Please give me your opinions on the Radian XTSL

gigi

New member
My son is going to be 3 in 6 weeks and currently is RFing in a Boulevard. I'm interested in keeping him RF but I'm not convinced on the Radian. I don't want a Complete Air b/c it seems rickety and cheap to me and the My Ride seems like a majorly redundant purchase for an extra couple of months of use (he's REALLY close to the top). The Radian at least could hopefully harness him until he was ready for a booster.

I'm hoping someone will please tell me I'm not going to dislike the Radian after use as much as I dislike it now? My son was 34 pounds dressed last night after dinner, so I'm starting to think I'm going to need a new RFing seat sooner than in a few months. It seems like his spurt has hit b/c a pair of pants that were long a couple of weeks ago seemed to fit fine yesterday. I REALLY don't want to drop another $300 on a seat, but I am too freaked to turn him forward. However, after taking a long look at the Radian up close yesterday, I was bummed about a bunch of its features.

1) No no-rethread harness?!? Come on Radian...that is ridiculous in a top of the line seat.

2) It didn't seem to install at all well with seatbelts in my car and there aren't lock offs. How do you ever travel with a seat that huge that can't be installed with seatbelts well? Please tell me it is easy to FF with seatbelts? I was just in the UK and my cousin's 2004 Volvo XC70 didn't have latch, locking seat belts, or tethers so this is a salient issue for me. The only reason my son was able to use a car seat at all is that my Britax has lock offs!

3) I'm really, really hoping that I can get the RF angle more upright with some more work than I was willing to put in yesterday in the rain with the sales guy breathing down my neck and my son freaking out. Otherwise it is not going to fit in my big ol new car. Unless you are willing to lick the dashboard while you ride shotgun, I'm not sure how that sucker fits in anyone's car outboard.

And lastly, and I consider this a huge bummer, it is made in China! I don't really trust Chinese manufacturing standards for safety equipment. I'm by no means anti-Chinese but I prefer my safety equipment be made in a culture that places more emphasis on consistent manufacturing standards (and my Chinese friends warn of the same thing) - on top of that, I am trying to buy locally to avoid excessive transportation emissions. I do think for $300 the seat shouldn't be made in China!
 
ADS

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
Well, I wanted to keep my then almost 3 year old rear facing also. So I got the radian xtsl, from elite, on sale, with free shipping and return insurance (along with a monterey for my huge 7 year old). What vehicle? I was able to get a great more upright install in my conversion van, with latch, because of the squishy rear of the seats, and playing with the recline of the vehicle seat. Even my large 4 year old could still fit height wise in it rf (just barely). I feel it was worth it. He came out of a rf decathlon, by way of a boulevard (I passed the boulevard to baby when he outgrew his keyfit at about 6-7 months by height, and moved then 2 year old to dds decathlon that she had outgrown by 3.25). I really like the seat. Plus, I have baby to pass it on to, since I am sure he will most likely need to to get to at least 3 rf. So, I justified it. It is all up to you.

Then again, I like the complete air, also. I think it has its place, and if I finally get my license, I will get one for ds for the sienna.
 

featherhead

Well-known member
1) No no-rethread harness?!? Come on Radian...that is ridiculous in a top of the line seat.

I can answer this one. I can't remember where I saw it, either on the Sunshine Kids website, or maybe it was the chat transcript with Sunshine Kids. Anyway, basically, they have decided not to do a no-rethread harness, because they believe it weakens the seat. I can see that. Instead of just having one solid seat with a few holes in it, you have two or more pieces that have to be held together somehow.

One reason I love my Radian is because of how solid it is. Another reason is the amount of leg room while rear-facing. And really, you don't have to change the harness height very often. My daughter has been using the same harness slots for at least a year.
 

firemomof3

New member
I can't say enough good things about the Radian :love: Its a very solid seat, the crash test results speak for themselves! As far as installation...it can be a learning curve :p What is the year, make & model of your vehicle?
I've had my Radian with a 3mo. all the way up to my 6.5y/o and I just love it :love:
 

gigi

New member
I have an 07 Subaru Tribeca. I tried it briefly in the back seat and it was a tight fit, but it was with a whiny kid in the rain so, you know, I wasn't trying that hard.

There are just SO many things I don't like about the seat that I LOVE about my Britax that I'm having a hard time giving up the Boulevard. At the same time, I'm having a really hard time turning my 33ish pound son and he's about to hit the limit on the seat, so I'm trying to convince myself that the things I don't like about it will ebb in time.
 

MoreLatte

New member
Well, as a die-hard Britax fan, I can tell you I'm in love with our XTSL. I bought it to use in my sedan, which DD only rides in once in a while, but then ended up putting it in our other vehicle(her main ride,lol).

I had my mind set that I wasn't going to like it because I love the Marathon so much. I thought I'd just use it for a week or so and see how it went. Well, the Marathons are both sitting in the house now and haven't been used for well over a month. I really love the low profile of the seat, it makes getting her in and out so much easier.

I'd suggest buying it somewhere with free return shipping or shipping insurance, then you can send it back if it doesn't work out.
 

stephcali

New member
I'll be honest and say that I don't love my Radian (in fact my DH strongly dislikes it). I've had a Marathon for almost 3 years that I absolutely love, and a Frontier which I really really like too (not quite as much as the Marathon though ;)). I told my DH if the Marathon and the Radian had a child then it would be the absolute best car seat in the world :p I bought the Radian (XTSL version) for one purpose and that was for the ERF benefits. We turned my DD1 back around when we got it (she was well over 35lbs at the time) and my DD2 seems to be following in her weight gain trend so I know we'll get a lot of RF use out of it.

The biggest reason I decided to get it was to turn my DD back RF (which ended up being about 2 months) and because I have 2 more kids to pass it on to. Since my DD1 wasn't able to RF until 2 even it was a no brainier to me because I really want to RF them until at least 3 (I'd like longer, but since DD2 seems to be built the same as DD1 it probably won't be too much longer than that). So I think if keeping your DS RF is important to you then you won't be disappointed with that part.

I will say though that it has been my favorite car seat for airplane travel. Much easier than lugging the Marathon on the plane! And I used seat belt installs when we were on vacation (FF only) and didn't have a problem at all.

So all in all I do not regret my Radian purchase at all, even though I don't love it I'm so glad they made it and I have one. If it wasn't for their very high RF limits I would probably have to turn all my kids FF before they turn 2.
 

gigi

New member
Thank you so much everyone for your reviews and opinions.

I'm so conflicted on what to do. I'd really like to be comfortable turning my son in a month or so when he gains the extra pound and he will be right on the dot of his 3rd birthday, but I'm just nervous. NO ONE I know has kept their kid RFing longer than maybe 20 months (at the most...for most it was like 12-13) and everyone thinks I"m nuts. I'm starting to think I'm nuts for buying ANOTHER car seat for a 3 year old to rear face.

I think you are right that I need to try it out in my car and I'll likely order from Diapers.com to do so. I'm just so conflicted on ordering yet another car seat at all! This will make about $800 in convertible car seats for 1 kid in one car in 2.5 years! That is a lot.
 

Pixels

New member
The forward facing seatbelt install is difficult until you learn the Radian's quirks. It's a quirky seat.

You can install any carseat in a vehicle with a lap-shoulder belt, even if the belt doesn't lock. That's what a locking clip (or lockoff) is for.
 

gigi

New member
My question on the locking clip is - who would think to carry a car seat clip with them on vacation? I wouldn't. And thank god for my Britax and the lockoffs or my son would have been in a booster for two weeks for lack of options (or I would have had to spend 200 on a new car seat for no reason).

I just don't understand why Sunshine Kids makes a seat so freaking difficult to use/install. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of their supposed safety? I mean, if most people using the seat aren't using it properly b/c it is hard to figure out what is the point? Ease of install, in my opinion, should be an important part of carseat design. I know most of us here make it a priority to figure out how to use a seat, but most everyone else doesn't.
 

Jennifer mom to my 7

Well-known member
Most, if not all, carseats have a spot on the seat where the locking clip is stored. So, if you aren't using it, it most likely stays on the seat, kwim? My radian clip is still on the seat. I bet my nautilus clip is still there, also. Here is a pic where an older snugride locking clip would go.
VID00070.jpg


Most people don't even know they are there;)
 

jenfrogmom

New member
We just bought one this week and I love it! I am / was a diehard Britax fan, too. I think I am going to sell my mossy oak marathon and get another xtsl. So happy with how it istalls in our van and fits our 6 week old! :thumbsup:
 

finn

New member
I clip a locking clip onto the shoulder strap of our spare seat when it's not in use, just in case I need one to install it :whistle:
 

tl01

New member
My question on the locking clip is - who would think to carry a car seat clip with them on vacation? I wouldn't. And thank god for my Britax and the lockoffs or my son would have been in a booster for two weeks for lack of options (or I would have had to spend 200 on a new car seat for no reason).

I just don't understand why Sunshine Kids makes a seat so freaking difficult to use/install. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of their supposed safety? I mean, if most people using the seat aren't using it properly b/c it is hard to figure out what is the point? Ease of install, in my opinion, should be an important part of carseat design. I know most of us here make it a priority to figure out how to use a seat, but most everyone else doesn't.

I think the seat is hard to install the first few times but once you understand how to do it, it can be done quickly. I find my Radian to be incredibly simple to install now with LATCH or seat belt. I love my Radian. I had a Blvd or my son and I like the Radian much more. I think the seat belt install is easier with the Radian for me now than the Blvd was. I think part of what makes the Radian more tricky to install is that it doesn't have a base so longer belt buckles can be more of a challenge. In many respects though, the lower profile of the Radian is nice so there's a bit of give and take. The learning curve is steeper but I bet you will find it isn't such a problem after installing it a few times. Just order it from somewhere and get the return insurance just in case.
 

trippsmom

CPST Instructor
:eek: I keep locking clips in my diaper bag. So we always have one with us. :eek:

I have a spare on the shoulder strap of every diaper bag I own... Most seats have one somewhere on the seat body. I think the Radian's is just right on the back. :thumbsup:
 

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