Evenflo Maestro Review!! VERY Pic Heavy

firemomof3 · Dec 21, 2009

The Maestro I ordered from Sears finally came

I am VERY impressed and excited about this seat! For $79 its a great alternative to the GN. It harnesses up to 50lbs. and with the seat fabric compressed I got 18.25 for the top slots

First thought about this seat is that is lightweight and easy to carry around. Its a very simple design that is very user-friendly and super easy to install :thumbsup: It has a taller belt path so this seat should work nicely for those who have to do a seat belt install with long belt stalks. It has dual cup holders, 2 crotch strap positions, its very easy to change harness slots and it tightens/loosens smoothly and evenly. The cover is very simple/easy to take on/off.

Now, what I don't like about the seat; the impact foam on the head rest is thin and does not come all the way down/around the head piece. The pic is kinda dark so I outlined the edge of the seat. I don't think that this a big deal because when my dd2 sat in the seat her head was within the protection of the impact foam:

Here is dd2 she will be 4 in Feb. is 30lbs. and 39" tall w/13" torso. She is on the 2nd harness slots. In the 2nd photo you can see the belt guide for when used as a booster :thumbsdown:

Next thing I don't like about the seat is that as you can see in this pic, the harness straps seem to be slightly tight against her neck which bothered her. She also was not able to do the harness herself...which might be a good thing

Here is the back & the splitter plate, very simple & easy to use

firemomof3 · Dec 21, 2009

Installed in the captains seat of an 06 Kia Sedona...install took less than a minute

thepeach80 · Dec 21, 2009

Awesome!

jess71903 · Dec 21, 2009

Wow, I'm more impressed than I thought I would be! It looks great! The side pic even looks a lot like the GN.

carseatcoach · Dec 21, 2009

Thanks! Would you mind testing booster belt positioning on your daughter? I'm curious how it fits littles.

Maedze · Dec 21, 2009

the *fantastic* rep is from me, I forgot to sign it :doh:

But yeah, FANTASTIC. This looks like a great coalition seat. If only the weight limit were a *hair* higher.

steph_s · Dec 21, 2009

I'm in love with this seat! If the harnesses were a hair wider I would love it more. Finally something under $100 that will fit older kids and convert to a booster seat like the Nautilus! I can't tell you how many times I recommend the Nauti only to find out the parents don't have the budget for even a $150 seat!

Maedze · Dec 21, 2009

steph_s said:
I'm in love with this seat! If the harnesses were a hair wider I would love it more. Finally something under $100 that will fit older kids and convert to a booster seat like the Nautilus! I can't tell you how many times I recommend the Nauti only to find out the parents don't have the budget for even a $150 seat!

To be fair, this seat doesn't look like it's going to make a great booster. I'll reserve judgement till I see it on a kid, but based on the location of the belt guides it looks like another Evenflo belly-killer special.

Mommy0608 · Dec 21, 2009

Wow, that's quite a nice seat for $79! :thumbsup: I agree with whoever said it would be great for coalitions. Ours does use Evenflo seats, so hopefully we'll be getting some of these.

Does the headrest tend to push her head out, creating head slump? I know that's a common complaint with the Nautilus, just wondering how this compares. In the side view of your DD in the seat, it looks like her face is tilted down just a little... not sure if that's because of the seat or just how she's sitting.

Thank you so much for taking pics and posting your review!

Mae · Dec 21, 2009

Looks very nice!

Am I the only one who noticed that the chestclip actually says "Place at armpit level" ?

Most just have pictures of where to place it, which most people don't even notice.

:thumbsup:

MomToEliEm · Dec 21, 2009

Looks like a great seat. Can you take some pictures of some older kids harnessed in it as well as them using it as a booster?

LISmama810 · Dec 21, 2009

Thanks!

Unimportant question, but are those "open" cup holders? It looks like the front it just a strip of fabric or plastic. My DS likes to put toys in his cup holder, so I'd worry about them sliding out. (That won't keep me from recommending the seat--just curious.)

carseatcoach · Dec 21, 2009

Maedze said:
But yeah, FANTASTIC. This looks like a great coalition seat. If only the weight limit were a *hair* higher.

Especially because Evenflo tends to have pretty good bulk pricing. I'm hoping they'll do it for this as well, even if they have to use the institutional blue cover.

sirrahn · Dec 21, 2009

Could you measure how wide the whole seat is? I'm debating a 2nd seat for DD2 and need something narrowish.

Laurette · Dec 21, 2009

By chance, anyone know the top slot height for the Nautilus? I'm also interested in width measurements.

mburks26 · Dec 21, 2009

Laurette said:
By chance, anyone know the top slot height for the Nautilus? I'm also interested in width measurements.

18 to 18.50 around that for the top slots in the Nautilus and I measusred arm rest to arm rest when I 1st got the seat it was 19 inchs wide or so.

joolsplus3 · Dec 21, 2009

LISmama810 said:
Thanks!

Unimportant question, but are those "open" cup holders? It looks like the front it just a strip of fabric or plastic. My DS likes to put toys in his cup holder, so I'd worry about them sliding out. (That won't keep me from recommending the seat--just curious.)

It's an elastic strip, not sure if you've seen the Amp, but that's what that booster has, too... cup-shaped with elastic holder. Maybe stick a cup in there and he can keep his little toys in IT?

firemomof3 · Dec 21, 2009

Here is my dd1 she is 6.5y/o 45lbs. 49" tall w/17" torso. She wears a size 6xpants and is skinny. She still had growing room and said it was comfy. The crotch strap is on the longer side so it will be great for bigger kids

She doesn't have much leg support:

OK so now for booster mode

The lap belt fit was fantastic!! But I don't understand the shoulder portion

As you can see, the headrest needs to move up...but it doesn't so how the heck is a child suppose to use this seat in booster mode after they have outgrown the harness? I'm off to play with the seat again...it just seems like the headrest really should move up.

firemomof3 · Dec 21, 2009

sirrahn said:
Could you measure how wide the whole seat is? I'm debating a 2nd seat for DD2 and need something narrowish.

From cup holder to cup holder its just under 19" wide.

steph_s · Dec 21, 2009

Just looking at the lower belt portion I figured it would be an ok fit, but if that head rest doesn't raise then this seat is a MAJOR flop! It won't be competitive to the Nautilus and while you could recommend the seat to parents as a good alternative for higher harnessing, I fear that parents would use it in seat belt mode their child grows once and then they put them straight into a seat belt because the booster doesn't go any higher!

I would think it would adjust since they advertise it as an innovative headrest design that allows the vehicle belt to self-adjust to your child's height while in booster mode. Then again perhaps it's self-adjusts because you kid won't fit in it any higher than at the lowest setting! No way a child could get to 100lbs in that seat though if the head rest doesn't go up! Also have concerns about even a 70lbs child using it as a booster seat considering there isn't a lot of leg support.

Evenflo Maestro Review!! VERY Pic Heavy

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