4Runners's and Britax Marathon?

[Steph77osu]

ANyone have any issues re: this..i'm afraid to buy one and it not fit my car.

also, is it still best???

[pritchettzoo]

I have a 2003 4Runner and the Marathon fits in ours. We had it rear-facing in the center until last weekend, tethered with the driver's seat. Forward facing there is a tether attachment ring in the back cargo area. There is room for an adult on each side--granted, not TONS of room, but my substantial butt fits! ;)

I think Britax are the best, but as far as the Marathon v. the Wizard v. the Roundabout... I was going nuts researching all of them and decided on the Marathon because it would fit longer and I found a great deal on it.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and a BOY! (coming July '05)

[Steph77osu]

Thanks for the quick response..I too have been looking all over trying to figure out which one to get and fell in love with the marathon one with ashley print :) i'm terrible.

my next question is this..my mother watches my daughter at work m-w and now with the infant carrier I take it out and leave it with them during the day and put it back in when I pick up..will that be difficult with a convertible seat such as the marathon???

I have a 2002 4runner.so i don't have the latch system..so little different install..but just didn't know how it installed compared to the infant seats..obviously extremely different.

[Joolsplus2]

You won't want to be taking the Marathon out every day, so you'll need to get a second seat for Grandma. I mean, it's not hard to do once you've had some practice, but truly, it's something you'd rather only have to do maybe once a week, max. A good second seat for grandma would be one that installs well in her car, and can be used relatively simply, like another Marathon, a Roundabout, or a Cosco Touriva/Scenera (at walmart, they have either one or the other for about $50, or the Regal Ride at Target...they are SUPER basic seats, but easy to use and install properly for most folks). Check out other posts on "second seat?" Or "seat for travel?" for pros and cons and recommendations.

:)

Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[pritchettzoo]

You definitely don't want to install and uninstall a convertible seat every day. I also wouldn't want to depend on someone else (even your mom) to install it in her car correctly and tightly enough. You have to kneel in the seat to pull the belts tightly enough... It's a good 10 minutes to get everything down, and that's if you know what you're doing. (DH reinstalled our seat this weekend in the wrong place so he had to redo it--first time took 15+ minutes with reading the booklet, etc. Second time was about 10.)

I would purchase another seat and have it installed (and then checked out by a CPS tech) in your mom's car. There are less expensive seats that are still really good if price would be a concern in buying two. You could do a search in here for lots of recommendations.

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and a BOY! (coming July '05)

[golfgirl12_27]

I have one as well and the MA actually takes up less room than the Snugride. We are able to put the passenger seat all the way back now and allow for a little more leg room in the front seat. It does take up a tiny little bit more room sideways though, but not much at all. It's really easy to install using LATCH and tether.

BTW- the 4Runner is the BEST! I would drive it forever!

HTH,
Suz
dd- Sophia 01.12.05

[jordansmommyin stlouis]

I was hoping if you could tell me if your owner's manual for your toyota specifically says that you can use latch in the center rear position. I have a Lexus GX470, which I believe is similar to 4-runner (or maybe it is more similar to the Sequoia?). They are made by the same manufacturer, so I am assuming that the latch would be the same for both vehicles. While my owners manual does not say to not use latch in the center position, the picture they have illustrates latch being used in the outboard positions. However, the outboard position behind drivers seat is offset, so that the seat would be part in left seat and part in center seat. This will interfere with driver's seat going back, so I have it installed in the center position. My snugride was installed by a local CPS and she put it in the center position, but she did not reference my car's owners manual. When I took our BV on Monday to get installed by another CPS, she initally said it would not be allowed in center, but then installed in center anyway. It seems to fit well in center.
I called LEXUS and, unfortunately, they were of little help.

Any responses to this LONG, RAMBLING msg would be much appreciated. I am very concerned about my son's safety.

I tried to attach scanned picture of owner's manual but do not yet know how to add attachments to this forum.

TIA
michelle


***Editted to say "sorry" for posting same topic in two different threads. I ended up finding older thread that was more applicable than this thread; so, please disregard.