roundabout 50 vs first years true fit

[soontobe]

okay this one is for a friend:)
which one would you recomend and why if:

smallish car
tallish parents
biggish baby
smallish budget

thanks!

[AnnieW625]

What kind of car, and where do they plan on putting the car seat? We have an o1 Corolla and while the car is still smaller than the current Corollas (or Lexus IS 350)/Honda Civic sized cars we had a really hard time getting our Marathon rear facing and in the center of the Corolla. The RA 50 has the same shell as the Marathon. DH is 5'11 so for our car the Marathon would've had to have been in the passenger side rfing which still would've left me (5'6") with little legroom when the seat was fully reclined.

[soontobe]

i think they drive a toyota corrola from between 2005-2007.

would the true fit had fit better in your car? how is the instalation on it?

[o_mom]

As long as the baby is older (8-9 mos+ ) so that the carseat does not have to be completely reclined, I would say either. They will just have to try it out in their car and with their seats to see which fits better. The lower to the seat TrueFit may have a harder time fitting than the MA up on the base because of where it hits the front seat.

[tnrnchick74]

I have a 2005 Nissan Sentra - similar size as the Toyota.

I have both the TF and the RA50

The RA50 fits MUCH better in my car and DS likes it better because it sits higher and he can see out the window!

I like the LATCH install on the RA50 easier than the TF. The seatbelt install on the TF is nice with the lock offs

I also like the ease of removing the cover on the TF better than the RA50 but I like the material & pattern better on the rA50!

I love both seats!

[AnnieW625]

i think they drive a toyota corrola from between 2005-2007.

would the true fit had fit better in your car? how is the instalation on it?

I don't know because the True Fit wasn't around in 2006 when we bought DD's Evenflo seat for the Triumph 5 (now discontinued).

I know for sure that for smaller cars the regular Britax Roundabout or the Combi Cocorro might be the best best since they are almost the last of the decent 40"/40lb seats, which do tend to work best for rear facing in small cars with tall parents. Both seats rear face until at least 32lbs I think so if they want to rear face to the limits of the seat then should be able to get to at least 2/1/2 in the seat. We kept DD in the Triumph until she was 33lbs and 38" tall (we only rear faced till a year though) so we think that she got lots of use out of the seat (before moving her to a Britax Frontier; harnessed booster). I too think that they should try the seats out in person if at all possible.

eta: check out the Combi website for a video of the Cocorro because I think they installed in a 2003-2006 model Toyota Corolla so that might be a good reference for them.

[MontrealMum]

I have a Corolla, an MA, and a TrueFit :)

They are both nice seats, as Tnrnchick74 says. Because of the way the front seats and headrest are in the Corolla, and because of the structure of the two seat shells, the MA puzzles better between them than the TrueFit. This is not to say that the TrueFit won't fit, just that it might be harder to do. It's our emergency seat, so it's not a huge issue for us.

We have been able to install the MA RFing in the center with no trouble. Here is a picture showing how much room there still is with both front seats all the way back. It's hard to tell, but it does not actually touch the front seats, as it does in our Outback. The tether is not fastened in the picture because I unclipped it in order to move both seats all the way back to demonstrate.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25346979@N05/3707978708/

I would think either seat could work for your friend, as different years vary slightly between car models, but I might lean towards the RA50 based on my own experience.