Which Cars Fit Three Car Seats?

UPDATE: 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 more than three years that Cars.com editors 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.

For 2014, the Jeep Grand Cherokee received interior and exterior revisions, but that didn’t affect this two-row crossover’s ability to fit three child-safety seats across its backseat.

As we come across more cars that fit three child-safety seats, we'll add to this list. For now, here are the cars from our Car Seat Checks that can fit three car seats in the second row:

SUV's GPS Device Helped Capture Boston Bombing Suspects

Late in the evening on April 18, Boston marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev carjacked a black Mercedes-Benz SUV in Cambridge, Mass. Its driver escaped shortly after midnight on April 19; the ensuing saga left one suspect dead, another in custody and an entire city on lockdown.

It turns out the Mercedes played a significant part in bringing the Tsarvnaev brothers down. The Boston Globe reports that the vehicle, an ML350 SUV, was leased by its owner, a 26-year-old Chinese entrepreneur who wishes to remain anonymous. It had Mercedes' mbrace2 telematics system, complete with an app on the owner's iPhone that allowed him to track the vehicle's location.

What followed was a bit of GPS sleuthing that shows stealing a car with an active telematics subscription — whether it's mbrace, GM's OnStar or others — is a fast way to get caught.

2014 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, Other Sport SUVs Head to 2013 Detroit Auto Show

At next week's 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, expect a couple SUVs to make a splash in the high-horsepower club — traditionally the province of super-sedans and exotic sports cars. Porsche will unveil a Cayenne Turbo S, complete with a turbo V-8 that kicks out 550 horsepower. That's 10 hp more than last year's Cayenne Turbo with an optional Turbo Power Kit.

More 2013 Detroit Auto Show Coverage

Across the show floor, Jeep will unveil an updated Grand Cherokee and an SRT8 version with a Hemi V-8 the size of Utah. Today's Grand Cherokee SRT8 makes 470 hp; will the 2014 make the 500-hp club? Stay tuned.

The stupid-powerful SUV club goes on. Mercedes-Benz unveiled the GL63 AMG at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show — a $116,925 (excluding a destination fee), three-row SUV with a 550-hp, twin-turbo V-8. No doubt it will be on display in Detroit. Likely so will the automaker's 518-hp ML63 ($97,005), a rival to BMW's 555-hp X5 M ($89,745). Land Rover's redesigned Range Rover, whose sybaritic Supercharged edition ($99,950) boasts a 510-hp, supercharged V-8, will certainly be on display.

Enjoy them all in one place if you can. Seeing one of these on the road will be rare — and you may only spot the taillights.

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August's Fastest- and Slowest-Selling Cars

The Hyundai Santa Fe Sport topped last month's fastest-selling cars — a list that mixed the usual influx of redesigns and introductions with a lot of older cars. The 2013 Toyota Corolla, Honda Fit, Mini Cooper, Audi A3 and Volkswagen Jetta Sportwagen flew off dealer lots last month. All but the A3 saw sales increases, with the Corolla, Fit and Cooper up more than 25% apiece. But all five cars have been on the market for some time since their last update, and none offer major incentives. One possible factor is gas prices, which have risen 20 cents in the past month. All five cars have variants with combined EPA mileage of 30 mpg or better.

Response to the redesigned Hyundai Santa Fe has been "nothing short of remarkable," Hyundai sales chief Dave Zuchowski said in a statement Tuesday. However, sales for the nameplate — whose redesign sprouts a new Santa Fe Sport derivative that's lumped into the same sales figure — fell nearly 50% for the month. What gives?

Recall Alert: 2012-13 Mercedes-Benz M-Class

Mercedes-Benz is recalling 8,675 model-year 2012 and 2013 versions of the M-Class SUV equipped with accessory all-season floormats because of a lack of clearance between the mat and the gas pedal, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In the affected vehicles, the floormats may not fully conform to the floor of the vehicle and could trap the gas pedal. This could lead to unintended acceleration and a crash. According to Mercedes-Benz, applying the brakes steadily will stop the vehicle. 

The automaker will notify owners starting next month, and dealers will replace the mats free of charge. Owners can call Mercedes-Benz at 800-367-6372 or NHTSA's vehicle safety hotline at 888-327-4236 for more info.

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Cars.com Buzz Index: March 2012

Welcome to the Buzz Index, where we rank the hottest cars that consumers search on Cars.com. These cars have seen the biggest increase in searches and dealer contacts since last month.

Top cars in March were an eclectic bunch. Summerlike temperatures across much of the country had consumers thinking sports cars, but rising gas prices — the national average price for regular gas eclipsed $3.90 a gallon last week — brought several high-mpg redesigns alongside. Consider some numbers: Three cars in the top five have 300 horsepower or more — one has nearly double that — and five of the top 10 have an EPA city or highway rating of at least 40 mpg.

Unsurprisingly, eight of the 10 also have been redesigned or received significant updates in the past year.

2012 Mercedes-Benz ML350: Is New Really Better Than Old?

I was excited to test-drive the newly redesigned 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML350 Bluetec. I've never had a chance to drive the ML, having assigned a previous test ML to Cars.com Family reviewer, Sara Lacey, who fell so hard for it that she and her family ended up buying a slightly used 2008 ML.

Read Cars.com's Review of the 2012 Mercedes-Benz ML

According to Sara, the ML was one of the few cars that neither she nor her discerning husband had any strong aversion toward. And since their family regularly loads up the whole clan plus gear to head up to the mountains, the ML makes for the perfect ski car for maneuvering in the snow. To boot, it is still comfortable enough to deal with the usually painful four-hour ride home in Sunday ski traffic.

So the hype was there, and the bar was set high. And we all know what happens when you have high expectations.

Cars.com Reviews the 2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class

Like the comfortable and composed S-Class sedan but need more room? The M-Class midsize SUV should do the trick, says Cars.com Editor Mike Hanley, who tested the ML350 Bluetec diesel version and found it powerful, fairly quiet and pretty fuel efficient for a vehicle this size.

But diesel costs several cents more than premium gas, and Hanley also points out that the Bluetec version starts around $1,500 more than the base gas version. Is it worth the price?

2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class Review

2012 Mercedes-Benz M-Class: Car Seat Check

Little was left untouched with Mercedes' redesign of its midsize SUV, the 2012 M-Class. This five-seater has a new look inside and out as well as revised engine offerings and chassis. Of course, we focused on child-safety seats, and we were excited to fit three car seats across the ML350's backseat. Very few two-row vehicles — luxury or otherwise — can handle three across.

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.

2012 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG: Photo Gallery

An AMG variant of the redesigned 2012 M-Class, announced this summer, was inevitable. The new ML63 AMG makes 518 or 550 horsepower thanks to a twin-turbocharged V-8 replacing the old naturally aspirated engine.

More 2011 L.A. Auto Show Coverage

The new engine helps the ML63 gain 4 mpg in combined ratings, a big improvement for a performance SUV that’s capable of zero to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds.