2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee: Car Seat Check
Editor’s note: This Car Seat Check was written in March 2015 about the 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Little of substance has changed with this year’s model. To see what’s new for 2016, click here, or check out a side-by-side comparison of the two model years.
CARS.COM — Year after year, the Jeep Grand Cherokee continues to be one of the vehicles that can fit three child-safety seats across its backseat, and the model-year 2015 Grand Cherokee keeps the streak going. This five-seat midsize SUV is a great fit for families with three kids looking for a two-row vehicle.
How many car seats fit in the second row? Three
What We Like
- The Grand Cherokee has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the outboard seats that sit about a half-inch between the back and bottom seat cushions. It’s easy to connect to them with both hooklike and rigid connectors. The rear seatbacks recline, opening up the access to the anchors.
- The rear-facing infant seat installed easily into the Grand Cherokee. While we had to move the front passenger seat forward to fit it, it was such a small amount that we decided to give it an A grade.
- With the rear-facing convertible, we didn’t have to move the front passenger forward to fit it in the backseat.
- In the forward-facing position, the convertible also installed easily into the Grand Cherokee.
- Our high-back booster seat fit well, though the SUV’s fixed head restraints pushed the seat’s back to a slight angle, though not enough to be worrisome.
What We Don’t
- The three tether anchors are at the base of the seatbacks and sit under a piece of upholstery near some cargo hooks. Parents need to make sure they’re connecting the tether strap to the anchor and not a cargo hook.
- The Grand Cherokee has short seat belt stalks in the backseat. It was hard to find the buckle and then difficult to use because of their shortness.
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: Plenty of room. One fit or connection issue. Some problems accessing third row when available.
C: Marginal room. Two fit or connection issues. Difficult to access third row when available.
D: Insufficient room. Two or more fit or connection issues.
F: Does not fit or is unsafe.
About Cars.com’s Car Seat Checks
Editors Jennifer Newman and Jennifer Geiger 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 5-foot-8 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. To learn more about how we conduct our Car Seat Checks, go here.
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.
