Britax Parkway/Britax Frontier/Graco Nautilus

[09Mom]

DD just turned 5 and is about 35 lbs. We currently have 1 Britax Marathon (which she doesn't like - we use that as our spare for friends) and 4 Britax Roundabout 50s. The car seats don't expire until early and mid 2016. We have four cars that we need seats for...mine (Toyota Highlander that we use prob 90% of time, nanny's car, MILs car, and DHs car which is a 99 BMW with no latch that she is not in that often. We have a small convertible that he will usually drive if he knows he will not be driving DD that day). She still fits in the Roundabout 50s, but most of her friends switched to Boosters at 4 and I kept telling her we will discuss it when she turns 5. So, of course she brought it up. I cannot figure out what to get. A friend is selling us a Britax Frontier 85 for $100 (DOM 12/12). They only used it about 5 times and then it didn't fit right in their new car with 2 other carseats. I was thinking of buying her a new Britax Frontier 90 for my car. For the other cars and the spare I was thinking either the Graco Nautilus or Britax Parkway. I have not seen IRL, but in pictures the Graco Nautilus looks more like a carseat than a booster, and her male BF puts up a huge fight whenever he has to ride in a carseat in our car. If I got the Parkway for the spare for friends would you be against your 5 yo in a non-harnessed booster (I will keep one of the roundabouts as a spare too)? I prefer for DD to be in a harness for long trips where she may fall asleep, but I don't think I would be against her being in a Parkway when in a friends car. If I get a Parkway would you get the SG or SGL?

Also, if I were to sell the Roundabouts/Marathon locally what would be a fair price?

[arivecchi]

Same situation here! My DS just turned 5 yesterday. He is in a Frontier 85 in my car (and is staying harnessed there), but is outgrowing the Roundabout 55 in DH's car, so I just ordered a Parkway SGL for him. I can let you know how it fits him when we try it out!

Re pricing, I would search prices in your local CL first. I usually take into account the total life of the seat, the years in use and the applicable market price to determine a price that make sense.

[09Mom]

How do you like the Frontier 85?

[arivecchi]

I love it as a harnessed seat but not as a booster. It does not work well in my car in booster mode.

[zukeypur]

I have a nautilus in booster mode and a frontier in harness mode. I cannot tell you how much I HATE the nautilus. DD has always had horrible head slumping it, and it has the "throw everything disgusting, crumb filled, and sticky in here instead of putting it in the trash" cubbies in addition to the cup holders. The latch is hard to operate, and the chest clip is difficult too. While I haven't had the frontier in booster mode yet, I absolutely love it so far. It has great cup holders, plenty of padding, easy latch and chest clip, and no head slump.

Parkway SGL is next in my list.

[09Mom]

I love it as a harnessed seat but not as a booster. It does not work well in my car in booster mode.

What kind of car do you have? Why do you not like it as a booster? I have an 2011 Highlander.

[arivecchi]

I have a BMW X5. The car seat is so high that it is not easy for my kiddo to pull the seatbelt all the way to the buckle so i had to buckle him every time. The seatbelt would also get stuck on the shoulder guide.

[09Mom]

I have a BMW X5. The car seat is so high that it is not easy for my kiddo to pull the seatbelt all the way to the buckle so i had to buckle him every time. The seatbelt would also get stuck on the shoulder guide.

Is it annoying to the point you are thinking of replacing it?

[AnnieW625]

Is it annoying to the point you are thinking of replacing it?

My DD1 had a similar problem with the Frontier 80 in our Honda Pilot as Arivecchi had until DD1 was about 6/1/2, and about 48" tall. I actually sold one of my Frontier 80s when she was 5/1/2 and first in a booster because I couldn't get the buckle thing correctly for her. DD1 used Graco high back turbo boosters for that 18 months because they worked better, but by 6/1/2 she was ready for the Frontier as a booster. I was beyond irritated with the seat then and I did hate it, but eventually once she was tall enough the issue went away. Plus last week when I offered to buy DD1 a new booster seat and give DD2 the Frontier 80 she decided she wanted to keep her Frontier 80. I ended up buying a new Frontier 90 for DD2 and I haven't had a chance to compare the two yet, but the Frontier 90 base actually looks a little bit more manageable to be used as a booster than the older Frontier 80 (I also have never owned a Frontier 85, just the 90, and two 80s). My plan is to keep DD2 harnessed in the Frontier 90 until she is 6 or 6/1/2 and then use it as a booster for her as well.

We don't have a BMW so I can't comment on that, but just thought I would share the information anyway. Good luck!

[arivecchi]

Is it annoying to the point you are thinking of replacing it?

Yes. I replaced it with a Monterey for DS1 and passed it on to DS2 to use harnessed because I was so done with it as a booster. It also bugged me that it felt loose whereas the Monterey is nice and tight with LATCH.