Vent Not inlove with my Marathon :(

NannyMom

Well-known member
I installed my brand new Marathon today. I'm not as thrilled as I thought I'd be :(

It sits up alot higher and I can't reach Sofi. In her Titan I could reach back and give her the pacifier, or a drink, or little snack or whatever. Now I can barely get my arm over the back of her seat. Before I could see her and sort of tell if she was awake or asleep, now I can't see her at all.

There's a sticker on the side of the seat that says "LATCH strap here" and shows you exactly where the strap should be for RF, and it's not there. I got the seat in at a good angle, and nice and tight, but the strap is moved up about 1/2- 1 inch from where the seat says it should be. I don't know how vital that is, I guess Britax is closed. My CPST-I says she's never heard of that (she didn't know there's a sticker) but Britax will probobly tell me I can't use LATCH. Well, I can't use the seatbelt either because it won't lay flat to go in the clips. UGH!

I don't know if I can return it (I still have the receipt and box) because I traded covers (oops!).

We spend alot of time in the van and I feel like I need a seat I love and really works well. Should I return the Marathon and use my Titan (It was going to go in DH's Durango). Sofi's tiny and I'm sure will be RF forever (she's 23 months and 23 pounds).

I also have to pull the harness adjuster a million times to get it tight enough. THe TItan I could just pull until it was tight. And that harness protector on the back (big black thing) is a pain. I sometimes just pull the harness tight from the back and then pull the strap in the front...can't do that anymore :(
 
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wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
Can you take a picture of that sticker? I've never heard of it either. On every other seat since they've come out with the LATCH bars, though, the LATCH strap goes where it needs to go. Hence the coolness of the bars and part of why the Marathon is so easy. I'd be shocked if it was a problem. But you've run into Britax's 35 hour workweek. LOL Lucky them, huh?

Wendy
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
I can't take a picture right now. My laptop died (I'm using DH's horrible used one). I don't have any sofware on here to download the pics. Maybe tomorrow I'll try to get the software on here.

Does anyone else with a new 35LB RF seat have this?
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
What's the DOM? I just had my hands last week on an 8/1/08 Boulevard CS and it didn't have any stickers. It had a couple of different things that I hadn't seen before, but no stickers to say where the LATCH should go.

Is it pointing to where the LATCH is stored, by any chance?

Wendy
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
I am quite curious about that sticker too. :confused:


It took me a little while to get used to the idea of not being able to reach over the RF Boulevard (same as Marathon), but I finally came to the realization that it was actually SAFER for me to NOT be able to reach over the seat. That way, I wasn't driving one-handed, not distracted by trying to reach and give items to the kiddo in the seat, etc.
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
Can you take a picture of that sticker? I've never heard of it either.

http://www.britaxusa.com/uploads/products/user-guides/10.pdf

pg 8 of the pdf, figure E.

I'm not sure what revision it was added., but it's been there awhile now. My interpretation of that though was that the sticker was a guide - not that you couldn't use LATCH if the straps couldn't be lined up there. :confused:

Not every seat is for everyone. Just because it's Britax doesn't mean it's necessarily the best seat for you. If you don't like it and can return it, then I'd just return it.

If the Titan fits your vehicle and fits your dd well, there's no reason to not use it. If you like it better, go ahead and put it back in. :thumbsup:
 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
What's the DOM? I just had my hands last week on an 8/1/08 Boulevard CS and it didn't have any stickers. It had a couple of different things that I hadn't seen before, but no stickers to say where the LATCH should go.

Is it pointing to where the LATCH is stored, by any chance?

Wendy

The BLVD I had at a seat check today had the stickers - they're not noticeable unless you look for them though.

(The MA manual linked above is the US manual, not the CDN, but the same info is in the CDN manual.)
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
It's a 7/16/08. No, the stickers want the strap to go there on the bar. THe instructions even say that.

I don't know if there's anyway to download the manual online, but it's on page 13. Instruction number 9 says "Verify that all connections are secure, the LATCH strap is aligned to the "LATCH Strap Here Rear-Facing" label on each side of the child seat, and that the child seat is stable." There are even a couple pictures of it on that page. There are no warnings as to not use the LATCH if the straps are not exactly there.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
http://www.britaxusa.com/uploads/products/user-guides/10.pdf

pg 8 of the pdf, figure E.

I'm not sure what revision it was added., but it's been there awhile now. My interpretation of that though was that the sticker was a guide - not that you couldn't use LATCH if the straps couldn't be lined up there. :confused:

Not every seat is for everyone. Just because it's Britax doesn't mean it's necessarily the best seat for you. If you don't like it and can return it, then I'd just return it.

If the Titan fits your vehicle and fits your dd well, there's no reason to not use it. If you like it better, go ahead and put it back in. :thumbsup:


Thanks snowbird. I know not every seat is for everyone. People here seem to love the EFTA and I just don't like it at all. THough, it is growing on me....so I won't say I would never buy it. But with the MA I was so excited about the high harness slots (my 5 year old is just a hair to tall for it), and the RF tethering. I still think I would love it FF, but if Sofi RF until she's 5, she may be too tall for it FF and it'd be a waste. :)

Can I return it with a different cover? :confused:
 

Mattkarn

Member
Heres my 35# rear-facing MA. It is rearfacing in the car thats why it's reclined.
I think it just means that the latch strap should be in this position for rf -
MA014.jpg

Versus this one for forward facing -
MA016.jpg
 
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NannyMom

Well-known member
Do all of your belts have the issue of not staying flat?

I only tried it in 1 vehicle seat. SHe's in the middle seat (front and center seat) of the middle row of my 08 sienna. I considered moving her to outboard, but I just can;t bring myself to do it. Sometimes she spends half her day in the van, and I just have to have her in the safest spot. Everytime I think of moving her, I think of a local car crash last Christmas where a drunk driver (going the wrong direction) crashed into a minivan and took off the side and killed 5 of the 6 (or 6 of the 7?) people in the van...including the poor baby sitting outboard driver's side. What if someone takes off the side of my van :eek: I'd rather go back to the Titan that fit so nice in the middle seat then move her outboard.

But, thinking about how the GN is buckled in on passenger's side, I think it may not sit flat across the MA either.
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Heres my 35# rear-facing MA. It is rearfacing in the car thats why it's reclined.
I think it just mean that the latch strap should be in this position for rf -

My LATCH strap starts right in the middle of the "Rear-Facing" on the sticker, and goes towards the front of the child seat (back of the vehicle seat).
 

MissAllyLou

New member
This is how mine looks, installed. It's a boulevard, but has the same LATCH connection as the Marathon. Does that help? Sorry it's backwards, lol.

ETA: Didn't see the other post before me, sorry about the duplicate!
 

Mattkarn

Member
This is what mine looks like fully installed and it is rock solid. I think where the latch strap lands in relation to the sticker depends on where your latch anchors are located and how reclined your seat is. Your good I think (but I am not a tech). :thumbsup:
MA2005.jpg
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
This is what mine looks like fully installed and it is rock solid. I think where the latch strap lands in relation to the sticker depends on where your latch anchors are located and how reclined your seat is. Your good I think (but I am not a tech). :thumbsup:
MA2005.jpg

Wow, your seat would be way, way too upright - unacceptably upright - if your LATCH straps were aligned with the sticker. I'm not sure how you could even do it, really.

Nannymom, I think your seat is probably fine. :thumbsup:
 

finleysmommy

New member
I installed my brand new Marathon today. I'm not as thrilled as I thought I'd be :(

It sits up alot higher and I can't reach Sofi. In her Titan I could reach back and give her the pacifier, or a drink, or little snack or whatever. Now I can barely get my arm over the back of her seat. Before I could see her and sort of tell if she was awake or asleep, now I can't see her at all.

There's a sticker on the side of the seat that says "LATCH strap here" and shows you exactly where the strap should be for RF, and it's not there. I got the seat in at a good angle, and nice and tight, but the strap is moved up about 1/2- 1 inch from where the seat says it should be. I don't know how vital that is, I guess Britax is closed. My CPST-I says she's never heard of that (she didn't know there's a sticker) but Britax will probobly tell me I can't use LATCH. Well, I can't use the seatbelt either because it won't lay flat to go in the clips. UGH!

I don't know if I can return it (I still have the receipt and box) because I traded covers (oops!).

We spend alot of time in the van and I feel like I need a seat I love and really works well. Should I return the Marathon and use my Titan (It was going to go in DH's Durango). Sofi's tiny and I'm sure will be RF forever (she's 23 months and 23 pounds).

I also have to pull the harness adjuster a million times to get it tight enough. THe TItan I could just pull until it was tight. And that harness protector on the back (big black thing) is a pain. I sometimes just pull the harness tight from the back and then pull the strap in the front...can't do that anymore :(


Awww, I totally understand! While I love my Marathon it's not for everybody! I think you've gotten a lot of good advice. I have to say though it's not really the best idea to be reaching into the backseat while driving anyway. :eek:

I really hope you get this all figured out!
 

NannyMom

Well-known member
Probably not -- doesn't the box state what the cover should be? And is the other cover absolutely brand-new?

Yes, the box does have a little pic of the cover. And no, it's not an absolutely brand new cover.

Will BRU restock a returned carseat? I have another issue.... WHen trying to install, the LATCH got a little stuck under the base. WHen I tightened the LATCH it came right up (from under the base (got unstuck) and the little lip on the corner of the base bent up :eek: I called Britax and the guy asked me to send pics. I told him I couldn't, but you wouldn't see anything anyway. It fixed itself and I really don't think it's noticable. He said if you don't see anything it should be fine. But...I know I wouldn't want to buy a carseat that had happened to.

Maybe I'll see how it fits in DH's Durango.
 

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