The Nissan Armada is the largest SUV Nissan makes, which makes sense since until 2016, it shared a platform with the Nissan Titan, which is the largest pickup by the Japanese automaker. Built for the US market in Nissan’s Canton, Mississippi factory factory (and now built in Yukuhashi, Japan), it competes with other mega-SUVs locally like the Chevrolet Tahoe, Dodge Durango, GMC Yukon, Toyota Sequoia, Buick Enclave, Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, and Ford Expedition, as well as with some extra-large variants like the Chevy Suburban. However, being a Nissan, it’ll last longer than most of them. It’s also one of the safest vehicles you can buy as judged by IIHS driver death rates, and was one of the few vehicles to make the “zero” driver death list (in its 4WD configuration) for ’05-’08 model year vehicles. Its upscale equivalent is the QX80 (formerly QX56).

As a result, it’s no surprise that the Armada is a popular vehicle among families interested in safety, utility, and reliability. It seats 7-8 passengers, depending on which trim specifications you’ve purchased, and is one of the hardiest vehicles on the road. However, I wanted to figure out just how well it did when it came to fitting car seats across the 2nd and 3rd rows.

Before going into which seats worked (a lot of them) and which ones didn’t (very few), let’s take a quick look at which kinds of seats you’ll want to use with your children, when you’ll want to use them, how you’ll want to face them, and why.

For me, the most basic and essential part of car seat safety involves 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!), then keeping them harnessed in forward-facing seats for several years more (ideally until 6, 7, or 8!), 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 Nissan Armada 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.

2016+ Nissan Armada (Y62)

The second generation Armada is longer than the first at just under 209 inches. Its width also swells slightly to just under 80 inches. As with the first generation, the world is your oyster when it comes to car seat compatibility, if not in fuel economy or city parking feasibility.

As a result, you’re once again going to be able to fit pretty much anything you want inside it in the 2nd row (as long as you don’t want captain’s chairs again). Similarly, you’re going to be able to fit a great many seats in the 3rd row as long as you’re willing to use seat belts in both rows as needed. To be honest, you’ll probably be able to get away with using LATCH on multiple seats, but do keep in mind that some seats will be wide enough to make using seat belts the better option.

As with the first generation, the generous amount of room between the 1st and 2nd row also means you shouldn’t struggle with front-to-back room, although you’ll struggle more with the installation of rear-facing seats if you try to use them in the 3rd row. Forward-facing seats won’t be an issue in any of the rows, although you will have to deal with a limited number of tethers available in the Sequoia overall. Remember that you always want to tether forward-facing seats to limit head excursion.

The first generation Armada comes in two lengths: just under 207 inches long (between 2003 and 2007)and just  under 208 inches long from 2007 onward. Its width expanded from just under 79 inches before 2007 to just over 79 inches after 2007. In other words, you’re dealing with a huge SUV, which is a good thing when it comes to car seat compatibility.

As a result, you’re going to be able to fit pretty much anything you want inside it in the 2nd row (presuming you didn’t opt for 2nd row captain chairs in the Platinum level instead of the standard bench seat). Similarly, you’re going to be able to fit a great many seats in the 3rd row as long as you’re willing to use seat belts in both rows as needed. To be honest, you’ll probably be able to get away with using LATCH on multiple seats, but do keep in mind that some seats will be wide enough to make using seat belts the better option.

The generous amount of room between the 1st and 2nd row also means you shouldn’t struggle with front-to-back room, although you’ll struggle more with the installation of rear-facing seats if you try to use them in the 3rd row. Forward-facing seats won’t be an issue in any of the rows, although you will have to deal with a limited number of tethers available in the Sequoia overall. Remember that you always want to tether forward-facing seats to limit head excursion.

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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.