Radians/Dionos and Folding/Booster Features--Opportunity for Misuse?

I am very seriously considering getting Radians/Dionos for my car since 1. I need new seats due to a crash and 2. DD has a ridiculously tall seated height. I like the fact that Radians/Dionos are low profile (since my Escape is pretty high off the ground) and have a tall shell.

My concern is that they all fold and some (all?) convert to boosters. I have never viewed one before, but it seems to me that having a seat that comes apart in this manner makes for 1. room for user error in not putting it together properly and 2. an opportunity for a seat to accidentally fail during either normal use or a crash.

Do my concerns have any validity to them?

The seat folds, it does not come apart. There are hinges and two very large, spring-loaded locking pins that automatically engage when the seat is unfolded. There is a lever you have to move in order to disengage the locking pins and fold the seat, and that lever is under the seat and inaccessible when the seat is in use.

All you have to do to convert the seat to booster mode is take out the harness, like most other seats that convert between harness and booster. the only real room for error would be in putting the harness back in when switching back.

The seat, like all child restraints, is extensively crash tested. I have no concerns about it failing in a crash, as evidenced by the fact that my daughter rides in two Radians.

I do have some concerns about the seat's design as a booster. The RXT does not allow the shoulder belt to retract properly, and the R100 and R120 have poorly placed shoulder belt guides that probably won't fit many kids. If I end up with a Diono Radian, I won't use it as a booster.

Since you seem a bit unclear on the different versions, let me give you a quick rundown. SKJP changed their name in September if this year to Diono, at the same time that the new line of seats came out. So SKJP branded seats are a little bit older.

SKJP Radian65SL - RF to 40, FF to 65, no booster mode
SKJP Radian80SL - RF to 45, FF to 80, no booster mode
SKJP RadianXTSL - same as 80SL, but adds headwings

Diono R100 - same as 65SL, but with booster mode, booster to 100 pounds
Diono R120 - same as 80SL, but with booster mode, booster to 120 pounds
Diono RXT - same as XTSL, but with booster mode, booster to 120 pounds

I wouldn't buy a Radian for booster use, but as Pixels said I don't think having the booster belt guides hurts anything. I have a Diono on the way right now and a child that's just the right height and weight to use it as a booster so I'll be testing her out in it that way just for fun to see how the belt fits.

I think once you saw and played with a Radian in person, you would feel a lot more confident about it. Yes, there's a lot of room for mis-use on the Radian (as, frankly there is on pretty much every car seat), but the folding feature doesn't really contribute to that, I don't think. Well, except for ONE thing. There are little slots in the covers that look for all the world like straps should be routed through them, so it could be pretty easy to mis-route the straps if you removed them and put them back in through the slots. I think those little slots have something to do with letting the fabric shift when the seat is folded.

If you're prepared to sit down and read the manual carefully, like you should be doing with any car seat, I would encourage you to give the Radian serious consideration. It's a really nice car seat and fits a broad range of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers exceedingly well.