which car seat for my BIG boy?

[1mom2dylan]

I am currently using the First Years True Fit seat for my son but he barely fits in it any more. I am barely able to buckle the straps any more. He just turned 3 years old and he is 42 inches tall and 55lbs. I know The specs say that is goes up to 65 lbs. but this seat will not work for us any longer. I must say that I have enjoyed how easy it is to adjust the straps and the ease of install, I wish I could use it longer, but I cant.
What seat would you recommend I switch him to? I was thinking maybe the Britax Frontier 85. Would this be my best choice or are there better (less expensive) options for a large kid. I prefer to keep him harnessed for a while longer. My car is a Mazda 5.

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, that seat has a huge shell, but a pretty small harness area, so to speak. Especially for such a big guy . The Frontier has three crotch settings, the farthest out is really far out, and the harness has very long straps, it's probably the best choice. I'd look for a sale, that takes the sting out of the price (msrp is 299, but often you can find them for closer to 200)...not to mention it makes a really nice wide/tall booster for years to come, so you'll get a lot of use out of it (kids should be boostered till at least four foot 9 but closer to 5 feet in some cars, and it fits most kids till that size comfortably)

[legaleagle]

Also, the frontier fits in the mazda5 like it was made for it! I can get it rock solid long belt path installed in under 5 minutes, both 2nd and 3rd rows.

[1mom2dylan]

Thanks for the very helpful replies, I will be keeping an eye out for a good deal on the Frontier 85 ( I will need two of them).

I also need help choosing a seat for the inlaws cars ( I will need 2 more). These need to also fit my large boy comfortably and be easy to install/uninstall quickly. These seats will not be used very often but of course I want him to always be in a good safe seat. Since I will be needing to buy four seats total, the two for the inlaws car needs to be much less expensive than the Frontier 85.

[Joolsplus2]

Might try the Evenflo Secure Kid, it has a fairly deep seating area and will become a booster later (it has a 65 pound harness limit, I was going to recommend the Maestro, but it's only 50lbs. Hopefully you can score a bargain on the SK since it's MSRP is almost 150, Maestro is only 79, which is why I thought of it first)

[1mom2dylan]

My TrueFit also says that it goes up to 65lbs. Do you know if the harness straps on the secure kid are longer?