Which car seats suck?

ADS

firemomof3

New member
In my experience:
Graco Comfortsport is the worst. Then, as for the rest it depends on the child & vehicle really. I wouldn't buy another Recaro Signo/Como because I don't think they are worth the $ AND because it won't fit any of my kids rf anymore. I also wouldn't buy another Young Sport because now that the Radians rf to 45lbs. (and my 2 youngest will stay rf to 45lbs) there is no point to the YS because the harness is only rated to 40lbs. I hate the 40lb. AOE and am not really loven the *new* 50lb. AOE either.
I don't think any of the Britax convertibles are worth the $ especially the CS & Advocate.
I don't like the Harmony high back boosters because of the verticle belt guides.
 

noahsmom24

Active member
Any 3 in 1 car seat, like the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite or the Eddie Bauer 3 in 1...Stay away from them! lol RF limits are only to 35 & then it harnesses only to 40lbs & then turns into a pitiful excuse for a booster with hardly any harness height/room period. I bought it with just a little research going in & would never buy anything like this again! And on top of all of that Install isn't the best either.
:)
(Sorry if anyone has a 3 in 1 like this, I used mine for a yr so I did get some use out of it but not as much as I should have been able to for what I paid for it)
 

rachelandtyke

Well-known member
I do not like the Evenflo Embrace and couldn't stand the Alpha Omegas my friend had as the straps twisted all the time.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Honestly, just like we all have our favorites, we all have our least-favorites. What I think "sucks" may be very different than what someone else thinks "sucks". I will say that I think the 40# Dorel 3-in-1 seats are probably the most likely to be misused, since they really only fit kids from about 15#-35# (don't fit little babies RFing, outgrown by height way too soon FFing, and don't work as boosters) but are advertised for 5#-100#, and for that reason, they're on my poop list.
 

abacus2

Well-known member
Cosco High Back Booster (combination seat) - It's top slots are the same as the basic Cosco convertible (Touriva when I bought it, Scenera now). It makes for a very short booster with very bad belt fit. And it's a huge pain to install.
 

babygirlsmom1005

New member
Any of Evenflo's bucket/infant seats. They have to have the handle down, 1.5 inches between the handle and seat in front of them and just a PITA peorid.

The 3 in 1's (AO, AOE, etc...), I had one, it was a pain, and did a freaking happy dance when I got to get rid of it.
 

Athena

Well-known member
Any 3 in 1 car seat, like the Cosco Alpha Omega Elite or the Eddie Bauer 3 in 1...Stay away from them! lol RF limits are only to 35 & then it harnesses only to 40lbs & then turns into a pitiful excuse for a booster with hardly any harness height/room period. I bought it with just a little research going in & would never buy anything like this again! And on top of all of that Install isn't the best either.
:)
(Sorry if anyone has a 3 in 1 like this, I used mine for a yr so I did get some use out of it but not as much as I should have been able to for what I paid for it)

But the "3 in 1" nautilus is good, right? Just not the 3 in 1 rf convertible to booster seats? Just making sure I understand correctly.

Seats I think suck are ones that are not user friendly. (but that's just my preference really .. and a seat one person finds easy to use another may not)
 
Last edited:

babygirlsmom1005

New member
But the "3 in 1" nautilus is good, right? Just not the 3 in 1 rf convertible to booster seats? Just making sure I understand correctly.

Yeah the GN is good...when most people refer to a 3 in 1, it's the RF'ing, FF'ing then poor excuse for a booster

I will say, I don't like that the GN is called a 3 in 1. I'm on another site and have had to explain to multiple people (that are not car seat crazy) that this seat is not good for their 7 month old, it's not a RF'ing seat, just a FF'ing seat. Everyone there said they didn't even realize that. It needs another name IMO.
 

WhatAboutPuppy

New member
Any infant seat with a "back adjust" harness.

On a side note it's a pet peeve of mine that Graco and Safety first seems to make these in some of the cutest covers... what gives?
 

babygirlsmom1005

New member
Any infant seat with a "back adjust" harness.

On a side note it's a pet peeve of mine that Graco and Safety first seems to make these in some of the cutest covers... what gives?

They are hiding the fact that your going to be cussing the seat later on when baby gets here....hide the PITA factor with cuteness!!!
 

noahsmom24

Active member
Honestly, just like we all have our favorites, we all have our least-favorites. What I think "sucks" may be very different than what someone else thinks "sucks". I will say that I think the 40# Dorel 3-in-1 seats are probably the most likely to be misused, since they really only fit kids from about 15#-35# (don't fit little babies RFing, outgrown by height way too soon FFing, and don't work as boosters) but are advertised for 5#-100#, and for that reason, they're on my poop list.

I agree, I'll be 100% honest with how stupid I am lol I seen 5-100lbs and thought he'd last in this seat. I got hyped up on our Alpha Omega because I was so misinformed & told dh oh this is the last seat we will buy... I wish there was more outsider knowledge about car seat safety then your pediatrician telling you its ok to turn him around now & he's just hit 1 . . .:thumbsdown: :mad: When a Pediatrician tells you its ok, most people are NOT going to question this.
I had no Idea and I am so thankful that we haven't had a wreck & a while before I found CS.org is when I started to REALLY take hold on car seat safety & if I hadn't I would have most definitely kept using the seat until he became to tall for it because I was really that misinformed & what could have happened if we had even a small wreck and he was 10 or more lbs over the weight limit Idk.
Either way the makers of these types of seats should be ashamed. The knowledge is out there and they have it and are still making these types of seats...
 

Athena

Well-known member
Yeah the GN is good...when most people refer to a 3 in 1, it's the RF'ing, FF'ing then poor excuse for a booster

I will say, I don't like that the GN is called a 3 in 1. I'm on another site and have had to explain to multiple people (that are not car seat crazy) that this seat is not good for their 7 month old, it's not a RF'ing seat, just a FF'ing seat. Everyone there said they didn't even realize that. It needs another name IMO.

Thanks! I agree about the name. I also find their minimum limits appalling. They are encouraging ff at 1 year and 20 pounds and are they kidding saying you can use it as a booster at only 3 years and 30 pounds?! That means my little 3 year old could use this as a booster?! I don't think so! A lot of people out there don't realize this is not a good idea and Graco (who does know better!) is giving people who do not know better and are not prone towards research really bad ideas. I told the rep I talked on the phone at Graco but he didn't have anything to say and I doubt he passed on my comments (the whole reason I woud say anything, to encourage change). (sorry for the rant:))
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
I don't think any seats truly suck.

There are some seats with features/requirements I don't like. There are some seats whose marketing truly sucks. There are some seats that do one thing well, but not another. There are some seats I definitely don't like, but that doesn't mean they're inherently unsafe.

There are seats I don't recommend because there are other seats that do the same thing/more for a lower/the same price. But without knowing the situation, I'm not going to make a blanket statement.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Thanks! I agree about the name. I also find their minimum limits appalling. They are encouraging ff at 1 year and 20 pounds and are they kidding saying you can use it as a booster at only 3 years and 30 pounds?! That means my little 3 year old could use this as a booster?! I don't think so! A lot of people out there don't realize this is not a good idea and Graco (who does know better!) is giving people who do not know better and are not prone towards research really bad ideas. I told the rep I talked on the phone at Graco but he didn't have anything to say and I doubt he passed on my comments (the whole reason I woud say anything, to encourage change). (sorry for the rant:))

Graco isn't encouraging it; they're being realistic about the fact that most people don't rear-face beyond 1 year and 20 lbs. Graco actually does a lot to promote extended rear-facing. (They were the first company to come out with a 40-lb RF seat, and the SafeSeat/SR32/SR35 is the longest-lasting infant seat and will get most kids well beyond 1 and 20).

The Britax Frontier has a 2 year minimum age on it, but that doesn't mean that people don't ignore it. If people actually read boxes and labels, there would probably be a lot less misuse.

I'd rather see a 1-year-old FF in a Nautilus (or Frontier) than FF in something that will be outgrown in another year.
 

nmb

New member
TOURIVA!!! I'm pretty sure it's not made anymore but that seat was awful!! Very very hard to install, Stupid plastic rings around the harness holes in the cover , almost no padding anyway, and DS was too tall to RF in it before he was a year. (This is the seat the fire dept gave us, at one of those carseat checks, while I was still pregnant, and they could not install the bucket seat so that both front seats were usable by my 6' DH....never mind us telling them repeatedly that we would almost never both be in that car, and if we were DH would be driving since I can't drive a stick....and I could sit in back...anyway)

We also had a Cosco bucket seat w/ a rear adjust and a puzzle buckle, we used it for all of a week, and it was near impossible to ever get DS buckled in. (Had to put the two sides of the harness together on top of each other and then into the crotch strap at the same time....DS was a very wiggly baby and it was hard to get it all in the right spot at the right time). I don't know what the model was though.... ? Came w/ a travel system...thankfully we got a much nicer Snugride at our baby shower and used that as our primary seat, unti 2.5 mos when we moved DS to a convertible.
 

ks1978

New member
I think this thread is going to lead to hurt feelings because not everyone can afford to purchase seats that don't "suck" to replace their "sucky" seats, you know? :twocents:
Sometimes, you just have to work with what you have.
 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member
I hated our Regal Ride. Really, truly, hated it.
I don't like the Evenflo infant seats (Embrace, I think?).

I don't like any "booster" that claims it can be used by a 1-yr old, or a 3-yr old, or at 30-lbs.

But that's *ME* and my own personal bias.
 

Athena

Well-known member
Graco isn't encouraging it; they're being realistic about the fact that most people don't rear-face beyond 1 year and 20 lbs. Graco actually does a lot to promote extended rear-facing. (They were the first company to come out with a 40-lb RF seat, and the SafeSeat/SR32/SR35 is the longest-lasting infant seat and will get most kids well beyond 1 and 20).

The Britax Frontier has a 2 year minimum age on it, but that doesn't mean that people don't ignore it. If people actually read boxes and labels, there would probably be a lot less misuse.

I'd rather see a 1-year-old FF in a Nautilus (or Frontier) than FF in something that will be outgrown in another year.

I'm so sorry. I did not mean any offense. Really it was the booster minimum I was really upset about because a lot of people really do not know that is not a good idea at that age/size. Again, so sorry.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
I'm so sorry. I did not mean any offense. Really it was the booster minimum I was really upset about because a lot of people really do not know that is not a good idea at that age/size. Again, so sorry.

No need to apologize. I wasn't personally offended at all. Just making some points. :)
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,655
Messages
2,196,895
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top