What DON'T you like about Evenflo Triumph?

[Uno-Mom]

Strange question here but I want to give an expectant friend good carseat advice ...

We have 2 Triumphs (Advance, I think) and are fully happy with them. We found it to be a GREAT fit for our newborn (no baby bucket for us). The strap-tightening knob system is super convenient once you get used to it. It was mid-priced. All adjustments happen from the front.

Anyway ... it's working great for us and for the friend who recommended it to us originally.

I know some parents don't care for this seat. I told my friend that, but I'm wondering what are the drawbacks to this seat?

[Eliz_n_Abi_s_Mommy_Karen]

I don't have one, but I can point out one big difference is the strap-tightening knob -- my girls like to strap themselves in and tighten their own harnesses, and they wouldn't be able to do that if they had a seat with a knob on the side.

For some families it would be a plus, since I know some kids will loosen their harness when the parents aren't watching and the car is moving, but it wasn't an issue in our family.

[o_mom]

The knobs are a love/hate thing with people. They also can damage the seats in some cars due to their location.

The biggest drawback, IMO, is that the harness cannot be replaces. If it gets puked on, etc. you can't take them out for cleaning or replacement (much harder to clean on the seat). Or, even if the chest clip breaks (has happened), you have to replace the entire seat. Since they only offer a 90 day warranty, you are at the mercy of the customer service reps if that happens.

I think it is a good value for the price, but those are the things that I mention to people when I suggest it so they can decide if they can live with them at that price.

[mrshalco]

I know my MIL bought one years ago for a seat in her car. We had to return it because when it was RF - you couldn't access the knob easily because of the leather seats of the car. The Police officer took his time to install it......went to show her how to adjust it.....couldn't and said "you need to return this and get a britax" :wink2:

[Joolsplus2]

I don't like that it can't be tethered rearfacing like the Britaxes or Radians (and doesn't have an anti-rebound bar like the True Fit Premier)...but that's because I rearface kids to the maximum RF limits, and I want my 2-4 year olds to have less rebound (potentially slamming backwards into the seatback or the door/window) when they get that big.
For most folks (who rearface to a year or 2, max), it's fine as long as they like the adjuster and don't mind that the straps and chest clip are non-replaceable.
Graco My Ride 65 is a comparable seat that has simpler construction and seems very popular and fits newborns well, if you wanted to offer them a different option, or Roundabout 55 (any of the new Britaxes fit newborns fine now).

[hellokitty]

We had the original triumph yrs ago and loved it, it fits newborns really well too. My sil however has the newer one and constantly bitches about how she hates it and how hard it is to tighten the strap. :shrug: I think that it just depends from person to person, there are always ppl unhappy with products, even when the majority of ppl like them.

[jjordan]

I think most of my dislikes with it have been mentioned... but here's my list
*the harness adjuster knobs
*the way the harness height adjusts (just doesn't seem sturdy enough to me!)
*the red tabs on the harness next to the shoulders
*the huge, round look of the seat
*no RF tether
*non-replaceable/removable harness

Now, I also think it's a good value for the money, and for people who don't share my pet peeves, it's a great choice. :)

[Tanya]

My mom had an Evenflo convertible in her car until it thankfully expired. I HATED it. Maybe it's just because I was used to my Britax Marathons. I hated the LATCH connectors and switched to a seatbelt install (which also seemed more annoying than my Britax seatbelt install). I could not stand that knob being pressed up tightly against the car's seat when RF and I hated the way the harness tightened. I was used to how it tightened on the Marathon and had a horrible time with the double strap feeding through and loosening/tightening from the waist instead of the shoulder, etc. It drove me crazy. My mom went to take my daughter in her car while I was taking a sewing class one time and she couldn't get the harness to adjust at all, so we ended up having to trade vehicles because I didn't have time to figure out what was wrong.

So, thank you Evenflo for giving me the 25% off coupon from the BRU trade-in, but I don't miss you and will never ever buy or allow my mom to buy another Evenflo seat again.

[AnnieW625]

We had an Evenflo Triumph 5 and we loved that seat. Never had any problems with it. Once I figured out the harness knob I was in love with it. The only downside was the fabric on our seat wasn't nearly as nice as the Britax. We never used the latch connectors on our seat so I can't comment. Ours doesn't have the red tabs on the harness (those started with the Advance which came out in late 2007) so I can't comment on that either. Right now I am not sure we'll buy another Evenflo seat because they seem like they are just getting wider.

[BabbyO]

We have 2 and have a love/hate relationship with them.

1. We got a great price on them...LOVE
2. The "wings" are nice for dosers but they also make the seat pretty wide...LOVE & HATE
3. The adjuster knobs....fine in my corolla, fine in the forester, but we could NOT install this seat RF in the sitters Caravan. With her bucket/captain chair type seat, you could not access the knob...HATE
4. On one of the seats one of the straps is prone to twisting when you pull the tab that goes into the latch at the crotch over. Not sure why, but I never had twisting problems like this with my SnugRide and the sitter says the Marathon doesn't twist at all.

Hope that helps.

[sarahbrown29]

This was the seat I originally purchased for DD1. I got an easy, supertight RF install on our Volvo V70 that we had at the time (not an easy thing to do I discovered) but couldn't access the adjuster knobs. So it went back and I got a RA instead.

[Uno-Mom]

Thanks, those are good insights.

I get that those knobs aren't for everybody & I hadn't even thought about the kid adjusting her own straps (we haven't gotten there yet...)

I also didn't know about the strap replacement thing.

Guess I'll invite her to practice on our seat a few times so she can judge for herself whether she likes they knob system.