Which Cars Fit Three Car Seats?

Parents are often searching for the automotive holy grail: a car that's not a minivan and can fit three child-safety seats across the backseat. It's a short list. In the nearly two years that Cars.com editor Kelsey Mays, Cars.com photographer Ian Merritt and I have been installing car seats into test vehicles, we've come across only a handful of cars that can hold three car seats across a backseat.

We recently tested the 2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class and it fit three car seats in it. To be considered a fit, there must be enough room between the booster seat and infant-safety seat for a child's hand to reach the seat belt buckle.

New Luxurious Trim Joins Chrysler 300 Lineup

The refreshed-for-2011 Chrysler 300 sedan earned major points for its much-improved interior. For 2012, Chrysler is adding even more premium materials and upping the fancy factor of its flagship sedan.

Chrysler is adding a new top-line trim level to the 300, called the Luxury Series. It joins the Limited, 300C, S series and high-performance SRT8. It features a leather-wrapped steering wheel and instrument panel, Nappa leather seats and armrests, 12-way power-adjustable driver and passenger seats, die-cast paddle shifters and a cabin accented with hand-sanded matte wood trim. Exterior upgrades include platinum chrome mirror caps and door handles and a platinum chrome mesh grille. Rear-wheel-drive versions ride on 20-inch painted aluminum wheels; all-wheel-drive models use 19s.

Most Popular Car Seat Checks

Parents, grandparents and caretakers know what a pain it can be to install child-safety seats into a car. Imagine doing it over and over and over again. That's what our Car Seat Check team does nearly every week as it tests new cars to find out how easy it is to use the Latch system.

Car Seat Checks are performed by Cars.com editor Kelsey Mays, Cars.com photographer Ian Merritt and Cars.com editor and certified car-seat technician Jennifer Newman.

2012 Toyota Camry Earns Five-Star NHTSA Rating

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released its first batch of 2012 model year ratings this month. Under the stricter guidelines, only three 2012 models — the Chevrolet Camaro, Cadillac CTS and Toyota Camry — have earned five-star composite scores from the safety agency. In fact, as we previously reported, the Camaro is the only vehicle to earn a perfect rating across the board since the new guidelines took effect for the 2011 model year.

NHTSA’s composite scores are composed of five-star ratings for frontal, rollover and a combined side pole and barrier tests. The side pole test, which is new, simulates a 20-mph side-impact crash into a 10-inch-diameter pole or tree at a 75-degree angle just behind the A-pillar on the driver’s side.

The redesigned 2012 Camry earned a five-star overall rating, getting four stars in the frontal test, five stars in the side-crash test and four stars in the rollover test.

2012 Chrysler 300 SRT8 Video

As Chrysler continues to expand on the Chrysler 300, for 2012 we get the SRT8 version. The package sports a stronger engine, but what has really changed on the model are the exterior and interior looks, which are understated and more tastefully done, says Cars.com Managing Editor David Thomas. You might think it’s a performance car, but it’s really not, he adds. Think of this as a four-door muscle car with an accommodating trunk.

Toyota Camry Most Stolen Car

The Toyota Camry was the most stolen new passenger car in 2009, according to the most recent information provided by the National Crime Information Center, a government agency that is part of the FBI.

Out of all the Camrys produced in 2009, about 781 were stolen. Keep in mind that the Camry was (and is) the best-selling passenger car. So the fact that it leads the list isn't remarkable; in fact, the rate at which it was stolen was nearly half the national average. 

GM, Chrysler Offer 48-Month Buy-Back Program

Ally Financial, the preferred lender for GM and Chrysler, is launching a new program to buy your car back after four years if you have a five-, six- or seven-year loan. The program, called Buyer’s Choice, rolled out yesterday in California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas, with more markets "added over the coming months," Ally said in a statement.

To be sure, anyone can trade or sell their car before their payments are up through rollover financing or a sale payment to the lender, but it's a sticky process.

The Ally product gives the buyer a guaranteed value at the time of purchase, along with an amortization table of the loan. You'll know from the start what sort of equity you'll have at the end of 48 months, which should help anyone thinking about using Buyer's Choice to avoid being upside down at the four-year mark. There's no fee to enroll, and you don't have to buy or lease a Chrysler or GM vehicle with your Buyer's Choice cash. Wear and tear limits will be similar to that of a lease, but exact terms on mileage weren't given.

The program should offer a degree of assurance to shoppers wary of buying from GM or Chrysler, given each automaker's bankrupt past. Then again, Chrysler vehicles are moving up on the reliability chain, an earlier weakness for the company.

2011 Chrysler Town and Country and 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan: Car Seat Check

This Car Seat Check was first published in March 2011 on MotherProof.com.

The Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan received upgrades to both the exteriors and interiors for the 2011 model year. The minivan siblings each have their strong points. The Town & Country focuses on luxurious touches, and the Grand Caravan goes for a more aggressive, sporty look.

We installed child-safety seats in the Town & Country, but the results can be applied to the Grand Caravan, too. Both minivans have the same seating configuration, with two captain's chairs in the second row and a three-seat bench in the third row.

For the Car Seat Check, we use a Graco SnugRide 30 rear-facing infant-safety seat, a Britax Roundabout convertible child-safety seat and Graco high-back TurboBooster seat.

Chrysler, Dodge, VW Minivans Earn IIHS Top Safety Pick

Chrysler’s pair of near-identical minivans — the 2012 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan — as well as the Chrysler-built but Volkswagen-branded 2012 Routan have been named Top Safety Picks in the minivan category by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The trio join the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna.

To earn the award, a vehicle must earn the top rating of Good in front, side, rear and rollover crash tests. The vehicle also must be equipped with electronic stability control, which is standard on all 2012 vehicles.

The vehicle also must pass the institute’s roof-strength test. To pass, the roof must withstand a force equal to four times the vehicle's weight before it caves in five inches. Ratings for the Town & Country, Grand Caravan and Routan are based on a roof-strength test conducted for the Town & Country alone. The Town & Country can withstand 4.51 times its own weight.

UAW and Detroit Three Agreements Bring Jobs, Cars to U.S.

The United Auto Workers and Chrysler reached a new four-year contract today, capping Detroit Three negotiations that included ratification with GM on Sept. 28 and vote-pending ratification with Ford, which union officials expect by Monday.

The contract agreements should add to the UAW’s Detroit Three ranks — currently at 112,000, a fraction of its membership in the 1970s and ‘80s — with jobs and cars returning to the U.S. Despite ruffled feathers at Chrysler when the UAW bumped Ford ahead in its negotiations, the process wrapped up in orderly fashion, with little apparent strife.

The agreements should create more than 14,000 new jobs: 2,100 at Chrysler, 5,750 at Ford and 6,400 at GM, the UAW says. Those are proportionate additions to current GM and Ford ranks, with a smaller addition to Fiat-owned Chrysler. The three automakers will invest more than $13 billion in U.S. salaries and infrastructure over the next four years, with a handful of future models locked in. Rather than getting hourly raises, UAW employees at all three companies will receive signing bonuses and profit-sharing programs, an important step for Detroit carmakers to keep labor costs down. Entry-level workers will get an hourly raise.

The agreements bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.