Seven Seats, No Child Seat: 14 Family SUVs With No Third-Row Tethers

The Toyota Prado is one of Australia’s best-selling family SUVs. Raise its optional third row, try to fit a toddler’s seat, and ANCAP says you shouldn’t: there’s no top tether back there. The Prado isn’t alone. Thirteen other current seven-seaters share the same gap.

Which Seven-Seaters Have No Third-Row Tethers?

The Toyota Prado, LandCruiser 300 and Kluger, Mitsubishi Outlander, Nissan X-Trail, Isuzu MU-X, Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max, Skoda Kodiaq, Volkswagen Tayron, GWM Tank 500, Peugeot 5008, Land Rover Defender 110, Discovery Sport and Denza B8. ANCAP’s note is the same each time: third-row child restraints are not recommended.

These aren’t fringe cars. Australians bought 26,106 Prados, 22,459 Outlanders, 15,458 MU-Xs and 12,290 LandCruiser wagons in 2025, according to Chasing Cars’ full-year sales tally. Those totals include five-seat versions, but every seven-seat example shares the same blank third row.

What Does ANCAP Actually Say?

ANCAP’s reports leave little room for doubt. In the Prado’s technical report, it says “top tethers are not available in the optional third row”. On the GWM Tank 500 and Defender 110, it goes further, calling each “not suitable for transporting young children” in that row.

It isn’t a breach of the rules. ADR 34, the national standard for child-restraint anchorages, requires them in the second row of a passenger car, not the third. Carmakers fitting tether-free third rows are fully compliant. They’re just selling seats a young child can’t properly use.

Can a Child Sit in the Third Row Without a Tether?

Not in a capsule or child seat. Victoria’s Department of Transport and Planning says rear and forward-facing child restraints “MUST” be held by the seatbelt or ISOFIX and the top tether. Boosters differ: some use a lap-sash belt alone, but if yours has a tether, it must be used.

The road rules set the age bands. Under fours can’t ride in the front row of a car with two or more rows. Children aged four to under seven can ride up front only if every rear seat is already taken by other children under seven.

Which Seven-Seaters Do Have Third-Row Tethers?

Seven models put a tether behind every third-row seat: the Kia Sorento, Ford Everest, Hyundai Santa Fe, Hyundai Ioniq 9, Kia EV9, Mazda CX-80 and the six-seat Tesla Model Y L. The Kia Carnival and new Hyundai Palisade cover both outboard third-row seats, but not the centre one.

The fine print still matters. ANCAP couldn’t safely fit convertible seats using the Santa Fe’s third-row ISOFIX, and the CX-80 has tethers but no ISOFIX in row three. The Nissan Pathfinder, LDV MIFA, MIFA 9 and BYD M9 anchor only the left-hand third-row seat.

Two of these ratings are on borrowed time. The Kia Sorento’s 2020 rating and the Defender 110’s both expire in December 2026, as we explain in its look at expiring ANCAP ratings. The BYD Sealion 8 and Chery Tiggo 9 seven-seaters have no ANCAP rating at all.

How to Check Before You Buy

Open the boot, raise the third row and look for the tether anchor points, usually on the seat back, floor or roof behind each seat. Then find the car’s ANCAP technical report and read the child-occupant section. It lists every ISOFIX point and tether, seat by seat.

Take your own child seats to the test drive. A tether point doesn’t guarantee your seat fits, and ANCAP’s reports regularly note capsules that couldn’t be installed in particular seats. Our best family car guide ranks the seven-seaters that genuinely work for kids.

A seven-seat badge tells you how many seatbelts are in the car. It says nothing about where your youngest can actually ride. Count the tethers first, then count the seats.