Question Help with FF/booster combo carseat choice, please!

I could use your collective wisdom!

I have two sons, both small, ages 3+ (~27#, ~36") and 4.75 (~35-40#, not sure of height). They are currently riding in a Britax Boulevard CS (the 3 year old, RF) and a Britax Advocate (the 4.75 year old, FF). Unfortunately, something has happened to the Boulevard, and the harness refuses to loosen or tighten when installed in the car, even after multiple re-installs, multiple checks of the harness, calls to customer service, etc. We cannot find the cause, but it is definitely not working properly.

Right now, the harness is set to a serviceable tightness, but I want to replace the carseat ASAP. I was really dismayed at the thought of buying a new carseat, as I expected these to last for several more years. But then I realized I could give the Advocate to the 3 year old and buy my older son a new seat that could serve as a 5-point FF restraint now and a booster later.

So, my questions are:

1) Am I missing any other options?
2) What FF/booster carseats are out there? Which would you recommend?

If it makes a difference, the carseats are installed outboard on our 2010 Forester. Bonus points if there is a FF/booster out there that is both inexpensive and slightly narrower than the Britaxes, since my mother-in-law sometimes crams herself in between the two carseats to ride in the backseat.

Thanks!

Some of my favorite combination seats are the Britax frontier90, Britax Pioneer70, graco Argos/nautilus, harmony defender, evenflo securekid 300/400 and evenflo maestro.

The maestro has 50# harness weight limit and is outgrown as a booster by height very quickly after the harness is outgrown. However it is the most affordable and is quite narrow.

The securekid and defender are also narrow and have 65# harness weight limits and are long lasting boosters and generally cost around $100.

The graco and britax seats are quite wide and heavy but the frontier will last much longer as a harness seat than anything else and has the clicktight install that is super easy.

I think it's definitely a good idea to get a FF combo seat since you only need one RF seat.

We've only had Frontiers since our convertibles (both the older styles, an 80 & 85). The older one (80) we are currently using as a booster for my DD. You may even find some of the 85's still on sale at a discount as the newer styles are out.

The Recaro combo seats are well liked also. I haven't used them but we love our Recaro boosters.

For narrow options the Harmony & Evenflo will probably be your best options.

Thanks for all the great information!

After I wrote my question, I ran across the Recaro Performance Sport Combo. Do you have any thoughts or opinions on this seat? I realize it does not, at first blush, seem inexpensive -- but if my son can continue riding harnessed until 90 pounds and then in the seat until 120 pounds, it seems like it might be the last carseat he will need.

jlpoirier said:

Thanks for all the great information!

After I wrote my question, I ran across the Recaro Performance Sport Combo. Do you have any thoughts or opinions on this seat? I realize it does not, at first blush, seem inexpensive -- but if my son can continue riding harnessed until 90 pounds and then in the seat until 120 pounds, it seems like it might be the last carseat he will need.

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There is a review here http://carseatblog.com/24022/ I have not owed one even though it always catches my eye but I have giant children. I do not however think very many children make it to 90lbs I'm thinking most out grow it by height before they reach 90lbs. I can say that I love my britax frontier 85 and frontier 90 (But again my little people are average and above average in height and weight so I need that extra height found in the britax seat.)

Ditto on the fact that most kids will outgrow these harnesses in height long before weight. Manufacturers focus so much on the weight limits, when most kids will outgrow these seats by height long before. My DD just outgrew her Frontier 85 harness by height at a mere 52 pounds and that's one of the tallest harnesses available. With that said, she is very thin and tall and even though she wasn't 85 pounds, she made it to 7yo, at which time she is ready to be in a booster, and it's working great as a booster for her, so I have no regrets about getting this seat. I did regret buying a shorter harnessed seat first, but only because my kids are tall. Since your kids aren't tall, something like the Recaro might be a great choice. I can't believe anyone manages to squish between your two seats now, but if you're looking to go narrow, I wouldn't recommend the Frontiers or Nautis.

Finally, did you talk to Britax about your harness? Were they willing to do anything for you, like replace it or give you a discount on a new seat? If it's not that old, they might. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Fair warning, we're going to try to trouble shoot your harness issue just on GP. 1: We like to make the impossible happen, 2: If a seat malfunctions we like to know why so we can be on the lookout during check events, and 3: We have a desperate need to prove we have enough brain cells left to solve mysteries more challenging than Blue 's Clues.

With that being said...Does the harness work when not installed? Is it the rfing one or the ffing one.

Kegracin said:

There is a review here http://carseatblog.com/24022/

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Thanks for this! All the reviews there were so helpful!

Athena said:

Ditto on the fact that most kids will outgrow these harnesses in height long before weight.

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Yes, that may well be true for our boys as well, even though they are small.

Athena said:

I can't believe anyone manages to squish between your two seats now, but if you're looking to go narrow, I wouldn't recommend the Frontiers or Nautis.

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My mother-in-law is a total trooper, and the Boulevard is RF. Even so, it's not comfortable back there (though she can fasten her belt).

Athena said:

Finally, did you talk to Britax about your harness? Were they willing to do anything for you, like replace it or give you a discount on a new seat? If it's not that old, they might. It doesn't hurt to ask.

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Yes, when I called customer service to get help with troubleshooting, they offered to replace it with a Boulvard G4 for $125. That struck me as more than fair, but I wasn't really interested in sinking $125 into another convertible seat at this point, so I asked if I could apply get a discount on the Frontier or the Pinnacle. She said they weren't allowed to do that (which I get, actually).

safeinthecar said:

Fair warning, we're going to try to trouble shoot your harness issue just on GP.

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Fantastic! I would love for the seat to be operational, even if it's just so we can give it away at some point.

safeinthecar said:

1: We like to make the impossible happen, 2: If a seat malfunctions we like to know why so we can be on the lookout during check events, and 3: We have a desperate need to prove we have enough brain cells left to solve mysteries more challenging than Blue 's Clues.

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All excellent reasons.

safeinthecar said:

With that being said...Does the harness work when not installed? Is it the rfing one or the ffing one.

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The harness works when not installed (i.e., sitting on our kitchen floor), but it is still more difficult to pull than the Advocate (when installed), and iirc it is more difficult to pull than it used to be.

We could not see anything obstructing the path of the harness on the backside of the seat, or the path of the piece one pulls to tighten. That's not to say that something wasn't obstructing, but we couldn't see it if it was.

We reinstalled it multiple times, and we have enough practice at it that I can at least promise that if it isn't installed correctly, it also wasn't back when the harness was working properly. (Though I think it is installed correctly, of course. Using the seatbelt/lockoff.)

When it is installed, RF, it is very hard to loosen, and impossible to tighten, until it has been uninstalled again. (You can imagine how much fun that is.)

I'm happy to answer other questions and/or take pictures as I can.

Thanks!

I had the exact same thing happen to my 2009 Boulevard CS. Hard to adjust straps, no obstructions, worked fine when not installed (rf). Never had the problem when my dd used the seat in the same car about 2 years before. Incidentally, the clicking stopped working around the same time too. I called Britax who offered me slightly discounted new seat. But when I reiterated my disappointment (and informed them that I have purchased 5 Britaxes over the past 4 years) and wanted more remuneration, they said I'd have to submit a video. In the end I tossed the seat and bought a Radian RXT, which I have had for 6 months and really love. (RF my 2.5 year old son). Bummed though I couldn't use the seat till its full lifespan.

melinstar said:

I had the exact same thing happen to my 2009 Boulevard CS. Hard to adjust straps, no obstructions, worked fine when not installed (rf). Never had the problem when my dd used the seat in the same car about 2 years before.

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Interesting.

melinstar said:

Incidentally, the clicking stopped working around the same time too.

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That hasn't happened for us. However, I wouldn't be sad if it had -- I always regretted buying the C&S, which often indicated that the straps were tight well before they were.

melinstar said:

I called Britax who offered me slightly discounted new seat. But when I reiterated my disappointment (and informed them that I have purchased 5 Britaxes over the past 4 years) and wanted more remuneration, they said I'd have to submit a video.

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How unfortunate.

melinstar said:

In the end I tossed the seat and bought a Radian RXT, which I have had for 6 months and really love. (RF my 2.5 year old son). Bummed though I couldn't use the seat till its full lifespan.

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Yes, that is the part that frustrates me the most. I would've liked to be able to at least pass this seat down to someone -- but not in its current state.

Have you considered buying your oldest a radian? If he's small, he can maybe get to booster age in it. Then pass it down. You can the buy a narrow high back booster. I'm just thinking about space for your mother in law.