How Well Do Car Seats Fit In The Buick Envista

The Buick Envista is seen as a small SUV by some and a sub-compact 4-door hatch by others. Most reviewers agree it is a stylish, premium vehicle in the subcompact size class, ideal for a first or additional car. Its stylish front-end design set the tone for the entire Buick lineup, and its interior was named one of Wards’ 10 Best Interior and UX Designs for 2024. Such a vehicle is likely to be popular among couples and starting families. For those whose family-making has already begun, Cars.com investigates how well child seats fit in this sub-compact hatch interior. Ewing Buick GMC provides the answer. 

This is a regular feature at Cars.com, where they have tested how well child seats fit and how easily they are installed in dozens of vehicles, from compact hatchbacks to three-row SUVs to pickup trucks. Every such test is conducted by editors Jennifer Geiger and Jennifer Newman, both of whom are certified child safety seat installation technicians and mothers. Checking the fitting of every child seat on the market would be close to impossible, so the two Jennifers have selected one car seat for each category they consider adequately representative of most of their competing models, and they use these same seats in every test. These seats are: 

• Chicco KeyFit 30 infant-safety seat 
• Graco Contender 65 convertible seat (front-facing and rear-facing) 
• Graco TurboBooster seat 

For all models with a second-row seat, the seats are tested there because placing child seats in the front row is not recommended if an alternative exists.  This is because front airbags can cause serious injury to children in car seats and children or others weighing less than about 66 pounds. Infant and convertible seats are placed behind the front passenger seat, while booster seats are placed behind the driver. The driver seat is adjusted to fit an average 6-foot-tall driver, while the front passenger seat is set for someone shorter.  

They also test the convertible seat in its forward-facing position in the middle of the second row to verify if the second row can fit three child seats at once. They evaluate the ease and accessibility of the child seat latches. Each test gets a grade from A to F, with the following definitions for each grade: 

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.  

B: One room, fit, or connection issue.  

C: Marginal room plus one fit or connection issue.  

D: Insufficient room, plus multiple fit or connection issues. 

F: Does not fit or is unsafe. 

A Good Report Card 

The Envista received an A in four of the five evaluations and a B in the sixth. The following are the verbatim comments for each test as reported in Cars.com. They did find that all three seats couldn’t fit in the rear seat at the same time. It’s safe to say that if you need three child seats at once, there are probably better reasons to choose a larger vehicle. 

Latch: Grade A 

“The two sets of lower anchors sit behind slits in the seats; they’re easy to find and use. Three top tether anchors are well labeled on the seatback and exposed for easy connection.” 

Infant Seat: Grade A 

“This seat was easy to install, and our 5-foot-8-inch front passenger had enough legroom in front of it.” 

Rear-Facing Convertible: Grade A 

“As with the infant seat, the convertible in rear-facing mode went in problem-free and did not negatively affect our front passenger’s legroom.” 

Forward-Facing Convertible: Grade B 

“After raising the head restraint, the forward-facing convertible fit well on the seat. The seat was also easy to install with drama-free Latch connection.” 

Booster: Grade A 

“We needed to remove the head restraint to situate the booster flush against the seatback, but since the head restraint only raises up or flips down, it affected how the booster fit. The Envista’s buckles are on stable stalks, which should make them easy for kids to grasp and use independently.” 

The Envista is not only an attractive small vehicle with impressive exterior and interior design, but it can now also be shown that in terms of seating, it can accommodate the life stages of single, newly married, and at least the first two children. Proof that good things come in small packages, visit Ewing Buick-GMC and check out the amazing Buick Envista.