Marathon vs Wizard??

[cobaby]

Am trying to decide between the Britax Marathon and Wizard and am having a tough time. Marathon is appealing because of lower price and more fabric options, but my child's safety is my primary concern. A few questions:
1. Is the Wizard worth the extra cost?
2. What do you get for the extra money?
3. Any possible manufacturing "bug" concerns that this is a new product? Read here that early Marathons had strap threading problems and don't want to be a guinea pig as production comes up to snuff.
4. Is Marathon going to be discontinued and replaced by Wizard?
5. Any idea if/when Britax will offer more fabric choices for Wizard?

Thanks in advance for help!!

[4justice]

You are having the same debate I am.lol. Maybe I can help as I have done a little research too.
1. Well I guess for some different features it might be worth your money. I mean depending where you get it the price difference isn't that huge- like $30 or $40, if your gonna spend it anyway, for some people it might be worth it. For some who are breaking their bank anyway, the difference is huge.
2. I am sure others can add to this. Britax says, for one difference aside from the obvious 'side impact' protection, "knobs on the sides allow instant, easy adjustment of the harness height to perfectly match your childs shoulders." For kids with the bulky winter coats, this is an added ++. I live in Hawaii, so that feature is just pretty cool.
3.There will always be new bug concerns. I didn't realzie all the drama around the Marathon until recently. I am waiting for some more good reviews by owners and cps techs for the Wizard.
4.Don't think so. but could be wrong. I thought the MA was the 'big-brother' to the RA, and the Wizard to the Advantage. I could totally be off on this one. But I highly doubt any replacments will happen.
5.Check out www.britaxusa.com/documents/spec_sheet_fabrics-model.pdf for soon to be fabric choices, can't help with the when though, sorry.

Also, Monika at parentsplace.com helped out a few of us with some stats. http://messageboards.ivillage.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=iv-ppcarseats&msg=43811.1&ctx=1024

HTH
I am looking forward to more reponses to help me out too. I think I am leaning toward the Wizard or the Husky.

Malu

[twouglyducks]

For kids with the bulky winter coats

Just a note, kids shouldn't be wearing anything bulky when in carseat. It can compress in an accident leaving excess slack in the harness and increases the child's risk of ejection.

Good luck choosing seats. If I had the money anyway, I would go with the Wizard, obviously. But the Marathon is loved by many and a very safe and easy to use seat, so I don't think you can really go wrong buying one.