Question Best Fit For Our Situation

Hi,

I have gone through quite a few articles about car seats in this great website, but still I am unable to decide between Britax Marathon, Decathlon & Roundabout. This is our situation:

1. We will start using the convertible seat only when our boy will be around 4 months old, but since we're based out of Dubai where there are not many good choices for car seats, I'm planning to buy the seat from US (one of my good friends has offered to carry the seat for me when he travels to Dubai)

2. The car seat will be used in a 2008 Corolla and this would be the only car seat in the car

3. Since the seat will be used in Dubai and returns are going to be next to impossible, I need to buy the one thats the most reliable!! I have been reading many reports about problems with Decathlon in this web site so I'm not sure if its a good bet for us to buy Decathlon!

4. Also, my friend will carry the seat as normal check-in baggage during his flight, so the product along with its packaging will have to be within the baggage dimensions allowed by airlines, which is 62 inches. Not sure if airlines will allow for the additional inches for a car seat that will be checked in

5. We'd like the car seat to be able to seat our boy as long as possible!!

I would appreciate if you can help us identify the best possible seat given the circumstances, and it could be even a different car seat than the ones I have mentioned!

Thanks in advance,
dadtobe

i love the Blvd. (similar to the MA but has additional Side Impact protection and also has a convenient turning mechanism for the harness straps.

one word of caution though..i would not check a car seat in a flight. you will not know how it is handled, etc. etc.

The Marathon will last your child the longest and should fit a Corolla without a problem.

As far as the airlines - i would have him try to GATE-check it if at all possible. That way it's one of the last things on the plane and first off, and won't get battered around quite as badly.

Given the factors that you've listed, and provided that the MA fits within the dimensions allowed by the airlines, I would go with the MA. The reasoning for recommending that one out of the 3 seats you suggested is as follows:

- Decathlon is known for having a finicky harness adjuster. If you get a seat that has problems, you're going to be pretty much stuck with it, so you'll want a seat that's reliable.
- You don't really need the infant padding that the Decathlon has, and aside from the Decathlon having multiple crotch buckle positions and coming with infant padding, it's identical to the MA in terms of top harness height and weight limits.
- The RA has a shorter shell, and lower weight limit, so won't last as long in either the height or weight department. It's not substantially cheaper either despite the fact that it'll be outgrown at least 1yr before either of the other seats, if not longer.

Another option you might consider is the sunshine kids Radian carseat. It folds and is actually compact enough that it could be carried on as carry-on luggage and stowed in the compartment above the seat. Although it is a heavy seat weighing in at around 20 to 22lbs.

The Radian has high top slots - taller than the MA, and the regular one has a 65lb max ff'ing limit and 35lb rf'ing weight limit. If you went up to the radian 80 you'd have an 80lb ff'ing limit and you'd get an extra insert that does help smaller babies feel more comfy in the seat.

The caveat with the Radian is that it can be hard to install in some vehicles, whereas the MA you can pretty much count on it installing in almost any vehicle. So overall the MA is probably going to be the best bet in that regard... I'm not sure off the top of my head how the Radian installs in 08 Corolla's, otherwise I'd be more confident recommending it to you. With an 8yr expiry it's going to last you longer than the other seats too - but won't do you any good if it's not compatible.

Hope that helps some.

I've read in many threads here that the Radian is an easier install using LATCH instead of the vehicle belt. I know that my not-manufactured-for-North-America Toyota doesn't have LATCH, so I wanted to bring this up in case the same is true for your Corolla and it would make a difference for your purchasing decision.

Hi there... I live very close to you! We're here in Doha. I have a Marathon for my son who is now 5.5mos, I think he was about 2-3 months when I started using the Marathon for him full time.
I brought it with me from Canada and gate checked it. Though mine was not boxed just bagged in plastic bag from the airline, it came through fine.
I use ours in our middle east market Nissan optra (no latch and non locking seatbelts) its not as easy an install as I have to use the lockoffs but its not difficult, nothing like my daughters Radian.. That is not a good seat when you have non locking seatbelts.. WHat a PITA!

Anyway its nice to "see" someone from this part of the world...

BethAnn

Thanks everyone for your responses!

I'm leaning around towards the Marathon now However, when I checked Amazon for shipping dimensions, they're not the same between all the colors!!

MA in Onyx color is 22 x 20 x 19 inches,

http://www.amazon.com/Britax-Marath...ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1211450014&sr=8-1

where-as,

MA in Tan Swirl (the color we like) is 20 x 19 x 32 inches

http://www.amazon.com/Britax-Marath...ie=UTF8&s=baby-products&qid=1211450014&sr=8-5

What gives??

And last but not the least, thanks for the word of caution about checking it in. I will make sure my friend gate checks it!!

bbartlettnfld said:

Hi there... I live very close to you! We're here in Doha.

Click to expand...

BethAnn, hope you're enjoying the middle eastern summer!! I'm beginning to see a lot of mirages even when my eyes are closed

re: shipping dimensions - I wonder if the manufacturing dates of the seats are different, and those packaged after a certain date have a larger or smaller box?

That doesn't really make sense, does it? Maybe it's more likely that Amazon has a typo in their listing and has their DxHxL measurements in a different sequence. Are there other covers that you could cross-check with?

Neatfreak said:

re: shipping dimensions - I wonder if the manufacturing dates of the seats are different, and those packaged after a certain date have a larger or smaller box?

That doesn't really make sense, does it? Maybe it's more likely that Amazon has a typo in their listing and has their DxHxL measurements in a different sequence. Are there other covers that you could cross-check with?

Click to expand...

Probably you're right! They could have got the dimensions wrong because I checked out other colors in MA and they're all the same dimension (22 x 20 x 19 inches) Anyway I think we'll go with the crocodile pattern. Thanks again!

bbartlettnfld said:

Hi there... I live very close to you! We're here in Doha. I have a Marathon for my son who is now 5.5mos, I think he was about 2-3 months when I started using the Marathon for him full time.
I brought it with me from Canada and gate checked it. Though mine was not boxed just bagged in plastic bag from the airline, it came through fine.
I use ours in our middle east market Nissan optra (no latch and non locking seatbelts) its not as easy an install as I have to use the lockoffs but its not difficult, nothing like my daughters Radian.. That is not a good seat when you have non locking seatbelts.. WHat a PITA!

Anyway its nice to "see" someone from this part of the world...

BethAnn

Click to expand...

Hi again,

Were the dimensions ok after unpacking it? Do you remember how big it was when it was boxed? Was the packaging too big?

Dadtobe: I didn't have the box as I had bought it and was using it before our trip back here. I know I used it on the Toronto - London flight for my daughter to sit in, It was gate checked no problem from London to Doha via Qatar airways as they don't allow the use of carseat in flight.

The box is quite big but shaped like an block letter L. If it were me I would check it as luggage in the box, I know people don't agree with it, but Britax ships in those same boxes all over the USA and Canada and the seats are rarely damaged in transit. The box is large but should not exceed the luggage dimensions. Its better than your relative trying to gate check the thing and having to shlep it all around the airport while changing flights etc.

I hope this helps a little. Defiantly go for the Marathon though. Its my favorite Britax seat..

BethAnn