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Unregistered1
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My first review, if I mess something up don't beat me!
Background: I have the Evenflo Bolero Booster Car Seat in Waterfall, manufactured in January 2007. The seat is a Forward Facing only combination seat (harnessed seat that converts to a booster when you take the harness out). I am currently using this seat for a nearly 5 year old child weighing 32 lbs with about a 15" torso height. The seat was purchased shortly after the child turned 4 years old. She travels with me on a fairly regular basis and occasionally for more 1-2 hours at a time. It is regularly used in my car, a 1990 Honda Accord, and in my mom's car, a 2000 Dodge Stratus.
Pros:
Harness slats - This car seat has higher top slats than most of the seats in its price range at about 16". That was a key component in my choice to buy it since her weight is so slow to catch up, and this was before the Graco Nautilus came out.
Price - I only paid about $85 for this seat which was important because I'm a starving college student.
Fit - The seat fits my car perfectly. I can install it so tightly that it doesn't budge, even though my car seat belts require me to use a locking clip.
Harness adjustment - Tightening the harness could not be easier, all you have to do is turn the knobs to the right 'click'.
Buckling - Not too hard to buckle, but not easy enough for her to undo either. Also has the two 'clicks' when buckling the lower buckle that many parents prefer.
Features - Cup holder is flimsy, but it's not the reason I bought the seat, and it serves its purpose as far as amusing her and allowing her to put sippy cups in it. I wouldn't put a non-sippy in it... but like I said, it amuses her, so it serves its purpose to me. Arm rests that fold up and down also provide further amusement for herin the car.
Cons:
Weight limit - The harness only goes to 40 lbs. Myself as well as other CPS advocates recommend extended harnessing with seats that go to 65 or even 80 lbs, for safety reasons. The only reason this was not a deal-breaker for me when buying is that the child is so low weight and slow to gain.
Fit - It's big. Wide, anyways. My 30 pounder looked like a little shrimp in it... but the harness still fit snugly. Just wouldn't be good for trying to fit three across.
Harness adjustment - Though it's still an easy system to use, loosening the harness is not nearly as easy as tightening it, and it seems to come out millimeter by millimeter, so it takes a lot of adjusting to loosen it during seasons when you only need a sweater sometimes.
Side Impact Protection - Though the seat provide some protection for these crashes, the head wings are not deep enough to truly cushion the child's head in a crash, and with the use of the toddler pillow they might as well not be there at all. The wings also don't serve to keep her head from drooping when she sleeps... it still does.
Avaliability - I had a hard time finding it. The Bolero is not avaliable on Amazon (although it's car seat brother, the Evenflo Generations, is) and I had to call several K-marts to find it.
Other points:
Comfort - She has never complained, except when she was getting used to the fact that I actually buckle her harness properly tight. She falls asleep in the car regularly. She also isn't cognatively developed enough to say "Wow, this seat is sure comfortable!" so I don't have great data on that.
Booster use - The seat converts into a booster, but due to her size I haven't used it as such yet. It doesn't have an obvious shoulder belt positioning device like my Graco Turbobooster does so I'm not really sure how or how well it functions as a booster.
Straps - I've never had a problem with them twisting. Of course, I'm anal about making sure they're not twisted.
Overall, I like the seat. It's not the highest class seat out there but you're getting a pretty good deal for the price. I would say this is a great seat for seat check replacements, low income families, use as a spare or by a grandparent, or even as your regular seat if your kid is tiny like A is. I give it four, maybe 3.5, stars.
Background: I have the Evenflo Bolero Booster Car Seat in Waterfall, manufactured in January 2007. The seat is a Forward Facing only combination seat (harnessed seat that converts to a booster when you take the harness out). I am currently using this seat for a nearly 5 year old child weighing 32 lbs with about a 15" torso height. The seat was purchased shortly after the child turned 4 years old. She travels with me on a fairly regular basis and occasionally for more 1-2 hours at a time. It is regularly used in my car, a 1990 Honda Accord, and in my mom's car, a 2000 Dodge Stratus.
Pros:
Harness slats - This car seat has higher top slats than most of the seats in its price range at about 16". That was a key component in my choice to buy it since her weight is so slow to catch up, and this was before the Graco Nautilus came out.
Price - I only paid about $85 for this seat which was important because I'm a starving college student.
Fit - The seat fits my car perfectly. I can install it so tightly that it doesn't budge, even though my car seat belts require me to use a locking clip.
Harness adjustment - Tightening the harness could not be easier, all you have to do is turn the knobs to the right 'click'.
Buckling - Not too hard to buckle, but not easy enough for her to undo either. Also has the two 'clicks' when buckling the lower buckle that many parents prefer.
Features - Cup holder is flimsy, but it's not the reason I bought the seat, and it serves its purpose as far as amusing her and allowing her to put sippy cups in it. I wouldn't put a non-sippy in it... but like I said, it amuses her, so it serves its purpose to me. Arm rests that fold up and down also provide further amusement for herin the car.
Cons:
Weight limit - The harness only goes to 40 lbs. Myself as well as other CPS advocates recommend extended harnessing with seats that go to 65 or even 80 lbs, for safety reasons. The only reason this was not a deal-breaker for me when buying is that the child is so low weight and slow to gain.
Fit - It's big. Wide, anyways. My 30 pounder looked like a little shrimp in it... but the harness still fit snugly. Just wouldn't be good for trying to fit three across.
Harness adjustment - Though it's still an easy system to use, loosening the harness is not nearly as easy as tightening it, and it seems to come out millimeter by millimeter, so it takes a lot of adjusting to loosen it during seasons when you only need a sweater sometimes.
Side Impact Protection - Though the seat provide some protection for these crashes, the head wings are not deep enough to truly cushion the child's head in a crash, and with the use of the toddler pillow they might as well not be there at all. The wings also don't serve to keep her head from drooping when she sleeps... it still does.
Avaliability - I had a hard time finding it. The Bolero is not avaliable on Amazon (although it's car seat brother, the Evenflo Generations, is) and I had to call several K-marts to find it.
Other points:
Comfort - She has never complained, except when she was getting used to the fact that I actually buckle her harness properly tight. She falls asleep in the car regularly. She also isn't cognatively developed enough to say "Wow, this seat is sure comfortable!" so I don't have great data on that.
Booster use - The seat converts into a booster, but due to her size I haven't used it as such yet. It doesn't have an obvious shoulder belt positioning device like my Graco Turbobooster does so I'm not really sure how or how well it functions as a booster.
Straps - I've never had a problem with them twisting. Of course, I'm anal about making sure they're not twisted.
Overall, I like the seat. It's not the highest class seat out there but you're getting a pretty good deal for the price. I would say this is a great seat for seat check replacements, low income families, use as a spare or by a grandparent, or even as your regular seat if your kid is tiny like A is. I give it four, maybe 3.5, stars.
