The Volkswagen Tiguan is an oddly-named yet dearly loved compact crossover, or small SUV, sold in the United States. It competes with a glut of vehicles in the compact SUV market, including the Chevy Trax / Buick Encore, Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Nissan Rogue, Mazda CX-5, Subaru Forester, Ford Escape, Jeep Compass, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tucson, and Jeep Patriot. Being a small VW, it shares a platform with the Golf, Jetta, Passat, and Audi Q3.

In other words, The Tiguan’s got company among families interested in fuel-friendly and safe transportation. As a result, I took it upon myself to figure out just how friendly and safe of an SUV it was when it came to fitting 3 car seats across the back row. Sure, it has good crash scores (except for the small overlap frontal test result, which is marginal as of 2016), ESC, side airbags, and all of the other basic safety elements we’ve come to expect from a vehicle made in the 21st century, but the car seat question’s one you just can’t take for granted.

Before we dive into which seats did and didn’t work in the Tiguan, though, why not join me for a quick read of what’s important to do and when (and why!) when it comes to car seat ages and stages.

For me, car seat safety starts with rear-facing. It’s the safest position we know of, and the longer our kids rear-face, the safer they’ll be, regardless of what kind of vehicle they travel in. I recommend keeping children in rear-facing infant or convertible seats as long as possible (ideally until 4 or later!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until at least 5!), and then only switching them out of booster seats when they pass the 5 step test (which typically happens between 10 and 12). The goal is to keep kids in the safest kinds of seats for as long as possible to increase their odds of surviving serious car crashes.

With that all in mind, I got to work with my seats to create what I believe to be the most detailed 3 across guide for the Volkswagen Tiguan on the Internet. 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 taken by yours truly or are courtesy of Wikipedia.

2018 Volkswagen Tiguan

Guaranteed 3 across installations:

Clek Fllo (x3).

Clek Foonf (x3).

Peg Perego Viaggio Flex 120 (x3).

Maxi-Cosi RodiFix (x3).

Clek Oobr (x3).

Diono Radian RXT (x3).

Diono Radian R120 (x3).

Diono Radian R100 (x3).

Chicco KeyFit 30 (x3).

The second generation Tiguan is significantly larger than the initial generation and has been split into short- and long-wheelbase versions. The LWB variation is the only version available in North America. It comes in four trim levels: S, SE, SEL, and SEL Premium, and all FWD versions have a standard 3rd row, which is optional in AWD trims. The LWB Tiguan is 185.5 inches long and 72.4 inches wide. The additional length makes front-to-back space much more amenable to car seat installation in the 2nd row, but it’s still too short for anything rear-facing in the 3rd row; you’ll want to stick to booster seats and forward-facing seats. The width  is slightly easier than that in the 1st gen Tiguan, but you’ll still want to stick with narrow seats and seat belts over LATCH to optimize available space.

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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.