Disappointed in what used to be a favorite
April 20, 2013

I ordered this car seat to replace my Boulevard 70-Cs (purchased in 2011) that was involved in a car accident. Overall I am still very pleased sight the safety features and the styling of the current model. I am satisfied with the color/pattern and felt it was accurately pictured. My dissatisfaction is in the functionality of the seat; there so no "click" while tightening so you are aware you are close to the safety snugness needed/recommended, and it is very difficult to pull to tighten. Now I don't "need" the clicks and always do my own safety check, but I felt like the clicks made it easier to tell that it was secure and that it was tightening properly. The "safety harness" took a bit to get used to, but I eventually found I liked this feature more than the old version which does not include it. Finally, I was really hoping the color/pattern came in "waverly", but only the Marathons and smaller models continue to come in that print. The comparable print (black and tan) color combo is no where near as stylish as the "waverly", and so I was really left with only one color that would work well in my tan/black interior vehicle. I realize some parents don't care if their seat matches their vehicle interior, but it was a purchasing factor for me. I simply returned to Britax, as I feel it is one of the safest seats on the market. Overall I have this seat a 4 star rating because I know it will keep my child safe, and I would have given it a 5 star, but find the difficulty in tightening the straps to be a nuisance every time I place my child in the seat. My entire family makes fun of me when I tighten my child into his safety seat because of how tightly I strap him in, but it kept him unharmed in an accident. I simply wish the ease of achieving this tightness/security was there with this car sea, but it is not. My next purchase I will definitely physically check the seat for this, and will consider buying the next model up that has this feature.
Pros:
Safety
Color true to description
Quality materials used
Cons:
Does not have the click tight technology that the old version had
Hard to pull/tighten to the proper snugness