How Do Car Seats Fit in a 2025 Lincoln Aviator?
The verdict: Lincoln updated its Aviator three-row SUV for the 2025 model year, giving it a fresh face outside and a new multimedia system inside. In our Car Seat Check, the Aviator’s second row earned top grades, but we struggled with the third row’s fixed head restraints.
Does it fit three car seats? No; the model we tested had second-row captain’s chairs.
Take a look at how the Latch system and each car seat scored below in our Car Seat Check of the 2025 Lincoln Aviator.
Related: Search Car Seat Checks
Latch: Grade A
In the second row, the two sets of lower anchors are exposed for easy use. Two top tether anchors sit on the seatbacks; they’re also easy to find and use.
Infant Seat: Grade A
This seat was easy to install, and the 5-foot-6-inch front passenger had plenty of legroom in front of it.
Rear-Facing Convertible: Grade A
Again, this seat went in easily and did not impact our front passenger’s legroom.
Forward-Facing Convertible: Grade A
After removing the head restraint to situate the convertible flush against the seatback, it fit well. Installation via Latch was easy thanks to accessible anchors.
Booster: Grade A
The booster fit well once we removed the head restraint. The Aviator’s buckles are on long stalks secured to the seat, so they should be easy for kids to grasp and use independently.
Third-Row Access: Grade C
The touch of a button moves the second-row seat out of the way to access the third row, but not if a car seat is installed; also, the seats are heavy, so moving them back into place was a chore. Lastly, in our test car, the pass-through between the captain’s chairs was blocked by an enormous center console, preventing access to the third row.
Third-Row Latch: Grade B
The third row has two sets of anchors. The lower anchors are not quite exposed in the seat bight, where the back and bottom cushions meet. Connecting to them was OK, but disconnecting was trickier because of the Aviator’s stiff seat upholstery. Top tether access was easy.
Third-Row Forward-Facing Convertible: Grade C
The Aviator’s fixed head restraint pushed the car seat off of the seatback; it should sit flush against it. Connecting to the lower anchors was OK, but we struggled to disconnect the anchors. Top tether access was easy.
Third-Row Booster: Grade C
Here again, the fixed head restraint interfered with the booster’s fit on the seatback. The buckles are on short stalks, but they stick up just enough and are on firm enough bases that kids should be able to grasp and use them independently. Note that third-row legroom is extremely limited, so taller kids will have trouble fitting comfortably unless second-row legroom is shared.
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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