radian xtsl or marathon 70?

[salsah]

i need new seats for dd1 and dd2. dd1 is 5.5 yrs old and 40 lbs (not sure about her height, but she's average for age). dd2 is 3 yrs old, 35 lbs (not sure about her height either, but she is taller than average, a size 4 in height, so more like an average 4 yr old).
the seats will primarily be used in a '98 pontiac sunfire but may sometimes be moved to '97 civic. the pontiac is extremely narrow but the seat is flat. the civic is a little wider than the pontiac but the seats are curved. both cars have only a lap belt in the middle, no latch, and only have a top tether anchor in the middle. i prefer to put both seats outboard.

i love the marathon. so easy to install and i especially love the built in locking clip. while i love that the RN is narrow, i don't like installing it. i was thinking of getting two rn's because they are narrow, but i'm not sure that i could fit two RN's in the car with space for a booster (for dd1's friends) or another person. if i can't, then i would rather get two MA's instead (for the ease of installation). of course, the drawback would be if one day we get another car that can take three across.

another option is to only get one seat for dd2 and have dd1 start using a HBB. i have a fisher price seat (like the MA) in my mom's car that dd1 can use in our car and she can use the HBB in grandma's car. or, i can try installing the frontier in either our car or grandma's car. i don't have high hopes though because i can't get that thing to install well. i should have returned it when i first bought it years ago. none of the cars (ours or grandma's) have latch. they also don't have top tether anchors outboard where the shoulder belts are so i can't try the long path install.

great, i just remembered that i need another seat for dd2 in my mom's car. she is in a RA in that car which she is outgrowing. her ears aren't at the top of the shell yet (although her head has already passed it) but the shoulder straps are at her shoulders. i suppose she could use the frontier, if dd1 doesn't and if i can install in my mom's '97 accord.

ack! i don't know what to do.

[jjordan]

I'm kind of confused. Can you tell us which direction your dd2 faces in the car (rearfacing or forward facing)? Also, what seats do you have right now (along with expirations), and what are all the cars you need seats for? How many seats (total) are you shopping for, and what is your total budget?

[mom2binsd]

I would get the part number to get top tethers installed in the vehicles, the parts should be free and it's pretty easy to install them (joolsplus2 can you help you with those). For either of these seats I think getting a top tether put in so the seats can go anywhere is important, although the Radian does do fine in tests without the top tether, I just feel like all FF seats should be tethered (it's the law in Canada).

The middle seat can only be used for a harnessed seat, so if a friend were coming with you couldn't put a booster there, and it sounds like the RN will fit outboard, middle with room for a booster on the other outboard (can you try first).

I too love the ease of installation of the MA's, so quick if you need to reconfigure.

I'll be interested to see what others recommend, it's a tricky one!

[bubbaray]

I'm confused -- wasn't your vehicle totaled? Are you getting a new vehicle or is one of these the new vehicle?

If for some reason you can't/won't get new TAs for the cars (they are available), you could use a booster outboard for your oldest and a Radian outboard for the youngest. The RN performs well FFg without using the TT. If you put the RN center, make sure you put the booster on the opposite side so that you don't have both female ends in use beside the booster (little hands can mistakenly undo the RN install instead of the seatbelt for the booster). Beth is correct, you can NOT under any circumstances use a booster in a lapbelt only position.

Another option for your oldest would be a RideSafe (saferider?) vest. I am not really familiar with them as they aren't legal here, but it might work for you.

[salsah]

I'm kind of confused. Can you tell us which direction your dd2 faces in the car (rearfacing or forward facing)? Also, what seats do you have right now (along with expirations), and what are all the cars you need seats for? How many seats (total) are you shopping for, and what is your total budget?

i'm confused too! okay, so the background is that dd1 was in a RN 65 and dd2 was in a MA in our car that was totaled earlier this week. i need to replace those seats quickly. since i'm researching seats, i might as well look into the seat situation in my mom's car because dd2 has just about outgrown the seat that she uses in that car. the girls ride in her car often enough that she has a MA (actually the fisher price model) for dd1 and a RA for dd2. if it helps in making the decision, we have a frontier (impossible to install) in dh's car.

both girls are FF.

total budget: cheaper the better.

[salsah]

I would get the part number to get top tethers installed in the vehicles, the parts should be free and it's pretty easy to install them (joolsplus2 can you help you with those). For either of these seats I think getting a top tether put in so the seats can go anywhere is important, although the Radian does do fine in tests without the top tether, I just feel like all FF seats should be tethered (it's the law in Canada).

The middle seat can only be used for a harnessed seat, so if a friend were coming with you couldn't put a booster there, and it sounds like the RN will fit outboard, middle with room for a booster on the other outboard (can you try first).

I too love the ease of installation of the MA's, so quick if you need to reconfigure.

I'll be interested to see what others recommend, it's a tricky one!

oh yeah, duh! i can't use a booster in the middle of these cars. i'm used to doing it in our main car (that was totaled) so i didn't even think about the belt issue.

i can put the anchors in the civic (i bought and did the middle one myself). i can't do the pontiac myself because it requires cutting (the existing one in the middle was installed by the prior owner -- dh bought the car when he was living in canada.)

[salsah]

I'm confused -- wasn't your vehicle totaled? Are you getting a new vehicle or is one of these the new vehicle?



yup, it was. we might not get a new car right now and just use our old cars (the civic and sunfire) for the time being.

[salsah]

oh, i forgot to mention that the reason that pontiac will likely be the primary car for the kids is because it has keyless/remote entry and automatic windows (so much easier with kids!) while the civic does not have either of those. (neither car has air conditioning anymore and are both falling apart in general -- it is going to be fun driving those!)

[Joolsplus2]

I'd retry the Frontier outboard, FP in the middle. You don't need a top tether for the Frontier in long belt path installations (or at all, till 65 pounds). (My brain is still fuzzy this morning, so that's all I can seem to think of till I have my oatmeal, lol).

[bubbaray]

I'd retry the Frontier outboard, FP in the middle. You don't need a top tether for the Frontier in long belt path installations (or at all, till 65 pounds). (My brain is still fuzzy this morning, so that's all I can seem to think of till I have my oatmeal, lol).


Not sure of the TT situation in the US FR manual -- its mandatory here, so if OP wants to install the FR outboard, she would have to get more TAs installed. I'm not a fan of self install unless you use a torque wrench to the correct amount of torque (and I have no idea what that is).

[salsah]

I'd retry the Frontier outboard, FP in the middle. You don't need a top tether for the Frontier in long belt path installations (or at all, till 65 pounds). (My brain is still fuzzy this morning, so that's all I can seem to think of till I have my oatmeal, lol).

thanks, i thought that the long belt path required using the top tether. the instructions for installing it with the long belt path are in the manual, right?

i'll still need two more seats to replace the ones that were in the accident. i would like to use the new seats in our car since the kids ride with us more often and i'll try the frontier and FP in my mom's car.

so for the two new seats? should i just go with the MA70? will it last as long as the xtsl (in height)? is the xtsl easier to install than the 65? they didn't by any chance add a built in locking clip, did they?

[salsah]

britax's are 20% off right now. should i grab a couple of ma's now? any idea how long the sale will last?

[salsah]

the RN XTLS's arrived. i'm going to try installing them in our cars this weekend to see how they work. if i can't do it easily and/or there isn't space for another person in the back with both installed, then should i return them and get the MA's instead? is the any reason to get the XTSL instead of the MA?

[salsah]

bumping . . . i'm hoping someone will tell me not to bother with the XTSL and to go with the MA's instead.

[Joolsplus2]

One of each would puzzle better so you could have that third seat free for a booster or person... (I wasn't going to tell you not to keep the xtsl's, gosh, you already bought them, didn't you!?) Two MA's aren't going to last harnessed as long, and their fat sides might hit each other at the wrong points and make them not fit next to each other at all.

[salsah]

One of each would puzzle better so you could have that third seat free for a booster or person... (I wasn't going to tell you not to keep the xtsl's, gosh, you already bought them, didn't you!?) Two MA's aren't going to last harnessed as long, and their fat sides might hit each other at the wrong points and make them not fit next to each other at all.

yes, but i haven't opened them yet. i can return them, can't I?

as for the three across issue, i was thinking that the radians might not be worth their trouble since our back seat is so narrow that even two radians might not leave enough space for another person.

[poohbear]

I have nothing to contribute to this except that babycatalog.com has ma70s for 25% off (RNs are also 25% off - kohls will be having a 15/20/30 sale starting Dec 14 and then you can get a RN for 30% off and kohls cash if you have a kohls card)....

[salsah]

I have nothing to contribute to this except that babycatalog.com has ma70s for 25% off (RNs are also 25% off - kohls will be having a 15/20/30 sale starting Dec 14 and then you can get a RN for 30% off and kohls cash if you have a kohls card)....

thanks, i may return what i bought and order from them. does diapers.com still price match?

[poohbear]

thanks, i may return what i bought and order from them. does diapers.com still price match?

They do still pricematch.
I don't think they'll pricematch kohls 30% off because you need a kohls card to get it. THough you can also use a kohls gift card. FWIW - the 30% off starts the 14th and the code is GIFTGIVING. XTSL would be $205 and you would get $40 back in kohls cash. You can go through ebates for 4% back....
Kohls is awesome - you can do returns in store - no time limit...
HTH!