True fit or Marathon?

[jenny]

Any opinions?

DD is 14 months. She was 24 pounds and 31.5 inches at her 1-year checkup. She's in a roundabout now and I am looking to upgrade soon.

We have a subaru outback wagon.

[o_mom]

Any opinions?

DD is 14 months. She was 24 pounds and 31.5 inches at her 1-year checkup. She's in a roundabout now and I am looking to upgrade soon.

We have a subaru outback wagon.

Has she outgrown the Roundabout by height (top of the head less than an inch from the top of the hard shell for rear-facing)?

Just trying to get an idea of how she fits it in so we can give you good advice. :)

[codex57]

Will a True Fit even fit in an Outback?

[jenny]

This was taken a few months ago in June or July.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28462220@N08/3912977370/

I see a deal for a Marathon for $180 and I want to know if I should get it. Or if a True fit is a better seat. I think long torsos and short legs run in my family.

But if the True Fit won't fit in an outback, then I guess Marathon it is.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I had a True Fit and wound up returning it. It wasn't a good fit in our car. We don't have LATCH so we have to use seatbelts and their path wasn't a good match for our car. I think some of the finishing details are much nicer on the Marathon- purely aesthetic.

Beth

[o_mom]

Wow! Long torso there.

Hard to say if the TrueFit would or wouldn't work - it has it's quirks. If you really like it you could try it out at BRU. $180 is a reasonable price on a Marathon. Not a 'once in a lifetime' deal, but if you like the cover and it is a recent date of manufacture I would probably go for it.

[lorinick]

I like the MA better and it does take up less room when rf. Also call BRU first, it is no longer being sold at my local BRU store's.

[MontrealMum]

We actually own both the MA and TrueFit, but the TrueFit is for the ILs car so I've never tried it in our Outback. I'd try it for you now, but if you knew my MIL you'd know that that'd be an enormous hassle. What I can say is that the MA is a bit of a tight fit. In fact, it's tighter than in my Corolla, due to the shape of the front seats, because in the Corolla the MA floats over the tops of the seats, but in the Outback it will wedge if they're too far back/the seat is too reclined. But it does fit. We were unable to get the front seats all the way back until we made the MA's recline more upright. I *think* the shell on the TrueFit is a bit more substantial, and might be wider, so you might have some troubles with it Rfing. But I am not sure of that, so I think your best bet would be to try it in your car at BRU. Sorry I can't be of more help :(

[codex57]

We actually own both the MA and TrueFit, but the TrueFit is for the ILs car so I've never tried it in our Outback. I'd try it for you now, but if you knew my MIL you'd know that that'd be an enormous hassle. What I can say is that the MA is a bit of a tight fit. In fact, it's tighter than in my Corolla, due to the shape of the front seats, because in the Corolla the MA floats over the tops of the seats, but in the Outback it will wedge if they're too far back/the seat is too reclined. But it does fit. We were unable to get the front seats all the way back until we made the MA's recline more upright. I *think* the shell on the TrueFit is a bit more substantial, and might be wider, so you might have some troubles with it Rfing. But I am not sure of that, so I think your best bet would be to try it in your car at BRU. Sorry I can't be of more help :(

That's why I'm wondering if it'll fit. I've seen the MA fit in an Outback. Quite a few pics floating out there. But it BARELY fits.

The True Fit shell is quite a bit taller. Millimeters count with the Outback, so my gut feeling is the TF wouldn't fit. I'd like confirmation from someone who tried, but if no one ever responds who knows for sure, I'd just get the MA cuz we know it fits.

[MontrealMum]

That's why I'm wondering if it'll fit. I've seen the MA fit in an Outback. Quite a few pics floating out there. But it BARELY fits.

The True Fit shell is quite a bit taller. Millimeters count with the Outback, so my gut feeling is the TF wouldn't fit. I'd like confirmation from someone who tried, but if no one ever responds who knows for sure, I'd just get the MA cuz we know it fits.

Well, I think you're installing 2 carseats RFing? We only have the one, and it's in the middle. But our big issue, compared to the other car, is that the Outback's front seats are fairly high and wide. So the MA does not easily float over/between like it does in the Corolla. It was quite a feat getting that thing installed so that it was touching, but not wedged. My gut is that you're right about the TF and that it won't fit.

All I can tell you is that it fits in the ILs Volvo, and they refuse to move it for any reason whatsoever :p I think a Radian might also fit RFing center of an Outback since it's shell is so narrow, but I've never tried.

[Piglet]

No comment on the Outback, but we have both an MA and TF. Hands-down the MA is the best seat we have ever owned (and I have had about 10-15 seats in the past 8+years). The TF is well loved too, but the MA is awesome! I would always opt for an MA if the price was within reach. As it were, we are in Canada and the MA cost nearly double what any other seat cost when we bought it. It was a huge stretch to get the MA, but Britax fixed a problem for me and sent me a brand new seat a few years back and I thankfully get an additional 2-3 more years out of my MA as a result!

[AnnieW625]

DD hated our Marathon for a good 14 mos. period (about 14 to 28 mos.). I think that might be a rarity or just the fact that she didn't want to be in her car seat, but still her dislike of the seat really rubbed off on me too. For about the same price you can get a Britax BLVD which has the extra SIP head wings, and a no rethread harness, and better gender neutral prints on sale at a number of online retailers (AlbeeBaby.com often has the best prices). We haven't tried the True Fit so I can't really comment. If you want to spend less than $200 you can also opt for the Britax Roundabout 50 or the Evenflo Triumph Advance (we had the prior Triumph 5 model and DD never once complained about being in it) might be good choices too.

Also I think that your daughter still has some time left in her Roundabout. DD was somewhere around 29" or 30" at her 1 year appt., so like 85 to 90% in height IIRC and she made it to almost 3+ (just hit higher than the highest slot by her shoulders a few weeks back at 39"!) in her Evenflo Triumph 5 (similar in size to the Roundabout) so unless her ears are within the shell, her shoulders are below the top harness spot, and the head is not more than 1" above the top of the shell of the seat you should be fine. Hopefully the car seat moderator JoolsPlus2 will check in on this post and give you some advice too; she posted a link to a photo of how to check if the seat was outgrown and I can't find it. Good luck!

[Joolsplus2]

She probably has a couple years left in the RA total, but she really wants to keep her kiddo RF, and she's only got a couple months more before it's too short :)

In my smallish Ford Escape, I can easily fit the MA RF, the True Fit without eating into our front leg room, and the Radian fits but if it's leaning between the front seats DH complains that it gets in the way of his arm for steering :/. A Subaru is a little tighter and the seats are a little more curvy, belts a little less easy to work with (in the center), but I would *think* either would work just fine.

[jenny]

thanks guys. so do you think that i can find a marathon cheaper for $180 in the next few months, with X-mas coming around and stuff?

Even though the real Britax sale isn't until the spring?

[Joolsplus2]

There's always a deal somewhere, I'm sure you can find one that cheap when you need it (the Albeebaby.com one is flowery, but pretty, and they are new stock...sometimes really cheap seats are pretty old, like 1-2 years, but albee labels their seats as that old when they sit around that long :))

[jenny]

Thanks everyone! I decided to just buy the Marathon at $179 from Albeebaby.com

[MontrealMum]

I know this is an older thread, but I thought I'd come back here to post since I now have an answer about the True Fit and an Outback. Yes, it does fit! We finally got the seat back from MIL because my DS is outgrowing his MA rfing, and we need to know what fits in the Subaru before we buy one. (It does fit in our Corolla) I didn't push her before since she's such a wreck with FIL in the hospital since July.

The front seats can't be all the way back in the Outback with a TF, but they are still at a comfortable distance for med-tallish people like me and DH. The seat must be installed in the more upright position, but I guess that's not an issue for a baby (who needs to be more reclined) because you'd just take that top piece off, as it's designed to do. It was quite cold today and we don't have a garage, so we didn't play with it as long as we ought to to get a rock solid install, and I can say right now - that's going to require a noddle or towel or something - it was fairly loose. But it can physically fit in an Outback.

We install in the middle w/belts as we only have the one child - so no attempt at LATCH. I have no idea whether the TF could be installed next to another seat, but I will say that it is wide, so if you have two seats to install they *might* need to both be outboard. Also, if you install the TF outboard, that seat is going to have to be pushed quite far forward.

HTH!

[joslin]

That is so weird, I have a '02 impreza wagon and I absolutely could not get the TF installed, my middle belt stalks are just too long and the buckle ends up in the belt path regardless of how many noodles I use.

Hmmm.