Still a darn good stroller
July 15, 2017
I initially got a 2013/14 VISTA, which is the upper model, but had to sell it. Knowing how awesome and helpful the VISTA had been, remembering how I could have a baby on my hip/cup of coffee in hand and another baby in the stroller while opening a door and easily maneuvering into the entrance while everyone sat and stared (with only one hand on the bar, because the stroller lends itself to tricks), prompted me to get another UPPAbaby. I knew it would be smaller, I knew it wouldn't come with a bassinet, but I was expecting the same great basic features (durable wheels; excellent turning radius and maneuverability; stability; higher seat; big basket). For the most part, I got all of that. Keep in mind that right before the CRUZ, having sold the car when I sold the VISTA, my prime mode of getting baby around, sometimes for 2-10 miles at a time, became either the carrier or a $20 stroller which had no business pushing that much pavement, with its wheels that broke apart and its foot bar/band which tore and its seat that developed a hole, and which wouldn't even "go" in the grocery store or on any sort of smooth surface. Coming from that, the CRUZ was about 200 steps up. Just excellent by anyone's standards. So, if you're huffing it by foot, if you're going to be going up and down curbs, or maybe the terrain is going to be uneven or unpredictable, both the CRUZ and VISTA are for you. But the CRUZ does have fewer features, and while the basics that make this stroller better than pretty much every other stroller on the market -- especially if you need a stroller for walking a lot, in myriad places, on varied terrains -- are intact, the quality just isn't as great as on the VISTA, whether because this is a lower end model, or because it's a different year. Also, pertaining to the CRUZ I got in the mail, there were a few issues that just weren't with the VISTA (that stroller was PERFECT): the "UPPAbaby" logo design on the basket of the CRUZ didn't print properly and was half missing; the stroller favors one direction when I'm trying to go straight on level ground and I have to exert some force to correct for it (like the bad shopping cart phenomenon); some of the fabric on the stroller is mismatched (the black on the handlebar does not match the black on the rest of the seat; the handlebar grip has weird indents toward the end, maybe where they were wrapped and the cushy part of compressed. Contacted UPPAbaby, and they were helpful enough, but then when I tried to send them pictures of the defects upon request, I didn't hear back from them. In closing, I miss my VISTA, but this stroller is still good, and better than others on the market -- and certainly better than the $20 stroller that fell apart -- even though it might be a lemon.
Pros
- One-hand maneuverability; durable wheels; higher seat; big basket; folds down easily
Best Uses
- Street walking, and whatever that throws at this stroller
Cons
- quality control issues; fewer features than the VISTA