Convertible Seat? - Britax, next best option?

[KenReeves]

Hi all

Our DS is 13 months old and ready to move out of his infant car seat. We are planning on buying the Britax Marathon for the car he spends the most time in. However, we would like to buy 2 additional convertible car seats for my car and his day care provider's car --- needless to say we don't want to spend $279 x 3 seats. Can anyone recommend a good Britax alternative that won't break the bank and isn't that far down from Britax quality?

Thanks much for your help!

[ElspethCordelia]

We love our Graco MyRide 65. I especially love that she can rearface to 40lbs.

[jjordan]

You can get a safe seat in pretty much any price range, although a $40 scenera won't be as user-friendly as a Britax. You can get Britax seats for far less than MSRP, by the way. How much are you looking to spend?

Also, Britax is revamping their convertibles, so if you can wait a bit, you may want to. Along with that, keep your eyes out for closeouts on the current seats if you're looking for a bargain.

[happymom]

I'm not sure about other seats, but check out Albeebaby for some better prices on Britax seats.

The Marathon in Moonstone is $189
http://www.albeebaby.com/britax-mara...moonstone.html

There are also a couple for $199.

Another option is to price match with diapers.com. The crestview Marathon is $209 on albeebaby and $235 on diapers.com. You can call diapers.com for a price match, plus get an additional 10% off if your a first time customer with diapers.com. That brings it down to $189. PlLus you can use ebates or fatwallet for cash back.

HTH!

[KenReeves]

Thank you. When we purchased our infant car seat, I found babycatalog.com to offer the best prices...

[vtbonita]

I don't think there's any one online retailer that always offers the best prices. All of my convertible seats have come from albeebaby.com thus far, but I'm likely going to get the next one from diapers.com because the price is better (plus price matching!). I've gotten excellent customer service at both albeebaby and diapers.com on prior purchases.

I have been really pleased with my Britax seats, and did not pay anywhere close to $280 for any of them. (I also have a Fisher-Price Safe Voyage Delux, which is practically a rebadged Britax Marathon, but, unfortunately, they stopped making them in 2006 or 2007. I got ours on clearance for $130.

The two big questions for me when picking a seat would be: (1) How often do you expect your son to be in the other vehicles? and (2) Will the seat be installed permanently or will it be removed/reinstalled frequently? For infrequent use and a permanent install, I'd be willing to deal with a less-user-friendly seat, but if he's going to be in and out a lot, I'd probably spend a little extra not to have to deal with the aggravation of install issues and twisty straps.

[AnnieW625]

Evenflo seats. We have the Evenflo Triumph 5 and love it. It's now the Triumph Advance. If you plan to use on using the seat with latch then I have heard that the TA Premier is the best one to get. The Evenflo Symphony has also gotten good reviews. My DD1 loved her Triumph seat way more than the Marathon. You can also look at the Britax Roundabout 50, it's a stripped down Marathon and it's almost $100 less.