The Toyota Avalon is one of the most popular large and full-sized cars sold today in the United States. Toyota’s flagship sedan, the Avalon competes with the Ford Taurus, Dodge Charger, Chevrolet Impala, and increasingly with large luxury sedans like the Lexus GS, Audi A6, Mercedes E-Class, and Volvo S80 among families interested in safety, style, and comfort. The latest editions of the Avalon come with a range of safety features, including electronic stability control, side curtain and torso airbags beside all four doors, excellent safety scores, and even electronic braking to aid in front crash prevention. As a result, while it’s traditionally been considered a sedan for the silver-haired crowd, it’s no surprise that younger, wealthier, and luxury-minded parents are looking at the Avalon as a safe and stylish choice for family transportation.
I rented a few Avalons this weekend and spent the day in my garage trying out several of my most trusted car seats to see how well the Avalon does in 3 across car seat juggling. In short, the current Avalon behaves much more like a mid-sized sedan (think Honda Accord, Ford Fusion, or of course, Toyota Camry) than a full-sized, large one when it comes to puzzling car seats. This didn’t use to be the case, and the truth is that the older Avalon actually did better fitting car seats than the current one. Before we go into what did and didn’t work, however, it’s worth looking over some best practice guidelines for car seat use.
First of all, I suggest keeping your youngest travelers, such as infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children in rear-facing infant or convertible car seats for as long as you can (ideally until 4!). Once you turn them forward-facing, you can keep them in harnessed convertible or combination seats through the early elementary years, or as long as you can (ideally until 8!). Once they outgrow their harnessed seats, I suggest keeping them in high-back boosters until they’re physically and psychologically ready to use adult seat belt systems (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep our kids restrained in the safest car seat orientations and safest types of seats for as long as we can, as this dramatically increases their odds of surviving collisions.
Keeping these ideas in mind, I set to work to find which infant, convertible, combination, and booster seats would work best in 3 across combinations in the Toyota Avalon. I found several good options and a few great ones. If you find the list helpful when shopping for car seats, you can shop through my Amazon link below. I’ll add more seats as I test them over time.
You can access the complete 3 across guide for every vehicle here and the complete list of recommended seats here. The Canadian car seat guide is here. 3 across car seat images are courtesy of Wikipedia.
2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 Toyota Avalon
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Graco Contender (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Clek Fllo, Graco Head Wise 70, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Graco Head Wise 70, Graco Head Wise 70.
Clek Fllo, Graco Size4Me 65, Diono Radian / RXT.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Foonf, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Tips and Tricks:
The current generation of the Toyota Avalon is 195 inches long and 72 inches wide, which is comparable to most other mid-sized sedans in side-to-side width and slightly longer than the average mid-sized sedan. However, it’s several inches shorter and narrower than the average large sedan. It’s actually both shorter and narrower than the previous generation Avalon by 2 inches in length and 1 inch in width.
As a result, you can expect to fit about the same seats in an Avalon as you’d fit in a comparable mid-sized sedan, but when it comes to front-to-back space or side-to-side space, it’s going to feel cramped compared to a car like a Taurus, Impala, or Charger for car seat installations. You’ll definitely want to use seat belt installations for all three seats to make the most of the space you have.
2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 2010, 2011, 2012 Toyota Avalon
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Graco Contender (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Clek Fllo, Graco Head Wise 70, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Graco Head Wise 70, Graco Head Wise 70.
Clek Fllo, Graco Size4Me 65, Diono Radian / RXT.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Foonf, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Tips and Tricks:
The prior generation of the Toyota Avalon is 197 inches long and 73 inches wide, which actually makes it a more car-seat friendly Avalon than the current generation due to its being both longer and wider. Seat belt installations will still make the process easier, but this is one case where, seat-wise, at least, older is better.
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 Toyota Avalon
Guaranteed 3 across installations:
Clek Fllo (x3).
Graco Contender (x3).
Clek Foonf (x3).
Graco Size4Me 65 (x3).
Clek Fllo, Graco Head Wise 70, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Diono Radian / RXT, Diono Radian / RXT.
Clek Fllo, Graco Head Wise 70, Graco Head Wise 70.
Clek Fllo, Graco Size4Me 65, Diono Radian / RXT.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Foonf, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Chicco KeyFit 30, Clek Fllo, Chicco KeyFit 30.
Combi Coccoro (x3).
Tips and Tricks:
The 2000-2004 generation of the Toyota Avalon is 192 inches long and 72 inches wide, which is about typical for mid-sized cars today. In fact, it was classified by the IIHS as a mid-sized car in this generation. You’ll be able to fit a wide range of seats with it if you take your time. Keep in mind that the 2000 model year does not come with LATCH lower anchors, so you’ll have no choice but to use seat belts there. For the other years where it’s an option, I’d still go with the seat belts for more room.
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If you find the information on car safety, recommended car seats, and car seat reviews on this car seat blog helpful, you can shop through this Amazon link for any purchases, car seat-related or not. Canadians can shop through this link for Canadian purchases.