Got Galaxy Nautiluses today, Having mixed feelings...... Imput appreciated

Got Galaxy Nautiluses today, Having mixed feelings.....input appreciated **UPDATED post #12!*

Maybe it's just because I'm used to Britax, but the first thing I noticed is the fabric seems really cheap to me.

When I adjust the harness it runs through the strap covers and sounds like someone snagging a pair of pantyhose.

There are all sorts of matted areas to the plusher fabric, and it seems thin.

There is almost a hole in the headrest where one of the tags was.

The strap webbing material seems thinner/ not as strong as in our MA, and twists more easily.

Installing it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be either. I used the lap/shoulder belt as DD is 45lbs and LATCH cutoff weight is 40lbs in our Honda CRV.

The first time I did it I was with my mom, she put her weight into the seat and it was barely tight enough, so I was able to click the car's seat up one more notch and it was really tight after that.

When I got home I didn't like how the seat looked with the recline setting, so I reinstalled it without the recline and was able to do it without my mom's weight in it by doing the car's seat recline and then click back up trick again, and I did get it rock solid. But it was no easier, or better of an install that my MA.

I bought 2 of these but only installed DD1's so far. DD2 still has plenty of room in her RA and I wan to make sure I these seats before I open the second box.

DD seems to like the seat and she sits cross legged and says that she likes that she can do that, she couldn't in her MA. She loves the cupholder and storage compartments.

One thing I do like about it is the tether is just one straight strap as compared to the V style tether of a Britax, and if the seat weren't so dang tall I'd be able to see out my back window better.

another thing I'm not sure of is ,did I mention the seat is really tall??

I paid $301 out the door for both because BRU gave me a 15% coupon for one of them.

Now I think that I don't really *need* a new second seat for DD2, she could just take the MA DD1 just came out of ( she's 2.5 and it's good for 4 more years).

If I'm gonna spend $300 I'd rather have a Frontier maybe.

I only justified buying the second NA because I have a bunch of stuff I'm trying to sell on Ebay and Craigslist, and when, and only WHEN I do I would open the other box.

AM I CRAZY for just wanting a Frontier now??

Should I keep just one NA and put DD2 in the MA and save $150? ( BTW I hate it when my seats don't resemble each other)

Since I've already spent the $300 bucks, should I return them both and get a Frontier? and put DD2 in the MA? (they sort of resemble each other right?)

Or should I just keep 'em both and get used to Graco quality??

I know I sound a little neurotic here, but this is really how I feel.

Maybe someone who feels me can chime in???

I am like you, used to the Britax quality...I still have not installed it yet. (DH just got home) but I will tell you the quality for me is better on this Frontier vs the GN.. I won't say it's waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyy better... but it is in the details that I am used to.. the details, like the silly things like the better quality type plastic on the harness, the foamy type armrest, the mesh is smoother, the plush on the sides. (Going from memory here on the GN so I may not be 100% right, bare with me)

I guess the most important things are the SIP, and the extra crotch slot.. other than that and the feel of things and the 9 yr expiration... leans me more to the BF..I will also say as long as my son is ok in the GN regarding crotch slots.. I will not hesitate to get that one too for my MIL and DH's car..

Actually this is what I would do, but that's just me. Or you could still do this and keep one GN for another car.. which is what I will probably do..

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If you can afford and want to pay more for the little details, you could get a Frontier. The Marathon is probably the easiest seat to install, so the fact that you found the Nautilus to be as easy to install as a Marathon is an example of its quality. I personally feel the Nautilus is a very nice seat and well worth it's $150 price tag. Most kids I know think cupholders and cubbie holes are cooler than luxurious cover fabric anyway. My vote is: keep one Nautilus.

We have the GN. My 5yo ds fits in it perfectly and we both love it. It also has a 9yr expiration (6yrs in harness and HBB, 3 additional years as LBB). I am still thinking about getting the Frontier for our other vehicle but I am a little hesitant. The GN is so easy to install and the harness adjuster is super smooth. The whole seat is just very user friendly. I'm concerned that the Frontier won't be as user friendly when it comes to harness adjusting and installing. My son also has short legs and while the GN fits his legs great I have read on another thread that some kids are complaining that their legs hurt when using the Frontier because their legs are not long enough to bend properly in the Frontier. I have also read that the cupholders on the Frontier keep falling down when they are not in use and a couple other poster said that the armrests of the Frontier seemed very cheap and wandered how long they would last before they broke off. The GN's armrests are rock solid. So I'm just kind of waiting for more input on this seat from more people before I go ahead and buy one.

Hmmm that's interesting, I've never had any of those issues (except the fact that they are TALL seats, which to me was a strong selling point for later booster usage).

Our Bravo Nautiluses certainly aren't plush, but I (and more importantly my LOs) find the fabric pretty comfortable. Mine don't make scraping noises when i tighten the harnesses, and the harness straps really aren't twisty, and it's never taken me more than 5 mins each to install in Any Vehicle...........

After three month of use the harness on my son's GN have yet to twist. The seat does not have a high base like the MA, so it actually is sits lower right now in my car than his FPSVD did. Ds has not had any complaints and would like one for his dad's car. The only thing I like better about the Frontier are the covers, so it is not worth it to me to spend an extra $150 for that.

Mommy2Five said:

..Our Bravo Nautiluses certainly aren't plush, but I (and more importantly my LOs) find the fabric pretty comfortable. Mine don't make scraping noises when i tighten the harnesses, and the harness straps really aren't twisty, and it's never taken me more than 5 mins each to install in Any Vehicle...........

Click to expand...

I think( i have to go look again) the strap covers are made of the same plush material that's on the sides. It is a kind of cheap material. It sounds like it has small threads on the inside that catch on the harness as I pull it up tight.

It did only take me 5-10minutes to install, but with my seatbelts it was going to be almost impossible to get it tight if I couldn't have reclined the vehicles seat and then forced it back up. It's in rock solid, but I wonder about my other families cars if I need to move it.

Don't get me wrong. It's not a bad seat. I just really notice the difference in some of the quality.

My MA is 2 years old as of last week and the fabric shows absolutely NO WEAR, it looks and feels brand new, nice and plush.

I know the fabric on the Frontier is mesh in the middle, so that maybe negates this issue.

One thing though is the the 3 way comparison photo of the regent, nautilus and frontier, the frontier's headrest seems a few inches shorter at the highest harness slot setting than the Nautilus. That looks better to me. at least for the short term until we have to extend it all the way to start using it as a booster, so it's just a temporary thing I guess.

Do these things make it worth $150 to get a Frontier? well, that's what I can't decide.

It's interesting to hear that some people think that armrests are cheap on the Frontier, maybe it's not perfect too, I do like that they fold up though.

Thanks for following me through my stream of thought guys.........

I love my Nautilus except for three things.

1. The crotch strap comes from UNDER my son (who is petite) even on the outermost slot.

2. The head rest pushes my son's head too far forward. His head keeps falling forward when he sleeps.

3. It leaves horrible dents in the van's seat b/c there are only two little feet in back and they are deep. It takes days for the impressions to kind of go away. Yes I install it tight, but no tighter than the MA which leaves almost no marks.

we love our nautilus...sort of. i did notice the other day that the cover is already looking worn....and it's less than a month old! we have the galaxy.
i doubt the cover will hold up as long as the rest of the seat. we have only had britax up to this point, so that's our std for comparison. but the harness adjuster is great, we had an easy time installing it, and have had no trouble with the straps. ds seems happy with it, and comfortable. his head sometimes bobs forward when he sleeps, but it always does. i'l probably give this to the grandparents for their car and get something else for every day....we're waiting on a true fit, if that doesnt work we'll check out the frontier. my :twocents:

2wild said:

we love our nautilus...sort of. i did notice the other day that the cover is already looking worn....and it's less than a month old! we have the galaxy.

Click to expand...

We have had our GN in the Bravo cover for a little over 2mon. We use this seat in our main vehicle and are in and out of it several times a day and yet the cover still looks brand new. So I'm guessing that it is just the plush material that is showing wear? I actually really like the mesh type material. It feels smooth and wipes up easily.

Re: Got Galaxy Nautiluses today, Having mixed feelings ...... Input appreciated *UPDATE*

OK so they are going back tomorrow.

I already took the 1 out of the car, and re-boxed it up like new (well, except that the headrest won't come back off).

I just couldn't get myself to like it that much.
My main problem was that If I put the harness on the highest slots she had plenty of growing room (like 3") but then the headrest seemed way too high. If I clicked it down a notch then it partially covered the straps so that was a no go. So then I was back over at my parents house today and decided to play with it more.
I uninstalled it and moved the straps to the second from the top and that was still OK for her. The straps were right above her shoulders, and now I could click the headrest back down a notch. Problem solved right? wrong. I couldn't get a tight install anymore!!
I don't know what it is but I tried everything! It would be tight at first, but if I would lean on it to tighten the tether or something it would get loose!
I've installed many seats, and I am very anal about a rock solid install, and I have never had this problem! I could only equate it to some of the problems people have withe the Radian. I consider myself pretty capable and knowledgeable and I just couldn't get it to work. I even had my father put all his weight into the seat while I tightened the belt. reclined my vehicle's seat and forced it back up. nothing was good. Also I didn't like what the belt path on the Nautilus did to my car's seatbelt. once I would get it through the back and fastened, I could bareley get enough leverage to pull it tight. also once it was installed my shoulder portion of the belt would be folded over completley, and just didn't lay right.
This is probably due to my seatbelts, but I just wasn't liking it. We worked on it for almost an hour!
I finally took it out, left thh kids with my mom and drove home (just a few blocks) and reinstlled my MA. Then I came in the house and ordered a Frontier in pink.
I was back at my mom's in 15 minutes! I love Britax!!
Hopefully with the 2 belt path installations I should be able to make it work:thumbsup:
Not that the NAutilus is a bad seat, it just DID NOT work for us.
Of course there are the other issues I had with it and that was the fabric seeming cheap, and the crotch buckle was too far under DD. I would consider it for a spare seat one day though.
Thanks again for all the input!!