Britax Marathon 65 g3

[kirst]

My son has just outgrown his Graco Snugride 22 bucket seat and I had bought an Eddie Bauer 3 way convertible seat for him. I had a difficult time installing it into my car, a Mitsubishi Outlander (not a small vehicle at all) because it takes up so much room that the passenger front seat has to be all the way forward to have the carseat rearfacing, and even then, it was slip sliding around. The harness was also impossible to tighten enough on my son, so I returned it and got a Britax Marathon 65 G3 today.

This Britax seems very sturdy with the metal bars and I like how the shoulder straps are so easily adjustable. My son seems to like it, as when I put him in it to try it out, he didn't want to get out of it.
My only concern is that it seems like it may not have much "room to grow" into and it was very expensive compared to other carseats I looked at today. Not that I want to skimp on safety, but not sure if there is going to be a serious lack of leg room or not with this seat rear-facing.

My son is a big kid already at 7 months, so I'm just kind of wondering what other parents' experiences were with this seat? My impression, when he was sitting in it is that there is only about and inch on either side of his hips and shoulders to grow into.

[mpink22]

My 5 year old 40 pound son uses a Marathon. The leg room thing is not an issue - they usually just cross their legs or prop them on the seat when they are longer than the seat.

[kirst]

Okay, good to note. I take it that is your five year old son in your avatar....he looks average build (not too slight or way chunky). I really like this car seat so hoping it would take me through the next 3-4 years. I realize I may need to buy a booster at some point. Thanks.