Review by CMS "cms" : Seems like a great car seat, does not work in our vehicle

I purchased two of these for our 5 month old twins. I did a lot of research on convertible car seats and this one had very high safety ratings. The seats are very nice, well padded and easy to adjust the height of the harness straps. The issue we had is once the vehicle was in the car in the rear facing position. We have a 2011 Toyota Sienna with captains chairs and the knob to tighten and the lever to loosen the straps is almost impossible to use due to the knobs/levers being so close to the captains chair.The captains chars are more curved then a bench seat would be. It took a long time to get each child secured in the seats and a very long time to get each child out of the seats. My husband turned the knob too much and the straps were incredibly tight on my son. He screamed as we tried to loosen the straps. We had to unbuckle the 5-point harness because we were having a hard time pushing the lever to loosen the straps fast enough. I think the car seat is really nice, but it just doesn't work in our vehicle.

Review by M. Brooks : Good design, easy install, son loves it, but WIDE

This was top rated in consumer reports and well reviewed on Amazon so we went for it. Overall we've been very happy with it and my 3-year old son loves it.

PROS: The shoulder strap design is nice that it automatically adjusts to the correct shoulder height. Though if they fall to the bottom they're difficult to get back up if your kid is already in the seat. Tension adjustment takes some getting used to and the release catch to loosen the harness is tricky. Install is easy and there is plenty of room for my kids to grow into it. It should last both kids until they're at least five.

CONS: This thing is WIDE. We've got it in a Honda CR-V with another seat on the other side and there is little hope anyone would fit in between. Also, the cup holder is flimsy and mostly useless. We haven't used it much but I'd imagine it will be quick to break when we do. Finally, a lot of the structure is the impact styrofoam, so it's a little squeaky at times, but we only notice it when we're loading or unloading with the engine off. No noticeable noise while driving.

NOTE: But we've only had it in the forward facing condition and my son was 2.5yrs old when we got it. I can't comment on rear facing or small baby configurations.

Review by A. Decker : Decent seat for the price

We were torn between this seat and the Britax Marathon. We chose this seat because it has excellent safety ratings and is much less expensive than the comparable Britax seat. So far, we like it quite well. Our son is 8 months old and 20 lbs. We started in a Graco SnugRide 35 and switched because he seemed uncomfortable, plus he was too heavy to use it as a carrier anymore.

The Evenflo Triumph 65 (rear facing) actually fits better in our car than the SnugRide and allows the front seat to slide back further. We have a Scion xB, so it's not a large vehicle. We will switch to front facing when his legs grow too long to be rear facing, which looks like it will be quite a while.

Our son likes this seat MUCH better than the infant seat. He is up higher and can see out. He never liked the car before, but is much much happier now and seems to be quite comfortable.

The only reason I docked it a star is because of the placement of the strap tightening knob and loosening lever. It is difficult, though not impossible, to access in rear-facing mode. I do not think it will be a problem when front facing. However, it is possible to get him in and out of the seat without loosening the straps, so this is not usually an issue.

Review by M. Miller : Best tightening mechanism EVER!

We have had this car seat for almost 2 years now and it has the best tightening mechanism hands-down. It is so easy to use - you just crank the knobs on the side to tighten the straps...no more pulling the strap trying to get it tight enough, no more broken fingernails, bruised hands, grunting, sweat... It is so wonderfully simple. The seat also seems to be very well made and the fabric is soft and cushy and has worn well through several washings. HIGHLY recommend this seat.

Review by mommy2boys : Love this seat! We have 3!

I've never had a Britax, so maybe they are better, but I can't imagine how! I really love this seat. We had our son rear facing in it until he was 2, and now have him forward facing in it. It's really easy to adjust the straps and the height- plus it's easy to remove the cover for washing. There really are only 2 negatives I can think of. 1. When the seat was rear facing it can be a little difficult to reach the lever to loosen the straps, but I blame that mostly on my small vehicle. 2. The straps can get twisted pretty easily- but it's really not too difficult to straighten in back out, but I could see this being a problem with most seats (it happens with our Graco infant seat too and it's much harder to fix)!
Also we've been on long trips and our son never complains- the seat has an extra cushion that goes in it for little one's bottom.

Overall I'd definitely buy this seat again!

Review by FoxEM05 : Decent Car seat, baby approved

I have been using this car seat for a month. My 7 month old is 95% for height and 70% for weight so he outgrew his infant carrier long ago. This car seat fits him very well with room to grow (although I worry he won't be able to fit as long as I would like). I am using it in the rear facing configuration behind the passenger seat of my Jeep Commander because the seat has to be pushed all the way forward to fit the seat so it cannot go behind the driver's side seat until it is forward facing.

My baby is very picky and while he greatly disliked his infant carrier (a safety 1st brand), he seems to really like this car seat. He sits and plays with his toys well during a drive and in traffic and when he falls asleep, he seems secure and his head does not flop over like it did in his other seat. We have to use the extra padded seat piece that comes with it though because to me, it seems like there is a part of the seat that would be uncomfortable to sit on since it is hard and plastic and the padded areas don't meet to cover it up. I hope that I can continue to use this piece and it won't become too inconvenient as he grows bigger because I do think without it, it would be uncomfortable.

It is difficult to get him in and out of it, not because of the harness or buckling system, but because it is hard not to bump his head on the vehicle since the seat sits up so high. There is very little room to maneuver him into the seat itself, but I am unsure if this is due to my SUV having stadium seating or if it is an issue with the car seat. The buckle is easy to use and the adjustment system works well. I do have trouble with the loosening of the straps because the red clip is a bit difficult to adjust, especially if you have nails. However, the tightening is extremely easy to do as it is just a turn of the black adjustment knob. I like how the buckle audibly clips into the harness and that the two parts can be clipped one at a time. Be careful when buckling though because my husband accidentally pinched our son once when putting him in the seat. That has to be watched, especially if you have an active child.

Overall, the car seat seems very safe and secure and my son is comfortable riding in it, even for extended drives. The only downsides for me are getting my son into the car seat from the side of the vehicle, trying to loosen the straps, and the possibility for discomfort on the seat without the extra removable padding that the child is supposed to outgrow. Also, it is large and requires maximum space for rear seating if you need to have it as reclined as possible (don't think you can recline it enough for a newborn).

Review by Mallok : Recommended

I read many of the reviews on this seat and decided it was this one or move on to the really expensive Britax ones. Well, I am very satisfied with this seat and have no real complaints just a few nitpicks. I am in rear facing mode right now as this is our first upgrade from the infant seat. I think another review mentioned that this seat isn't the most level rear facing, and that's true. I started with a towel but I am going to move to a noodle soon since when she falls asleep my daughter's head is going forward. This is minor nitpick though, since it could easily be positioned with a towel and every backseat is different in terms of how sloped it is. This is in the back of an 07 Accord, and without support it would pitch forward quite a bit. The good news is that when it is forward facing it will work flawlessly, but for now a small amount of effort is required to position it properly.

The belt tightening system is one of the major draws of this seat. It is extremely fast and easy to put your child in and remove them at the end. I can't imagine an easier way to tighten and release the shoulder straps and you can feel very confident that it is not too loose like parents are likely to do for fear of hurting their child. When you can't crank it another click without resistance, you know it's good.

The other major draw for me is how padded the seat is. It's got a lot of foam and then a pad that goes over the top (which should make cleaning easy also). The side impact testing thing has got to be marketing, but it appears to be very comfortable. I feel good about my child riding in this seat on extended trips. She's not ready for the cup holder but that's probably a great addition as well, although the directions state you shouldn't put any kind of cup in there except styrofoam (?).

It was a little difficult to get the seat into the car using the latch system. It is VERY secure but I wouldn't want to move it around very often. So I wouldn't recommend this as swap back and forth seat. When it is used for smaller/younger children you have to turn the straps around; the directions weren't the greatest but I was able to figure it out using the pictures. The way the latch straps go behind the crotch strap didn't seem intuitive and I had to move them after the first attempt. But the picture makes that part clear so that's how I set it up. Removing the outer pad was pretty easy with its little plastic clips. They didn't seem flimsy, but were pliable enough to make removing the seat pretty easy.

Overall, good quality and it was what I expected.

Review by J. Harris : Best by far

This is the best car seat that I have ever owned by far! It was actually really easy to install and it is super easy to use. My daughter has not had one issue with the seat and it is really comfortable for her to get in as well as for her to sit in. The seat is so great that I'm looking at purchasing another one for my husband's car. Oh, and for any who are concerned with this matter, the carseat that I received was made in the USA!!!!

Review by D. Flinn : Fits in a Hyundai Accent

We just received this car seat today and I am very impressed. I spent a lot of time researching convertible car seats for my one year old daughter who outgrew her infant car seat. I was worried because they are so much bigger than the infant car seats and was concerned her new car seat would not fit in our 1997 Hyundai Accent which is a very small car. My husband had no trouble installing it (it only took him about 20 minutes) and it fit comfortably behind the driver's seat. We didn't even need to slide the driver's seat too far forward for it to fit rear facing. The seat has plenty of cushioning and my daughter seems very comfortable. The harness is way easier to adjust than that of her infant car seat. I definitely recommend this car seat for anyone who has a small vehicle and who does not want to spend $200 for a car seat.

Review by drmvk2000 : Recommended!!

I did some research before I settled on this car seat to transition my 16 m son from his Graco Snugride32 infant car seat. In the end it was a choice between this and Britax. Although it hasn't lived up to my expectations in terms helping my son sit higher up so that he could enjoy the view out of the car more, nevertheless its roomier than his older car seat and I like fastening system- very easy and actually quite fun to perform! The cup holder is handy sometimes. I'm not too fond of the velvety cover- it's not too easy to clean and stuff tend to stick to it. Easy to install and and I'm waiting to see how it performs once my son is ready to sit front-facing ( doctors now recommend that toddlers should sit rear-facing until they are 2. I agree. Rear-facing is the safest way for kids to travel and I would keep them in that position as long as I can.)