Best Convertable? - Long Torso? Britax or ?

[wimama]

We are in the market for two new convertible carseats. I checked the expiration dates on my DS's old Britax Boulevard and they expire next month, so we need two new convertible seats. :banghead:

I just found out that a local baby store is going out of business, so it may be a good opportunity to get a good deal on some new carseats for the newbie. She has a long torso, so I would like a seat with a high harness height both RF and FF. My DS also has a long torso and he outgrew his Britax Boulevard FF a few months shy of his 3rd birthday. So, his little sis is likely to follow in his footsteps.

I do really love Britax seats. I like the idea of the Advocate because of the side impact protection for both the baby and my DS, who is now in booster mode in a Frontier. They are both in outboard positions. Both our cars are older 2001 Highlander and 2003 Corolla with no side impact protection.

What other options do we have? I am considering one Britax Advocate and one cheaper seat? Another Britax or a different brand? I think we have a least another month or two in her Chico Keyfit.

[AshleyAnn]

I would skip the britax and get a true fit premier. Briatx used to be the leader in car seats but thier competition has really stepped up the plate and leveled the playing field.

The true fit premier is a tall wide seat so it will last a long time. It has true anti rebound protection rear facing. No thread harness adjustments that are adjustable while installed. Better lockoffs that britax. Better infant padding and of course the top of the shell is removable. And its cheaper

[legaleagle]

I really like the true fit and also the diono radians, which have super high height and weight limits. My tall 3 year old still has inches above his head rf'ing. I have the older generation and the new ones (the diono ones, they changed their name) have fixed pretty much everything I dislike about mine (mainly the harness adjuster).

[BabyBearsMom]

I agree with PP's about the True Fit Premier. They are a nice seat but they don't have the super easy install of the Britaxes IMO. We had one for a while (had to get rid of it after an accident) and it was a nice big seat.

DD is now in a Britax Blvd and a Marathon 70. I probably wouldn't get the Advocate because that thing is pretty massive. The BLVD has great side impact protection. My DD is super tall (99th percentile for height) and has plenty of space in both seats. The Diono Radians are the tallest seats on the market, but I'm not a fan of their customer service (they had some issues with their Super Latch last year and I was not impressed with how they handled it).

[wimama]

Thanks everyone! I will check out the Radian and Truefit. DH says he prefers the look of the Truefit over the Radian. But, I will check them all out. Back when DS was an infant the Boulevard was the only seat around that really had side impact protection. Now there are more options.

If we don't like the seats that this store has have we will just wait it out. She is only at the lower 1/2 of the Chico label on her Keyfit shell now. We have a little time before she outgrows it. I am just hoping to come upon a good deal on carseats before she outgrows her infant seat.

[legaleagle]

Really good deals seem to come up for the true fit pretty regularly - I know woot.com had them for $105 last week (pink cover).

[Joolsplus2]

True fit has top slots as low as the Britax, though, I've seen kids get too tall for the harness slots as young or younger than Britax...and I found it rather bulky and hard to deal with, personally (because the shell is much taller and wider than a Britax). Though for a good deal, I'm sure I could tolerate it. Radians fit in older Highlanders, I might look at one of those.

[wimama]

Well, we went to the store and right now they did not have any great deals. Albee Baby's current prices were comparable. The store doesn't officially close until the end of next month. So, they might have better prices in another couple weeks.

DH and I both prefer the look of the Truefit and Britax seats. We narrowed it down to those. The store had a lot of Advocates left, not many Boulevards and Truefits though. Now that I saw both seats the True Fit shell does look taller. Of course you can take the top part of the Truefit seat off, but I am sure we could not max our RF without the head rest. So the tallness of the shell would not be bad for FF, but it might be a big issue with fitting it RF in our older Corolla. I know the Boulevard works in both of our cars. I am still considering the Advocate. I am not convinced it is a huge added protection for the baby, but I like the idea of it for added protection for DS in a front/rear end collision. I have an image in my older boostered DS's head rebounding during a crash and colliding with the RF convertible seat. They are both outboard. There is no way we can fit passenger between the seats anyway, so width of the seats is not a big deal.

Do you think that older boostered DS could rebound into the RF infant seat in a crash if hey are both in outboard positions?

Is there any real benifit to the CS (click & safe system)? I know how to properly fasten car seat straps.

I am contemplating doing one Advocate and one Boulevard or Truefit if the Advocate offered extra proction to older DS in a crash. I want one less bulky seat to travel with. We have flown with DS in a Boulevard before and it worked well in an airline seat.

[AnnieW625]

I would get a Roundabout 55 for travel or an Evenflo Tribute. We have a Roundabout 55 for D2 in our 01 Corolla. I know the 03 is a little bit bigger space wise than our 01, but I had issues with the True Fit Premiere rfing in our 06 Pilot (I am all legs at 5'6" and DH is 5'11" so we need the seats back pretty far). If the 01 Highlander's back seat moves back pretty far (I know the seat in my mom's 05 Highlander moves further back than in my Pilot) then the TFP might fit in there. I have not seen the new Advocate but if it is not as wide as the old one it should take up less space. No comment on the SICT Frontier either, but I would only buy a Frontier for your son if you know he will be harnessed for another year or two because as a belted booster DD1 has had some issues with it.