Review by Irissiri : Happy with the Marathon!

I was debating between the marathon and the Boulevard for a while, but after a trip to the local store who carries both, I decided to go with the Marathon. The Boulevard looks bulkier and I was also worried the side wings will block the views for the baby. I know my daughter hasn't been a happy rider, and if she feels trapped in, that won't be fun for anybody sitting in the car. I am very happy with the Marathon. It lives up to its reputation. My daughter is still not a happy rider, but that is not the Marathon's fault. I was just secretly wishing the Marathon would have the magic touch :-). I am actually looking to get another Marathon for my husband's car.

Review by G. Jonesoro : Good....but...........

First, let me say that after reading a bunch of reviews, researching safety websites, I purchased the Britax Marathon 70 and a much cheaper First Years True Fit Recline Convertible car seat for our other car. I must honestly say the First Years is a better seat. What did I judge my criteria on? I judged it on ease of installation, cost, comfort to my baby, and safety. Don't get me wrong, the Marathon does all that's needed, but to me, some of the padding seemed a bit cheaper, and installation was not so easy as people said here.

*First, installation did take me about 30 minutes on the True Fit, because there's some rethreading of the anchor belts on forward installation (takes 30 sec), but that was nothing compared to about 2 hours with the Marathon (although, on the Marathon, I tried to use the Snap offs with the seat belt, which in theory, should be easier). My snap off on one side wouldn't work b/c there's a plastic nob on the belt...although it feels snug, only 1 is in use.

*Second, the True Fit is $149 vs. $279....that should seal the deal alone.

*Third, there's all this removable padding that is not velcro'd on. Once removed, it took me about 15 minutes to figure out where it went again.

*Fourth, removing the extra support padding on the Marathon would not keep your kid safe....only some foam between the base and your child. On the First Years, if you removed the extra support, my son still has ton of foam.

Don't get me wrong, the Britax is listed as one of the best car seats out there. And if I didn't have a comparable, I'd still get the Britax as my pick (based on word of mouth alone); however, since I have a comparable, I can't see why someone would debate between something $100 cheaper and felt like it offered more.

Review by b.griffin "retro baby" : Pros and Cons to New Design

I have used Britax Marathons for over six years and have recommended them to anyone who's asked-- they are simple to install, comfortable, safe and easy to use. After a recent car accident, I began to look for a replacement Marathon for my three-year old son, but had a hard time finding the model I was familiar with. The owners of my local baby store told me about all the new features of the Marathon 70, so I decided to try it out. After getting it home and having my son try it out in the living room, I've decided to return it and search out the original design.
CONS:
I think it would be a great car seat for an infant or smaller child, but my son is 40 lbs and 40 inches tall and I had a very difficult time buckling the seat belts with him sitting in the seat. For some reason, it seemed like the buckle was placed farther back in the seat or maybe the strap on the buckle is shorter, so once buckled in, he was practically sitting on the hard, plastic buckle. Even with the straps adjusted to their longest length, the buckle was still uncomfortably pressing into my child. I cannot imagine a 70lb child sitting in this chair comfortably. Another thing that I am not a fan of is the two-piece cover. The old model's cover was just one piece and really easy to remove for washing. The Marathon 70 has two to three pieces (depending on if you use the extra cushion that comes with it) and plastic clips that hold it on to the frame. For me, the more pieces to remove and wash, the more inconvenient.
PROS:
I do love the easier strap adjustment system. It is was really easy to push a button and move the headrest/straps to the right position. I also liked the extra cushioning. It seems like it would be really comfortable and soft.

Review by Jim : A Cadillac of Car Seats

The Britax Marathon is presently used by me for my 27-month old granddaughter (and I will someday use it for her recently born brother). While I haven't personally used the Britax Boulevard model, my daughter and son-in-law have one, and they tell me that it is their impression that although the Boulevard has a higher MSRP than the Marathon, the Marathon seems to have "better padding" than the Boulevard (and thus affords more comfort) as well as "better adjustability."

The Marathon replaces a less expensive Evenflo car seat, and I feel that my granddaughter is much more safe, secure, and comfortable in the Britax Marathon (and that makes me have more peace of mind when she's in the car). The Marathon's "Quick-Adjust Harness" mechanism is a real time and pain-in-the-neck saver compared to car seats that require you to take the seat out, take apart the strap assemblies, then guess at which "notch" will fit your child or in my case grandchild, put it all back together, and then if it doesn't fit, you have to repeat this procedure, sometimes more than once. With the Marathon you simply squeeze the "trigger" on the Quick-Adjust Harness adjuster, and pull it fluidly up and down until it fits, and you can do this with the child in the seat which is great.

I'm not in a position to say that the Britax Marathon is "the" Cadillac of car seats, but it is certainly among the very best I've seen and used (in terms of form and function and the peace of mind it can give parents, grandparents, and anyone else who transports a child in an automobile), and is an easy 5 stars. My daughter and son-in-law just had a second child and are now seriously considering purchasing a Marathon or even two for use in their vehicles. Highly recommended.

Review by Karen in Mommyland : Another great seat from Britax

Since 2001 I've been hooked on Britax car seats. The quality and ease of use of their seats puts them above their competition. When I was presented with the opportunity to review the Britax Marathon 70, I jumped at the chance.

We own a Britax Marathon that accommodates a child from 5 to 65 pounds, so it was nice to sit the two seats side by side for comparison purposes. The first notable difference is the Marathon 70 is a larger seat. The seat belt lock offs are designed differently (I think they're more cumbersome than the easy to use lock offs found on the Britax Marathon and Roundabout seats). The harness adjustor strap's release mechanism works differently. Instead of pressing down, you need to press up. After nearly 9 years of dealing with seats that had easier releases, I found this to be a tad awkward. Harness height adjustment on the Marathon 70 is a snap compared to the seats where you need to rethread the harness. You simply have to squeeze and pull (or push) to adjust the height of the harness straps. The ease of use for this function is on par with the simple adjustment of the back on a Graco TurboBooster. The Marathon 70 also boast some nice little touches that weren't found on the old Marathon. There is now a place to snap the latch clips to the back of the seat when not in use. Parents who travel frequently and find themselves lugging their child seat through airports will appreciate the added touch of an area to clip the versa tether strap to be used as a carry handle.

Installation of this seat was a snap. I installed it both rear and forward facing in my Toyota Sienna and it was easily and securely installed in both positions. Because the seat is so large, it is possible that this seat may not fit well in smaller cars when used in the rear facing position.

Overall, this is a great quality seat that will keep your little one safe, comfortable and secure for many years. In the nearly nine years that I've been using Britax seats, I have found each of them to be worth the price.

Review by techdad review : Safest and Easiest To Use Marathon Yet

Britax is one of the most trusted car seat manufacturer's around. They have been making convertible car seats for the US market since 1997. Never satisfied, Britax continuously improves their products to make them safer, easier to use, and more comfortable. In August of 2010, they released their new line of convertible car seats with many improvements. Having been a Britax customer since 2007, I was excited to see the improvements they made.

My Configuration:
2000 Jetta 4DR
Forward Facing
LATCH Install

PROS:
- Supports up to 70lbs forward-facing, and 5-40lbs rear-facing
- Supports infants with an infant positioning insert (sold separately)
- MUCH improved/easier harness height adjustment
- New integrated steel bars
- Serial number located in easy to find location
- Harness buckle can now be in two positions
- Comfort pads now removable
- Super easy LATCH installation
- Certified for air travel
- Consistently rated Very Good by Consumer Reports (though this model has not yet been tested by CR)

CONS:
- Expensive

On March 21, 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their recommendations for car seats. They now recommend that children stay in the rear-facing position until the age of 2, rather than their previous recommendation of 20lbs and 1 year of age. You can read the full press release and recommendations HERE. With these new recommendations, getting a car seat with better height and weight ratings become more important. Obviously the AAP recommendations are only recommendations and if your child exceeds the limits of the car seat, it's better to switch them to forward-facing even if not yet 2 years old. Put plainly, keep your child in the rear-facing position for as long as possible and resist the temptation to switch them too soon.

SAFETY
Safety is the most important feature of a car seat that I can think of. Year in and year out, Britax seems to garner very good ratings from professional publications and consumers alike. The Marathon 70 has many safety features that have given previous Marathon's a "Very Good" rating by Consumer Reports. As of this writing, Consumer Reports has not published any crash test results of the current Marathon 70.

The Marathon 70 has good side impact protection, though not the better "True Impact" protection that Britax's higher end convertible car seats have. The only difference between them is described as:

Minimize side to side head movement and literally "trues" the head:
Minimizing movement and keeping the neck and spine aligned limits potential injury. A abrupt, violent change in speed may cause injury to the body. By limiting the movement of your child during a crash, you are limiting potential injury.

The Marathon 70 however, does share the new integrated steel bars with their more expensive seats that "can minimize the risk of your child being violently propelled forward and hitting the back of the vehicle seat in front of the child restraint."

One thing that always stuck with me from the very first Britax we purchased was being told by the car seat techs at the police station and at AAA that they used Britax car seats for their own children. I'm not sure what better endorsement a car seat could get than that!

COMFORT
My children have always been pretty comfortable in Britax car seats. The seat cover material in the older Britax car seats were soft and plush but they changed the material to a more nylon like material on the Marathon 70. It looks much easier to clean but it doesn't have the nice soft feel as the older covers. The design of Britax seats tend to cradle your child and some larger children who prefer to place their arms out of the car seat or on the sides like an arm rest may find it somewhat uncomfortable. One complaint I'd read from a lot of users in the older Britax car seats was the placement of the harness buckle (crotch area). Britax must have been listening because they now provide two different positions to help find the best location for your child. Also, the harness straps have comfort pads for the shoulder area that are now removable. Some older Britax car seats had permanently attached comfort pads, which car seat techs I spoke with, recommended be removed. The pads, while providing additional comfort, can make it harder to determine the correct tightness of the harness, so unless your child is screaming bloody murder, I would probably remove them.

FIT
The Britax Marathon is smaller than the Boulevard and Advocate. We have the Boulevard and Advocate in our SUV but we elected to use the Marathon for our Volkswagen Jetta sedan. We had to remove the head rest but it fit well otherwise. It could be an optical illusion, but the new Marathon 70 seems smaller than the older Marathon. Still, if you own a small car and are considered tall or you like to recline your seat far back, you might want to buy the car seat from a retailer that has a good return/exchange policy, to make sure it will work for you. We now have a Marathon 65 CS and a Marathon 70 in our Jetta and we find the fit works well for us.

EASE OF USE
Though I haven't installed either Marathon with a seat belt, I have with our Advocate and Boulevard; they are a pain in the butt to install. Thankfully, our Jetta has LATCH connectors which made installing the Marathon 70 amazingly simple. Just clip the two LATCH connectors into the anchors in your car until you hear them click, then put all your body weight on the car seat (using your knees) and yank the straps as tight as you can. You can also use the Versa-Tether (the strap in the top rear of the car seat) and hook it to the anchor located in your car (see your automobile's manual). Installation took me no more than 10 minutes and adjusting the buckles and straps took another few minutes. I recommend you read through the entire manual AND watch the installation video. The video for the Marathon 70 can be viewed HERE.

The one major problem I had with the old Marathon was that adjusting the harness height required me to remove the car seat then rethread the straps. I feel like Britax read my review and custom-made the new Marathon just for us! They implemented a new system that allows you to just squeeze the handle located at the top of the car seat and glide it up or down to adjust it; no rethreading required! There is one drawback to this system though. At the highest harness height, the mechanism rises with it so it can potentially obstruct viewing out of the rear window. The best harness height system I've ever seen was from a competitor's car seat that used a rotating knob located on the sides of the seat. Keep in mind that in the forward-facing position, you want the harness to be at or above your child's shoulders. In the rear-facing position, you want the harness to be below your child's shoulders.

MISC
The serial number sticker is easily located on the right side (facing the seat), towards the top. The serial number stickers on some of their older car seats were rather difficult to find so I'm glad Britax addressed this.

I always found washing the cover to be a hassle on our Boulevard seat and I admit that I haven't washed the cover on our Advocate or our first Marathon. The cover on the Marathon 70 is easier to remove than my older Boulevard but it's still recommended that you hand wash the cover with cold water and mild soap, then line dry it. Unfortunately, this means that you have to wash the cover when you know you won't need the car seat for at least a few hours as the cover can take a while to dry. With the new material though, daily or weekly cleanups should be easier with only the biggest messes requiring the removal of the cover. The cover comes in several different colors and designs to match your style preference.

CONCLUSION
Britax convertible car seats have advanced safety features and are consistently rated among the best. The Marathon 70 is a good choice for smaller vehicles. Britax has also made the Marathon 70 easier to use than ever before and increased the forward-facing weight rating to 70lbs. The latest Marathon is a definite improvement over previous generations and I recommend it if you can justify the cost premium.

* Review sample courtesy of Britax USA

Review by Jesse Baynard : A converted skeptic

Overall I feel that all car seats properly installed provide an extraordinary level of protection that we never had as children. So I have bought all sorts of car seats between 2 kids and 2 cars from snap-in travel systems to boosters, and from economy models to plush models. This is what I found that separates them convenience and materials.

The seats that cost less than $100 usually have little padding and are made from just enough plastic and foam as necessary. Pretty much all the adjustments are manual from shoulder height to anchor clips to strap length. The nice thing other than the price is that they are usually dead simple to install and very light.

The seats that cost more than $100 but less than $200 are usually very well padded and come with a lot of conveniences such as reclining, cup holders, mechanical strap adjustments, extra weight maximums. They're still usually plastic and foam, but a lot more of it. I do find that they can also be more difficult to work with, because with all their conveniences and padding the rare mechanical adjustments (installation and shoulder adjustments) are harder to perform. Also, I don't feel that seats I have in this class are any safer than my economy seats just more comfortable.

Now once we get over $200 we find ourselves in Britax Marathon 70 country... This is a very well appointed car seat in terms of comfortable padding, conveniences, and materials. You notice it's different once you see the steel beams supporting it, then as you use it and find the shoulder height can be adjusted without rethreading while installed (which is also a breeze), and that the recline doesn't require great force, and that there's Velcro to hold the straps back if you want it to and many other small touches... it's easy to start falling in love. Okay but that just brings me back to... Are we just buying the convenience or is there really something better about these seats? Well perhaps it's all really good marketing, but I now feel that this construction and these more rigid (yet designed to yield appropriately) materials are providing better safety and that the fact that you do not need to uninstall it to make adjustments also lowers the chance for a bad reinstall. So yes, I think that once you pass the $200 mark you actually can buy a safer seat. On the other hand this one doesn't come with cup holders ;).

Review by marty01 : Safe Seat

I had a Marathon 65 and was just in a horrible accident with my 2 year old son in the car. A car ran a red light and T-boned us right in front of my driver door going about 50mph. My son was forward-facing on the passenger side. I had the seat latched and tethered and the chest clip was secure at his chest. We spun and were hit again on the back. I tell you this because we walked away. My Marathon never moved. He was very safe. I know this seat is safe if installed properly. I bought the 70 since once they are in an accident they are not safe.

I hope you all use the weight and height limits for your children and delay booster seats and use the 5-point harness until your child is out of it due to height or weight. It can possibly save them in an accident like this one. I recommend this seat based on my experience and love this new one!

Review by L00king4nswers : Now a die-hard Britax fan!!!

After being disappointed by Graco's quality of car seats, I decided to try Britax! I recently bought a Britax Frontier 85 and was SO excited about the seat. My son is 10 months old and is outgrowing his Graco infant seat. I didn't realize however that the seat is only good for children at least 2 years old. So with MUCH regret I had to return the Frontier! I ordered the Britax Marathon 70 and absolutely love it (as much as I did the Frontier 85).

It is so nicely cushioned and yet spacious enough. I'm 5'1 and 105 lbs and I can sit in the seat (not harnessed of course) with the headrest at its highest. My son's back is not curved in anyway and his head is not pushed forward at all. He looks so comfortable, I want to be him in this seat! I love that I will be able to rear-face my son for longer and then forward-face him when he's ready. The crotch strap is GREAT! Moving it is a breeze -- just slide it over (nothing to disassemble). It has 2 position, but the furthest one is pretty far (8 inches from the back of the seat). The Graco Nautilus' furthest crotch strap measured at 6.5 inches from the back... one of the main reasons I returned it cause my son would have no room to grow into and would inevitably be sitting on the crotch strap before he's even 2 years old. The harness straps are so easy and FAST to adjust!!! You just move the headrest up and down! No need to unfasten the harness and re-thread it through the loops. The recline is a REAL recline (3 positions). Graco Nautilus' recline was like half an inch difference. Oh, and the steel frame is excellent (versus a heavy-duty plastic). I think all car seats should be made of a steel frame. Which makes this car seat, though very expensive, worth the money in every way!!! And I'm pretty frugal. From now on, every car seat I buy will be a Britax!