Evenflo Triumph vs. Britax Wizard -- did I make the right choice?

[SylviaWig]

Ugh, this carseat business can be so confusing! Right now my son Gabriel who has just turned a year old but only weighs 19 lbs. and is 30.5 inches tall has effectively outgrown his Graco Snugride so we are now in the market to upgrade him to a convertible seat. His older sister Veronica who is almost 4 years old weighs 30 lbs., so what we had planned on doing was moving her to a bigger kid convertible seat since she would be outgrowing her seat anyway within another 10 lbs. and moving Gabriel to her Triumph. We tried out the Britax Marathon and the Safety 1st Apex at BRU, and decided we liked the Marathon for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the ease in installation and the great clips to secure the seat. Veronica sat in it and decided she liked the seat, too. So then I did some searching around and found a deal at an online outlet on a new 2005 Britax Wizard on clearance for $189.99, which I know is essentially the same seat as the Boulevard but with a more narrow EPS head restraint. I figured this was a better deal on a seat, so I bought this seat last night online and am now awaiting its arrival. But we also need to have two seats to use in my mother's car, and she drives a '95 Buick Skylark. She doesn't drive the kids around often in her car, so I couldn't justify buying an expensive car seat to use for her car. So we purchased a new Evenflo Triumph on Ebay in the color we liked for $115, thinking we could use this now for Gabriel in our van (btw we drive a 2004 Toyota Sienna) and move the old Triumph which is 2 1/2 years old to my mom's car which would be getting less use anyway. Then Veronica would use the new Wizard that's on its way. But now that I'm rethinking my decision, should I just have waited to see how the kids like the Wizard and then possibly get a new Wizard for Gabriel's use in our van, too? Since the Wizard's weight limit goes to 65 lbs., in the long run we would've saved money instead of eventually having to upgrade the new Triumph later when he gets to 40 lbs., right? Man, now I'm thinking as soon as we get the new Triumph delivered, maybe the best bet is to just sell it and bite the bullet and buy a new Wizard for my son as well for our van. What do you all think?

[Momof3Labs]

I personally wouldn't spend that much on another Wizard. When you get it, check the date of manufacture. Keep in mind that the seat expires 6 years after that date. You can get a new Marathon with a current date of manufacture for around $219 online - that's a much better deal when you look at use per year compared to the old Wizard.

[Joolsplus2]

Yeah, I'd return the Triumph and get a Marathon or Boulevard (Wizard is discontinued, www.britaxusa.com has specs on their new seats.

:)
Julie CPS Tech and mom to 3 in seats
http://www.cpsafety.com/articles/RFAlbum/SarahMA.aspx

[momtoB]

Also, make sure your DD#1's shoulders are still under the top harness slots.

Maybe you already know this, but car seats are outgrown fwd-facing by height when the tops of the shoulders go past the top harness slots or the tips of the ears are even with the top of the plastic shell.

They are outgrown by height rear-facing when there is an inch or less between the top of the head and the top of the shell.

hth.

[SylviaWig]

Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. I've decided not to keep the Wizard. It turns out the manufacture date was 13 months older than the date of the listing of this seat on the retailer's site. Not what I expected, so we returned it. I did end up getting a Britax Decathlon for my daughter to use in our van. Got it on Ebay for $250 shipped, so not a bad deal. Part of this was my desire to indulge her girlie side, so at her request we got her the flowery "Tiffany" cover.

I'd have to check, but I believe my daughter can still use her Triumph. She's a petite child for her age. She'll be 4 in April, but she's 32 lbs. and I don't believe her shoulders have gotten past the top harness slots yet so she may still be able to use her Triumph in my mom's car once in a while. And my son can definitely still use the Triumph. Fortunately we have inherited a gently used Triumph from my girlfriend, so we will be using that seat for my son in my mom's car, too. Now we still have to get a new seat for him in our van. I think we may end up with Fisher Price Safe Voyage convertible seat for him, which from what I understand is the same seat as the Marathon but "without all the bells and whistles." I'm not sure quite what that means, but maybe I'll call either Fisher Price or Britax later today and find out what the differences are between the FP seat and the Marathon. It's made by Britax but without the hefty price tag, so I think that's what will work best for us right now.

Thanks again, everyone, for all your great advice. ;o)

[kellyotn]

A few of the bells and whistles -

The FP doesn't have built in lockoffs. For RF, not a big loss as I'm not impressed with Britax's RF lockoffs. For FF, I LOVE their lockoffs and I would miss this. I install them frequently in non-latch cars and love the FF lockoffs.

You can't tether a FP seat when rear facing. Kind of a biggie for me, since I love that feature. Makes installing a breeze and does add a measure of security, in my mind.

The DX (make sure you're looking at the DX version, the non-DX is a smaller seat based on the Roundabout) only goes up to 55 lbs. This is not a biggie at all since most kids will outgrow the seat by height before 55 lbs anyways.

No super fun covers. ;) Ok, not a biggie.

The base is a bit different, but I don't think it installs any better or worse for it.