Radian or complete air for Subaru outback wagon 2001

I was planning on getting the Radian for longer rear facing time but I noticed that this week the Complete Air is on sale (and comes with a $40 Target card). That is a pretty good deal--I could get the two seats for just over the cost of one Radian. However, the rear facing weight limits are lower.

My daughter is still under 30 lbs and I have another baby who can use these seats. Should I just keep holding out to save for the Radian or go after a great deal. I am not sure which would fit best in my car also.

I think that will ultimately come down to personal preference. Both seats are good seats that will keep little ones rear facing and harnessed for quite some time. It RF to 40lbs while the XTSL and 80SL rf to 45lbs but, for most children, a 40lb weight limit is plenty. The CA does only harness forward to 50lbs but this limit is enough for children on the light side. I have the XTSL and one of the biggest issues, besides incompatibility, is getting the seat more upright for older babies and toddlers. I was lucky and was able to get ours very upright for my 2 yr old but I have a CX-7, so a very different vehicle than yours. I've heard the CA is a PITA to install but is easier to get more upright.
How old is your daughter? My 29 month old is 36lbs so I think he will need the 45lb weight limit because I think he'll hit 40lbs before we are ready to forward face him. If he was under 30lbs at this age, I wouldn't hesitate to get a seat that RF to 40lbs. I'm not a fan of the complete Air and I love my Radian so my opinion is a bit bias.

My daughter is 31 months and around 29-30 lbs dressed. She is a string bean, though, being long and skinny. Our second child is keeping with the trend (I am really tall) and she is very, very (off the charts for her age group) long.

Right now, we have two vehicles: Subaru outback/legacy (um, wagon!) and a Isuzu Rodeo. Within the year or next, we are hoping to get a mini van. While I would prefer to keep the kids rear-facing as long as possible, I also want a seat that is safe if I have to go front facing. Having the larger weight limit is nice because I could use it rear-facing longer in van when we get one (for either child). Right now, my daughter is in a rear facing Britax Boulevard and it is tight. As the baby is going to need a rear facing convertible soon and our elder child is near the rear facing limit, I thought it is time to start shopping around. The plan is to move the baby into the rear-facing Britax and get a new seat for our eldest child. If the seat can fit rear facing, it would be "bonus" at this point because we were so close to having to change around the Britax anyways. I really would love to extend her rear facing time provided we can still drive the cars!

With that price for the Complete Air I would probably go with that. What year are your vehicles? I could see the Radian's not fitting well in those vehicles because of the recline space it needs. The complete air is much easier to install more upright.

aeormsby said:

With that price for the Complete Air I would probably go with that. What year are your vehicles? I could see the Radian's not fitting well in those vehicles because of the recline space it needs. The complete air is much easier to install more upright.

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The subaru is 2001 and the Isuzu is 1996.

I had a radian in an '01 outback and rfing behind the passenger there was very little room for anyone to ride there. With a lot of work and time, I did get it to install in the middle and go between the seats, but it was a real pain and not as good of an install as I could get outboard (still acceptable). For those reasons I would do the CA.