Evenflo Chase vs Generations/Bolero

[tjham]

How much is the Evenflo Chase Booster Combo different/alike the Evenflo Generations/Bolero?

I have a Chase now (harnessed) and like it pretty well except for the front adjuster and really, it's not so bad.

My granddaughter is 4 1/2, 33 lbs. 39 inches but with long legs. She is still under the second from the top slot in the Chase! So it should still fit her for a long time. But I may need to get her another one for another car.

This is what I know so far:

The Chase highest slot is 16.8 and the Bolero's is 16.5.

The Chase has the weird front adjuster. I think the Gen/Bolero has a normal front adjuster.

Both Bolero and Gen. cost alot more than the Chase.

Gen. reclines. Bolero and Chase do not.

Chase weighes 9 lbs.
Gen. weighes 13 lbs.

Question:

How they each as boosters?

[Joni]

As a booster, the Generation/Bolero is a better choice. That being said, my mom has a Chase that she can use for my dd (3.5 Y.O. 42", 31 lbs) as a booster and for my 1 Y.O. niece as a harnessed seat. She has had not troubles using the seat as a booster and finds it easy to buckle and it keeps the seatbelt positioned well on my dd.
I guess it would depend on how much you wanted to spend because the Chase is much cheaper and if the vehicle has a reasonable recline in the seat, you don't need a recline bar.
Joni CPST

[tjham]

Do you mean you can recline the seat just a little when you install? That would be great! My granddaughter just fell asleep in the Chase today and her head really slumped. I have an Expedition and her seat is in the center middle position with Latch. If I can recline the vehicle seat a bit, she would be much more comfortable.

[Joolsplus2]

The Generations and Bolero (which should be about $60 at Walmart when in stock, but lacks the recline foot the Gens. has), have dialing harness adjusters on the front side of the seat...you dial them to tighten up the harness at the lapbelts...weird, but cool. They have open belt guides and might work better as boosters (I couldn't stand the Chase as a booster on my kids, personally..I think it really depends on the shape of the the seatbelts you have to work with...).
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[tjham]

I finally looked at a Generations at TRU. I was surprised that the recline bar only makes about a one inch difference! That hardly seems worth the trouble. The harness slots seem about the same on both. My granddaughter is long on legs so she won't need the booster for awhile. Maybe I'll wait to see what the new FP convertibles are like!

[tjham]

>Do you mean you can recline the vehicle seat just a little when you
>install the car seat? That would be great! My granddaughter just fell
>asleep in the Chase today and her head really slumped. I have
>an Expedition and her seat is in the center middle position
>with Latch. If I can recline the vehicle seat a bit, she would
>be much more comfortable.

I just tried this. It works in the outboard position but not in the center. The center is bolt upright (will not recline even a little) with a fixed headrest so that is why the car seat is so upright. But I feel the center is safer so I'm unsure about how I will leave it.

[tjham]

I finally found a Bolero at Walmart but it was $89.98! I might still have bought it but they only had one in a box and the box was totally crushed! I can't imagine how it got in such bad shape. I would rather wait for another one not so abused!

Another question: If it's OK to use a noodle to recline a RF seat, is it OK to use one to help a FF recline a little? For example, to put one behind the bottom of the Chase between the vehicle seat and the car seat.

[Joolsplus2]

Amazing they allow boxes to get so utterly crushed.. :P

Nope, absolutely nothing can be used under an FF seat that hasn't been tested/sold with the seat. If you stick a noodle under there, there's the possibility of much greater compression during a crash and the head could move much further forward than it would without something there, basically.
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[tjham]

Another question about the Gen/Bolero. How does the front adjuster work? I tried one in the store (from the front as it was on a shelf) and I felt like I had to use both hands to loosen and tighten. But how could you do that in a car? Is it easier when it is installed because it doesn't move around? Does it work one handed?

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, it *should* work handed...it's just a very stiff knob...so to speak... and loosening it is weird, there's a tab on the inside of the knob you press down, while you pull up on the lapstraps to loosen, sometimes it's really sticky in the store...it took me a half dozen tries to figure THAT out :/.
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 2 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[tjham]

>As a booster, the Generation/Bolero is a better choice. That
>being said, my mom has a Chase that she can use for my dd (3.5
>Y.O. 42", 31 lbs) as a booster and for my 1 Y.O. niece as a
>harnessed seat. She has had not troubles using the seat as a
>booster and finds it easy to buckle and it keeps the seatbelt
>positioned well on my dd.
>I guess it would depend on how much you wanted to spend
>because the Chase is much cheaper and if the vehicle has a
>reasonable recline in the seat, you don't need a recline bar.
>Joni CPST

How does she use it both ways?

[Kat_Mom2D_J_andRuthie]

I think the issue with the harness adjusters on the generations/bolero are when it's secured in the seat... because of how low they are. I can do it one handed in the house with a child in it, but not in the car... in the car, I often have to push on both of them and then hold one down while I pull on the harnesses.

I only paid 62.00 for this seat and it'll let Jeffrey keep his (formerly RUthie's) Marathon until he outgrows it, so it's not a big deal to me... especially because it can be used as a booster in dh's car once Ruthie is 40lbs (buick's seats slant so much that I'm not worried about not having deep sidewings)

However, I wish they would raise the knobs, because it would definitely help adjusting the harnesses, especially for those who don't have a lot of hand strength

Kat

[tjham]

Well, I just went to TRU to look at this again (Generations) and the one on display was totally messed up! The lever to loosen the harness didn't work and the knob to tighten was over tightened, I guess. The straps were pulled tight and I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to loosen them. The booklet was there so I looked for a troubleshooting page and there was none. *sigh* I looked around for help but couldn't find anyone and they probably would have been clueless anyway.

BTW, I also looked for the Apex bacause I keep hearing it is at TRU, but it's not at this TRU!