Apex

[pearl]

Aside from the Turbo Booster and the Parkway, I am considering the Apex as my son's next seat. I'm also thinking about the new Janes, but that's a different story. My motivation for buying an Apex is because I would like to harness my son longer. He will be four in a few days, he is 41 inches tall and 41 pounds. Of course I will find out if the seat fits in my car and if it fits my son. Yet, a major hesitation about buying the Apex is that it wasn't reviewed by CR. I know there are alot of things CR doesn't look for that matters to us as parents (I've been listening to the techs on the board), butI still take the ratings seriously. Does anyone have any inisght into the safety and ease of use concerning the APEX. Thanks a million for your help. I would be lost w/o this forum.

[Scatterbunny]

Honestly, CR may be a good resource for appliance ratings and other things, but not for carseats. Ask any tech here, they will tell you the same thing. They only test/rate a few models each year, and models that they have previously rated very well sometimes rate poorly the next year. We have no way of knowing why they did so differently from year to year, or if CR's testing changed. Also, NHTSA and the carseat companies cannot replicate CR's findings (i.e. issue with Britax Marathon overrotating in a crash).

The deciding factor for me (in choosing between a booster or the Apex) would be his torso height. What seat is he in now, and where are his shoulders in relation to those top slots? That will give us an idea of how he will fit the Apex, and if it will allow him sufficient growing room in the harness.

The Apex is definitely not Britax-quality, it feels less sturdy, but I liked it, overall, and would put my child in one. The only downfall is that it's pretty wide (wider than a Marathon, but narrower than the Husky/Regent by about an inch) and that it MUST always have vehicle seatback or headrest at least up to the tips of the child's ears (the carseat alone does not provide adequate head support). So if you have lowback seats and/or no headrests, it won't work, or will only work for a limited time (until the child gets tall enough that his ears go over the vehicle seatback or headrest).

A properly installed and used harnessed seat is always safer than a booster seat, so if he will fit the Apex for some time to come and the seat fits well in your vehicle I would go for it.