Where on my vehicle are the Lower Anchor LATCH components?

Reading your vehicle's instruction manual will tell you IF you have the lower anchors AND where to find the lower anchors. DO NOT ASSUME that you have found the lower anchors without reading the manual. We have seen many parents find flimsy pieces of metal (as thick as coat hanger wire) in the seat crack and incorrectly believe these were the lower anchors. Some parents have even secured their child safety seat to these pieces of metal, a mistake which would have very serious consequences in a crash.

Vehicles model year 2003 and newer are required to have lower anchors in at least two rear seating positions. While the vehicle manufacturers are allowed to put lower anchors in more than two rear-seating positions, most have not done so. In the back seat of most vehicles, the two side seats have lower anchors but the center does NOT have lower anchors. If the vehicle has no back seat or if the back seat is too small to safely fit a child safety seat (for example in pickup trucks or convertibles) AND the vehicle has an airbag on/off switch as ORIGINAL equipment, then one of the front seats must have lower anchors.

Looking at the back seat, you usually cannot see the lower anchors. They are usually hidden from view and are inside the vehicle seat crack, also called the seat bight. This is the part where the cushion for your back meets the cushion for your bottom. Some lower anchors are on the vehicle seat back, an inch or two above the bight, or on the seat bottom, and inch or two in front of the bight. Most vehicle seats mark the location of the lower anchors using a small plastic button. Some buttons have a small image of a child safety seat on them--shown in the image on the right-- while others do not. Other vehicles use a small fabric tag on the seat just above the lower anchor that say "LATCH" or "ISOFIX." In some vehicles, you may need to lift up a fabric flap to access the lower anchors--this is common in Toyota and Lexus vehicles.) In others you must swing the lower anchors out (common in Mercedes) while in others you must remove a small piece of removable vehicle cushion or a small plastic cover.

Please note that where there is a designated LATCH position, the two lower anchors that make up a pair are spaced 11 inches (280 mm) apart from each other.