# 2019 Atlas Car Seats



## Griselle (Nov 27, 2018)

Hi All,

We are looking into purchasing a 2019 Atlas. We have 3 kids who are all in carseats. The great appeal of this car for us is being able to install all seats in the 2nd row. 

We noticed that there was a recall for the 2018 Atlas for damaged seat buckles from carseats installed on the 2nd row center seat. To my knowledge the fix was to fix the damaged buckles and provide a supplement to the owners manual that specified that car seat bases wider than 12.6 inches cannot be installed in that 2nd row middle seat. 

With that said, does the 2019 Atlas have this car seat base limitation of 12.6 inches within the owner's manual? If not, how are they preventing the car seats from damaging the seat belt buckles? 

Thanks in advance, 

Griselle


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## Icantdrive65 (Nov 8, 2001)

Griselle said:


> a supplement to the owners manual that specified that car seat bases wider than 12.6 inches cannot be installed in that 2nd row middle seat.


That is the answer. There are seats that are narrow enough to fit. Those are the ones you can use in the center spot.


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## Griselle (Nov 27, 2018)

I have not found a single car seat with a base less than 12.6 inches wide. If you know of any I would greatly appreciate you sharing them with me.


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## Hfqkhal (Oct 14, 2018)

Griselle said:


> I have not found a single car seat with a base less than 12.6 inches wide. If you know of any I would greatly appreciate you sharing them with me.


Read this link as it looks like there are some seats that can fit. One must look more into the specs to find the dimensions of the base. Hope that helps.


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## Icantdrive65 (Nov 8, 2001)

Griselle said:


> I have not found a single car seat with a base less than 12.6 inches wide. If you know of any I would greatly appreciate you sharing them with me.


Maxi Cosi seats have narrow bases.


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## Griselle (Nov 27, 2018)

Hfqkhal said:


> Griselle said:
> 
> 
> > I have not found a single car seat with a base less than 12.6 inches wide. If you know of any I would greatly appreciate you sharing them with me.
> ...


Thank you! I'll check out the link later today.


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## Micro0637 (Dec 4, 2017)

I am in the same boat. I want the Atlas for the 3 across install, but this issue came up the week I was going to buy. 

I recently started wondering if they meant 12.6" where the seat belt actually runs through the seats, and not overall width. 

This is the only way it can make sense since literally every car seat is over the 12.6" dimension. The Diono 120 is one of the narrowest seats on the market and its 17" wide. 


Has anyone looked if you could just tuck the buckles into the seat and use LATCH. That way the buckles can't get damaged and the seats are secured.


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## Tdmoreno (Apr 30, 2018)

Micro0637 said:


> I am in the same boat. I want the Atlas for the 3 across install, but this issue came up the week I was going to buy.
> 
> I recently started wondering if they meant 12.6" where the seat belt actually runs through the seats, and not overall width.
> 
> ...



If your question is about latch being in all three seats in the middle row then yes the latch point is in all three seats. We only have 2 cars seats but we often move them side by side or apart for easier access to the third row when grandma and grandpa go places with us or we are packing lots of oversize things for camping. We have Britax Marathon seats and it works but when we have the 2 side by side it is a very tight fit.


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## Aztecman (Nov 27, 2018)

As far as I’ve heard nothing about the vehicle has changed between the 2018 and 2019 besides some trims being removed and a few options moving to lower level trims.


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

Micro0637 said:


> I am in the same boat. I want the Atlas for the 3 across install, but this issue came up the week I was going to buy.
> 
> I recently started wondering if they meant 12.6" where the seat belt actually runs through the seats, and not overall width.
> 
> ...



The buckle does nest into the bottom cushion, so it's out of the way. 

The main issue is having a base's bottom (point of contact with the cushion) not exceed the 12.6" width dimension. If so, you'll run into the potential issue of damaging the buckle. 

We have a Graco Nautilus seat (for our 4 yr old) on the driver side 2nd row, and Graco SnugRide base (for our 1 yr old) in the middle 2nd row. Both are secured to their respective Latch points. And both fits fine and didn't damage any buckles (dealer checked from recall notice).


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## Micro0637 (Dec 4, 2017)

knedrgr said:


> The buckle does nest into the bottom cushion, so it's out of the way.
> 
> The main issue is having a base's bottom (point of contact with the cushion) not exceed the 12.6" width dimension. If so, you'll run into the potential issue of damaging the buckle.
> 
> We have a Graco Nautilus seat (for our 4 yr old) on the driver side 2nd row, and Graco SnugRide base (for our 1 yr old) in the middle 2nd row. Both are secured to their respective Latch points. And both fits fine and didn't damage any buckles (dealer checked from recall notice).



Thank you for that! I really think VW has done a disservice by not giving way more details about what seats can and can't work, pictures of measurements of a few select car seats would've gone a long way. 

Their own site still shows 3 car seats installed that are all over 12.6"


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## knedrgr (Jun 6, 2011)

Micro0637 said:


> Thank you for that! I really think VW has done a disservice by not giving way more details about what seats can and can't work, pictures of measurements of a few select car seats would've gone a long way.
> 
> Their own site still shows 3 car seats installed that are all over 12.6"



I get what you're saying. I definitely think they could have clarified a few things. 

But to go and give which models will/won't fit, would be a huge undertaking, as new models are introduced all the time. 

You're missing the point here, the seat or carrier can be wider than the 12.6" wide (at their middle or top sections), but as long as the base area isn't wider than the max dimension, these will not damage the buckles. 

Example, here's our base. Note the base's picture shows a narrower rear section that clears the buckle area, and if you measure the corner-to-corner (where it touches the bottom and back cushions) it's less than the 12.6" guideline. However, the top and rest of the base is wider than the 12.6" max, but those area doesn't touch the cushion and buckle areas.

http://www.gracobaby.com/en-US/SnugRide/snugride-click-connect-infant-car-seat-base-103553


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## Micro0637 (Dec 4, 2017)

knedrgr said:


> I get what you're saying. I definitely think they could have clarified a few things.
> 
> But to go and give which models will/won't fit, would be a huge undertaking, as new models are introduced all the time.
> 
> ...


Oh i obviously didn't mean an inclusive list by any means, but a simple example of one too big, and one that works would give us a lot to go off of. 

And yeah now that you clarified the seat base the Atlas is finally back on our list.  Pair this with all the issues the new odyssey is having and I might get what I want afterall.


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## Crzypdilly (Feb 20, 2004)

I had no idea about this. I just moved one of the infant car seat bases to the middle so adults can sit by the door instead of the middle. We bought two Nuna Ravas for our twins to use next. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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