Question newbie question- 2nd car car seats (ontario canada)

first i just want to say this forum is awesome! i dont know too many people who take their childrens car seat safety as seriously as me and i just dont get it! (once i got pulled over for some made up accusation and they tried to pull some "oh your car seats dont look right" and i was like "oh you just go right ahead and inspect those!!" and of course they couldnt find anything wrong.)

okay, here is my prob. i have two boys, 3.5 year old 41 inches and 36 pounds and a 1.5 year old 26 pounds and 31 inches. for the longest time my hb and i just had one car (2006 jetta tdi). when ds#1 was one year old i purchased the britax marathon for him and then when ds#2 hit one year i moved ds#2 to the marathon(this one only has the 5phrness to 50pds) and purchased a britax frontier for ds#1. great!
now we have purchased a 97 acura integra as a second car(small back seat). it is agreed that whoever has the boys will be using the jetta but ocasionally the person with the integra will need to pick up the boys from daycare (twice a month, 5 minutes from my house). i personally dont care about the cost, i had already picked out my two britax carseats BUT my hb said i am crazy for wanting to spend $500 for two car seats that will be used 10 minutes a month. SO, i need to find two good quality car seats for less. i want convertable seats so that i can keep using them as my kids grow (they are both tall and cost me a small fortune in food and clothes already!!) but all the *cheap* carseats my hb is looking at of course have good reviews yada yada but i want to make sure. i know 5 minutes is more than enough time to have an accident in and i would die of guilt if i knew my children were hurt cause i cheaped out.
HELP!!

For your 3 year old you could try the Evenflo Maestro. It harnesses to 47 lbs. It also turns into a booster, but doesn't last very long as a booster. But by the time your 3 year old outgrows it, the 1 year old would possibly be ready for it

For the 1 year old I would probably go for a Scenera rear-facing. It rear-faces to 35 lbs, forward faces to 40 lbs. Or, you could get a higher weight rear-facing seat like the Graco MyRide which would last quite a bit longer than a Scenera.

I'd get the Maestro for your older son as featherhead suggested and a convertible seat that rear-faces to 35 or 40 lb for your younger son. Presumably you'll want to keep him RFing longer than the Marathon will allow, at least in your primary car so I'd pick a seat like the Graco My Ride, Safety First Complete Air, First Years True Fit, etc and then when he outgrows the Marathon RFing, I'd move the MA to the secondary car FFing and whatever else you decide on to the primary car RFing.

First thought that comes to my mind would also be the True Fit - it regularly goes on sale at Zellers for $149 (I think), and would be good for DS#1 to be harnessed FF to 65 lbs and DS#2 to be RF until 35 lbs. You'd have to check on the fit in the car, though, but with the RF one, because of your son's age, it could be installed quite upright so there's a better chance it would fit than if you needed the newborn recline.

ETA: The TF doesn't turn into a booster, but you should get long enough use out of the harness that in a few years when DS#1 is ready for a booster then you can buy a dedicated booster.

Also, just a quick note; you may also want to try both kiddos in any seat you're considering to make sure they fit and are at least reasonably comfy - you never know if you might end up using these seats for a long trip (say in the case that the other car with it's seats is involved in a crash or something).

HTH & good luck,
Melissa

thanks so much for all your input!

i think this is what i am going to do.... buy the evenflo maestro for my 3 year old for the *new* car and buy the graco my ride for my 1 year old for the *old* car and put the marathon thats in the old car in the new car for the 1 year old. it bothered me that the maestro only has the 5ph to 47 pounds but then i figured when ds1 gets to 47pds maybe i can switch seats and put him in the graco and ds2 in the meastro and then switch them again when ds1 gets to 65 pounds (or ds2 gets to 47pds) that way i can keep them both in the 5ph to 65 pounds. i think this makes sense lol.

Your plan sounds like a good one. I don't mean to burst your bubble but I do want to mention that it is extremely unlikely that you will get your boys to 65lbs harnessed. Most children will outgrow a harnessed restraint by height before then, often around 50lbs. An exception to this may be the new Frontier XT with higher harness slots than we have seen on any other seat to date. Provided your older son is ~5 years old and at least 40lbs when he outgrows the harness of the Maestro, it is perfectly safe to have him in a highback booster that fits him well and that he is able to sit properly in. In my opinion there is more safety to be gained by keeping your younger son RFing to the limits of the My Ride than in attempting to harness your older son as long as possible. There's no data that I'm aware of that demonstrates that a child that is of the appropriate age, size and maturity for a booster is any safer in a harnessed seat than in a properly used booster. Just something to think about. Hope I didn't confuse the matter any more for you.

thanks amy, i did actually read a few other posts that are making me think this too. also the fact that both my kids are tall, especially ds1 definitly makes me question how long he will be harnessed, but i will try to keep him in one as long as i can. i am embarrassed to say that before reading this site i had already turned my ds2 ff but after reading all this stuff on the benefits of rf i will def be turning him back again. my only problem is that this second car is two door and i am not sure how accessable he is going to be rear facing in a coupe but i will try.