Need a new convertible to replace Scenera

[graceworks]

Can some one point me in the direction of where to start looking?

Back story...we have a Scenera for my husband's car and a really nice Britax Marathon 70 for my car. The Scenera has been annoying from day one for various reasons. We had such a hard time getting a good install, the straps dug on my daughter, it tightened unevenly, etc. Last week we noticed the tightening strap was shredding and today we noticed we couldn't tighten it as much as needed because the shredded part of the strap was catching on it before it was tight enough.

Needless to say, we're getting rid of the seat. We want to replace it with something more user friendly/comfier. It for my rearfacing 2 year old who is 25 lbs, average height and skinny.

Help me find something...

- MUST BE EASY TO INSTALL
- No rethread harness preferred, or easy to adjust
- Will rear face til my DD is around 3 years old
- Not humongous - smaller is better
- 100-200 range (or less if there's a good one)

Thank you so much I have no idea even where to begin!

[MDever]

We love the TrueFit from The First Years. I just bought another one for $150 on amazon. I agree about the Scenera. It has it's place but it is NOT easy to install in every vehicle and the straps seem very close together and always dig in her neck. I just installed mine in my mom's car on Thursday so guess I feel grouchy

[graceworks]

Originally Posted by MDever We love the TrueFit from The First Years. I just bought another one for $150 on amazon. I agree about the Scenera. It has it's place but it is NOT easy to install in every vehicle and the straps seem very close together and always dig in her neck. I just installed mine in my mom's car on Thursday so guess I feel grouchy

Thanks for the recommendation I'll start there!!

[jjordan]

The truefit is pretty huge, actually. (Bigger than your Marathon 70)

When you say "not humongous," what exactly do you mean? Would you be okay with a seat sized similarly to your marathon 70? Or do you want something smaller?

[graceworks]

smaller would be nice, but if its about the same, then thats ok. No bigger!!

[MiaAnjuli]

I like the True Fit, but it's pretty big.

The scenera isn't bad install for us except that we have to use a locking clip in my husbands explorer or it will tilt. But if we had all those issues, we'd be looking for a new seat too.

[jjordan]

The Evenflo Triumph 65 is sized similarly to the Marathon, although a bit wider. It has a no-rethread harness and is usually $130-$150. The roundabout 55 is exactly the same size as the marathon, but you do have to rethread the harness to adjust the height. It's usually $150-$160. The Safety 1st Complete Air might be worth a look, sized similarly to the marathon 70 - perhaps a bit narrower, perhaps a bit taller. And if you really like the marathon 70, sometimes you can find those for under $200.

Seats that are definitively smaller than the marathon are more likely to be outgrown RF before age 3, but you might look at the evenflo tribute and see if that seems like a viable option. It's way under your budget, and you do have to rethread the harness to adjust height, but it is small. There may be some smaller seats that I'm not thinking of as well... but, like I said, you'll want to check for growing room before you buy.

[graceworks]

Originally Posted by jjordan The Evenflo Triumph 65 is sized similarly to the Marathon, although a bit wider. It has a no-rethread harness and is usually $130-$150. The roundabout 55 is exactly the same size as the marathon, but you do have to rethread the harness to adjust the height. It's usually $150-$160. The Safety 1st Complete Air might be worth a look, sized similarly to the marathon 70 - perhaps a bit narrower, perhaps a bit taller. And if you really like the marathon 70, sometimes you can find those for under $200. Seats that are definitively smaller than the marathon are more likely to be outgrown RF before age 3, but you might look at the evenflo tribute and see if that seems like a viable option. It's way under your budget, and you do have to rethread the harness to adjust height, but it is small. There may be some smaller seats that I'm not thinking of as well... but, like I said, you'll want to check for growing room before you buy.

Thanks for the ideas! Just bookmarked the Complete Air to look at and the roundabout is a great idea...since we are comfortable with the install of Britax. Just looked at the Tribute...it looks so much like the Scenera which kind of scares me away. I think we want to invest a bit more in our next seat, as my husband really thinks our issues with the Scenera were "get what you pay for" problems.

[luvsviola]

I will say...I love my TrueFit. It fits older kids well because it is wide. Your 4/5 year old will appreciate the extra hip room later on. It is simple to adjust the harness height. I bought it because I do foster care and wanted something I could adjust in 2 seconds, and it fits the bill.

Evenflo Triumph is nice and easy to adjust too. My 5 year old says it is as comfy as her Frontier. DS rides in one right now.

[joyous]

I have a True Fit and Roundabout in different cars and really like them both. The True Fit is definitely bigger though. They're both easy to install and very user friendly, although the Roundabout doesn't have the no rethread harness.