How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander?
The verdict: The 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander is a redesigned compact SUV that uses the Nissan Rogue’s engine, transmission and chassis, but is wrapped in a more rugged-looking exterior and interior; it also features three rows of seats.
The second-row bench slides forward and back, and for our test, we positioned it as far rearward as it would go before installing car seats into the second row. When installing car seats in the third row, we moved the second row forward.
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 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander.
Related: Search Car Seat Checks
A Grade
- Infant seat: We had plenty of room for the rear-facing infant seat. Installation was easy thanks to exposed lower Latch anchors.
- Rear-facing convertible seat: This rear-facing seat also fit well in the Outlander with no installation difficulties.
B Grade
- Third-row access: The second-row seats collapse and slide forward thanks to a lever at the top of the back cushions. This creates just enough room that a child can climb into the third row.
- Latch: The Outlander has two sets of lower Latch anchors in the second row’s outer rear seats. The anchors sit in the open and are easy to find and use. Unlike the lower anchors, the Outlander’s top tether anchors are hidden behind the seatback upholstery. Thankfully, the tether area is marked, but parents will need to look for the slit in the upholstery to find the tether anchors underneath it. The third row doesn’t have lower Latch anchors or top tether anchors, making it suitable only for booster seats or kids out of car seats.
- Forward-facing convertible: The forward convertible installed easily in the second row, but its grade is downgraded because of the top tether anchor issues detailed above. Once we found the top tether anchor, we were able to connect to it without any issues.
- Third-row booster seat: The third row’s seatback reclines, which allowed us to get a better fit with the booster seat. The seat belt buckles sit just high enough for a child to grasp them. Third-row legroom is nonexistent unless the second-row seats are moved forward. Splitting the legroom difference with the third row, our 5-foot-7 tester had just enough legroom in the second row to sit comfortably.
C Grade
- Booster seat: Our high-back booster seat fit well in the second row, but we downgraded the seat belt buckles two grades. The buckles sink all the way into the bottom seat cushion when trying to buckle up, and digging them out of the seat cushion was a big inconvenience.
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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