Air Protect vs. Symphony 65 vs. Alpha omega in PT cruiser

victoriar1

New member
I have a 2005 PT cruiser, and need a carseat to fit rear facing and in the center of backseat preferably. we have it narrowed down to our top 3 picks:
Safety 1st complete air
evenflo symphony 65
and safety 1st alpha omega elite

We need some help with which seat will fit RF in the pt and which seat would be better overall. My daughter is very petite, but tall, and would like her to RF as long as posible.

thanks
 
ADS

Evolily

New member
Of those three, Complete Air, no question. Is the 65 lb version available yet? If it is, I would get that version, simply because the seat has tall top slots and may actually last over 50 lbs forward facing.

The booster mode on the alpha omega elite positions the belt unsafely on the vast majority of children. Plus it only rear faces to 35 lbs, and has about the same shell as the Complete Air- so basically it has no advantage over the Complete Air. The Symphony is a nice seat, and the booster fit is generally acceptable, however it also only rear faces to 35 lbs and it will be outgrown by torso height before the Complete Air. I would tend to suggest either the Evenflo Triumph Advance or the Evenflo Momentum (versions that rear face to 40 lbs) over the symphony, as the booster mode is short lived and the EFTA will generally save you more than the cost of a booster over the symphony while having most of the perks.

I'm wondering why you narrowed it down to those three seats? If you were looking for a 3 in 1 type seat (rear face, forward face, booster) the complete air does not perform that function, HOWEVER the seats that do tend to not have the best belt fit and tend to be outgrown relatively quickly. Plus you would likely need to buy a booster anyway, because of car seat expiration dates and torso height limitations.
 

victoriar1

New member
Our reasoning for these three is based on the side impact protection and the fact that we wanted to buy locally and not online, and these were the best options available to us (living in small town in canada). i dont believe i have seen the two you mentioned at all here in our stores. will the 65lb version complete air be available in canada soon?
 

Evolily

New member
Our reasoning for these three is based on the side impact protection and the fact that we wanted to buy locally and not online, and these were the best options available to us (living in small town in canada). i dont believe i have seen the two you mentioned at all here in our stores. will the 65lb version complete air be available in canada soon?

Not sure. As for side impact protection, that is just smart marketing. All five point harnesses have side impact protection. All rear facing seats have side impact protection. Deep shells/headwings and energy absorbing materials may increase the protection, however we have no way to 'grade' seats based on their protection. There are no standard tests or independent agencies testing when it comes to side impact protection- while one company might have sophisticated testing and tight standards another might just "throw a seat against a wall" and say it passed. There's no way to tell the difference. Plus, when we're talking about rear facing, we're talking about a HUGE increase in side impact protection over forward facing.

Since you're in Canada, I'm not sure about the exact rear facing weight limits- I'm not sure if the Momentum and Triumph Advance have higher weight limits or not. The Sunshine Kids Radian does, and I believe (although I could be wrong) that the Graco MyRide also has higher weight limits.
 

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