2021 Volkswagen Atlas

Don't want a full size SUV, but still need to fit 4-5 kids in car seats? The Atlas is the car that can fit everyone practically and comfortably. The second row offers a bench or captain's chairs and both feature car-seat-friendly-tilt. The Atlas bench is arguably the best mid-size SUV to accommodate three-across. More on that later! Every seating position in the second and third rows has a removable head restraint and a top tether anchor. Every second-row seating position also has lower anchors. Lower anchors are notably missing from the third row. While not necessary for a safe car seat installation, they are helpful for booster seats. Many boosters offer lower anchor connectors to keep the seat secure when unoccupied. Otherwise the booster seat should be buckled in with a seat belt to keep it from becoming a projectile in a crash. The second row center lower anchors are unfortunately overlapped by the outboard behind-the-driver seat belt. That means if you want to use the center seat's lower anchors, you cannot use the outboard driver's seat belt at the same time. Additionally the space between the seat belt buckle for the center position and the buckle for the adjacent position is very small. This means most car seats are too wide to install in the middle seat without resting on the belt buckle. This can damage the buckle. Refer to your owner's manual for specific guidance, but you can contact VW for a buckle cover if you wish to install a larger car seat in the center position. The buckle cover renders the outboard passenger buckle useless. Translation: If you want to install the outboard seat with the seat belt (usually needed for three-across installs), your center car seat must be very narrow and installed using the seat belt. Enter the Graco SlimFit3 LX! While some other narrow car seats work here too, nothing is as versatile as this seat. Back to the second row: the wide outboard seats can accommodate just about any car seat. There's plenty of legroom to fit large seats front-to-back as well. If you plan to use the second and third rows for passengers simultaneously, I recommend using a compact car seat in the second row to preserve third-row legroom. Examples of compact seats include the Graco Extend2Fit 3 in 1, Nuna Rava, and the Britax Poplar. The third row has two full size seats and can comfortably fit adults, children in boosters or car seats. Rear-facing seats fit, but they must be compact. To access the third row, use the car-seat-tilt feature, which moves the seat up and forward without compromising a car seat installed with LATCH. This of course works with no car seat installed as well. A rotating car seat is a great option here so even a rear-facing seat can take advantage of car seat tilt. Car seats that rotate and have higher lower anchor weight limits in rear-facing mode include the Evenflo Revolve360 Slim and the Graco EasyTurn360. These seats are also compatible in a three-across configuration next to a narrow, low-profile, forward-facing car seat in the center, like the Graco SlimFit3 LX. What car seats are incompatible? Any forward-facing harnessed seat or booster seat that 1) requires a head restraint and 2) doesn't permit a gap caused by a head restraint. This is less of a problem in the second row since the head restraints are relatively flush to the seat, particularly in the center position. However, the third row head restraints are extremely bulky when not removed for a car or booster seat installation. Another common question is whether the lower anchors and seat belt may be used together if the car seat permits it? Yes, if the car seat permits using both lower anchors and the seat belt then VW also permits it. That list is short and at the time of this writing the only car seats that permit this are the Nuna Pipa, Clek Foonf (forward-facing), babyark, and the Axkid One3.