section for any given model you're researching. It's not a 100 percent failproof method for determining real life width, though, because factors like contoured vehicle seats, center humps (known to be present in various Subaru models, for example), and/or side bolsters on the vehicle seats can still affect three across friendliness for carseat installs. Ultimately it's best to do a hands on test install before deciding on a car selection if at all possible but the width measurement can be helpful to try to narrow down (bad pun, whoops!) the choices to try out.

cantabdad · Sep 20, 2013

All 3 of the vehicles you mentioned have rear hiproom in the range of 54", but as noted you really need to get a hands-on feel to see how a 3-across will work.

Subaru has phased-out the center hump that used to cause trouble. The 2014 Legacy, Outback, Impreza & Forester all have relatively flat benches. In fact, I think in some ways the space is more usable than in some other vehicles that have larger nominal dimensions (e.g. Accord). I have done a 3-across in the Outback (which is basically the same as the Legacy inside) with 2 Radians and an adult; a third Radian would almost definitely have fit instead of the adult. With wider carseats you would have to do some more clever puzzling.

daisypaige · Sep 21, 2013

Thanks so much for those helpful replies!

Back seat widths on 2014 car models

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