The 2010 Nissan Altima is a midsize sedan that finished in the middle of the pack in Cars.com’s $25,000 Family Sedan Shootout, but how did it fare in our Car Seat Check?

For the Car Seat Check, we use a rear-facing infant-safety seat, a convertible child-safety seat and a high-back booster seat, all made by Graco. The front seats are adjusted to a comfortable position for a 6-foot driver and a 5-foot-8 passenger. The child seats are installed in the second row and, if available, third row. The booster seat sits behind the driver’s seat, and the infant seat and convertible seats are installed behind the passenger seat.

Here’s how the 2010 Altima scored in MotherProof.com’s Car Seat Check:

Latch system: The two sets of Latch connectors were buried under the seat cushions and not easy to see. Their hidden location became problematic when we tried to unhook the connectors (yes, there was some under-the-breath cursing). The three top tether anchors sat behind the headrests and were easy to reach.

Booster seat: The high-back booster seat fit easily in the backseat. There were no problems with the seat sitting on top of the seat belt receptors, which sounds minor but is a major pain when your child can’t buckle up because of it.

Convertible child-safety seat: When installed rear-facing, the convertible seat had plenty of room, and there was no need to move the front passenger seat forward. With the seat in the forward-facing position, we struggled awhile as we tried to unhook the Latch connectors from the anchors.

Rear-facing infant-safety seat: The second row had plenty of room for the infant-safety seat, which, as all parents know, is a space hog.

Do two car seats fit? Yes

Do three car seats fit? No. There just isn’t enough room for a booster, convertible and infant-safety seat.

This entry was posted on Friday, May 7th, 2010 at 12:31 pm and is filed under auto brochure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.