2022 Toyota Highlander

The 3rd row seat belt buckle is imbedded too deep in the seat. This makes it very difficult for a child to buckle themselves and in several attempts the parent or another adult was required to insert the seat belt into the locking device. What is more concerning is the difficulty a child has when trying to release the seat belt. While this may be an annoyance that requires adult intervention it is of particular concern when a child, in an emergency is required to release the seat belt.

The 2022 Toyota Hybrid Highlander is advertised as a family vehicle that safely fits 7 passengers with the captain chairs. We purchased a brand new 2022 Toyota Highlander Hybrid for our family of 5. However, you cannot safely install a booster car seat in the third row as advertised in any position. In every position of the third row the booster car seat covers the buckle not allowing you to secure the seat belt/booster seat. The car manual show on page 58-59 to install the booster seat on the passenger side of the third row but there is not enough space. The second picture shows a car seat in the middle using an anchor bracket that does not work for a booster seat and thus would also obsure other seat buckles thus not allowing the two other seats to be used. The seatbelts are deep in the seat and cannot be brought up to be safely buckled. Now 2 of the 3 seatbelts in the back stopped working. I’ve been upset about not being able to properly use the seatbelts since I purchased the vehicle. I had to buy a device you put around the buckle in order to lift it a little so that my children can buckle their seatbelts. This is a huge safety concern. The third row seat is useless.

The Toyota highlander was advertised as a family vehicle that safely fits 7 passengers with the captain chairs. We purchased a brand new 2022 Toyota Highlander for our family of 5. However, you cannot safely install a booster car seat in the third flow as advertised in ANY position. In every position of the third row the booster car seat covers the buckle not allowing you to secure the seat belt/booster seat. The car manual show on page 58-59 to install the booster seat on the passenger side of the third row but there is not enough space. The second picture shows a car seat in the middle using an anchor bracket that does not work for a booster seat and thus would also obsure other seat buckles thus not allowing the two other seats to be used. Toyota told us to bring the vehicle to a fire station to have the car seats installed. The fire station told us to contact to 1-866-SEAT-CHECK or www.seatcheck.org to schedule an inspection and when we called them they said they do not inspect Toyota vehicles. The dealership also suggested to us to purchase a seat belt extender. The manual also states on page 59 not to use a seat belt extender as this could cause serious injury or death. The third row does not have latches and only offers an achor in the middle seat of the back row not suitable for a booster car seat. I do not want any other family to go through what we have experienced and this is a matter of child safety.