Evenflo Triumph Advance LX (Canada)

[TechnoGranola]

1 thumb down because it doesn't work RF in an '07 Yaris sedan.
1 thumb down because it doesn't work RF in an '08 Acura MDX.

The reason it doesn't work in either is the same in both cases. The design places the adjuster knobs and harness release at the front of the seat. This means you need access in front of the knobs to be able to easily tighten or to loosen the harness. Both the MDX and the Yaris have the sides of the seats curve in towards the passenger for comfort. This means that the harness release lever (red lever) digs into the seat and makes it very difficult to access. Even if you decided to make the effort to access it, since it digs into the seat, you'd eventually wear out your seat (and wreck you leather if you have it) by having the lever continually digging up and down as you pressed it.

We just bought our MDX a few days ago and almost every vehicle we test drove had rear seats that came in on the side. This means that the ETA isn't designed to fit a lot of modern vehicles. I am guessing that it would work if the back of the rear seat was completely flat, but we honestly didn't test drive a vehicle that had that. Evenflo needs to check out current vehicles and redesign that knob so it is further back along the sides.

Having the seat in the middle would alleviate this issue, but the fact is that it is a wide seat and placed in the middle of the Yaris would mean a VERY cramped space for the outboard passengers. It's not much better in the MDX and also crowds the passengers.

Additionally, in the Yaris, this seat takes up a lot of space front to back. So, the passenger seat has to be fairly far forward which isn't as safe for the passenger. It is a small vehicle, but this seat takes up more room front to back than the Graco SafeSeat, the seat had to be moved up one notch to fit the ETA. (note that the SafeSeat is always installed in the Yaris without the base which may take up less room than with the base).

The recline action was also a bit clunky, but not something you would need to do often, so not a big deal.

The chest clip was like a puzzle piece, so it was finicky to do up. Likely something you'd get used to, but I found it easy to catch clothing (or fingers!) in.

Harness straps are the soft, thin webbing which I know from past experience, eventually softens even more and twists like a darn.

In the end, I am disappointed. I wish they would have put some more thought into the design and set back the adjustor knobs/harness release, used thicker harness webbing, and made a chest clip that wasn't such an odd design.

I didn't test it FF because I need RF for at least another year and a half. FF didn't matter to me at this point.

[TechnoGranola]

Thought I'd add a little update. I tested the seat in both vehicles again today and confirmed that it is not acceptable in either.

I tried every recline angle of the rear seat in the MDX and none make the use of the knob/lever any better. It goes from bad to worse. The knob and lever are actually jammed into the seat back making it super hard, if not impossible to use the knob, and making the red lever impossible to use (it digs into the seat so much that the seat will not allow it to press down).

I also tested it in the centre position of the MDX. The knob/lever is useable now, but there is no room for passengers. The MDX has a nice roomy back seat and I am a stick and weigh just over 100 pounds, and could not sit in the outboard seat without resting my arm on the EFTA. This would be fine for occasional use, but not if you have to sit back there on a daily basis (and my older one who is pretty much the same width as me, just not as tall) does have to sit there everyday.

As for the Yaris, the fit with respect to the knobs/levers isn't as bad as in the MDX, but still not easy to use and would be a constant source of frustration for the grandparents.

So, it went back to Sears this evening.

I am going to send Evenflo an email and tell them that they consider testing their seat in some current vehicles, and then re-evaluating the placement of the knob/lever. Perhaps this design worked whenever they first release the Triumph, but this is not the case now. Our MDX is less than a week old, and we test drove about 10 vehicles before we purchased. All had rear seat with side bolsters that came forward at least somewhat. Evenflo is eliminating a lot of purchasers of this seat.

[The Bjorns]

Hmmmm, I wonder if my RDX would have the same issues. I'll have to check my seats. Any way you could post a picture of your MDX's seats? What year is your MDX? Is it the new redesigned model? If so, I'm guessing it won't work in my RDX since they're extremely similar design-wise.

Thanks for the info!
Diane

[TechnoGranola]

Yes, my MDX is the redesigned model, it's an '08. Thanks for asking that question, I have now updated the first post with the years of the vehicles it didn't work in for me.

I don't have pics of my interior, and it's dark out right now, but I did find a pic of the '07 rear seats which are the same as the '08.

[The Bjorns]

Good picture--Thanks! Now I'll have to check mine out. I would imagine quite a few newer models have similar seats that would make installation hard to impossible.

[The Bjorns]

After comparing the RDX and MDX website gallery pix, I think mine might be compatible. I checked Mazda's website for gallery pix of the Mazda 3 (mother's car) and I think hers won't be a problem. I guess this is a case of less plush is better. Since I can't imagine having to switch out the seats between cars, I feel pretty safe thinking it will work. Excellent review!