Great Regent shopping experience and it passes DD's comfort testing

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
We were in the neighborhood of an independent toy/baby furnishings/carseat store today, and stopped to look at Regents since DD #1 is almost too tall for her top harness slots in her Marathon. We ended up getting a Regent with the Cougar cover (chosen over the Onyx and a leftover Funky Denim Husky from May '05).

The store is Toyhouse in Jackson, MI. The proprietor, Phil, is a CPS tech, and he really knows his stuff. We had heard of his store from another carseat board, and did it ever live up to the word of mouth reputation, with a vast array of Britax seats and what appeared to be the Safeguard and Safeguard Go, among others. Phil offered to help install the Regent on the spot, but we needed to get back on the road. So he gave me some installation pointers, and I installed the Regent in the Sienna back home.

What a breath of fresh air in contrast with the carseat misinformation and typically unknowledgeable BRU staffers I've encountered locally. Toyhouse is like carseat and toy mecca, totally awesome place. :)

The Regent was very easy to install in the Sienna's third row center using LATCH, the recline bar and top tether. I also tried seatbelt installations in the third row center, knowing I'll have to install the Regent using the belt by the time DD is 48 lbs. The seatbelt was too short for the long belt path installation, but the short belt path installation worked there, whew.

The Regent doesn't sit up as high as the Marathon, so it blocks less of the rear view out of the Sienna. DD complained a little bit about sitting lower than she was used to on our "maiden voyage" ride later this afternoon, but after a brief ride, here is how comfy she found it:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j34/carcpsfanatic/June42006Regentnap.jpg

Now to move the Marathon into DH's car until she's too tall for it, and decide if we should start saving for another Regent to go in that car when the Marathon is passed down to the baby.
 
ADS

ccjones

New member
You've mentioned a few times before about possibly buying a Regent for your older DD, and it sounds like you made the right choice! I'm gad to hear it was relatively easy for you to install in your Sienna. And I totally agree with you, it is very nice to go to an independent retailer who is actually knowledgable about the carseats they sell. It's a far cry from BRU! LOL

Are you going to get another Regent for DH's car or would you consider a booster, like a Recaro Young Sport?

Colleen
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
warning, long reply ahead...

I think we're getting another Regent for DH's '02 Saturn L100 sedan because I would rather keep DD#1 harnessed in both of our vehicles. She's doesn't stay positioned well in a Parkway we've tried her in recently, even with a locked shoulder belt, and I prefer the safety of extended harnessing. DH drives DD#1 frequently in his car. I plopped the Regent down in the backseat in the Saturn before installing in the Sienna yesterday, and it looked like it actually fit in the middle next to a RF Scenera on the passenger side for the baby, or behind the driver with the Marathon or Boulevard RF on the passenger side.

DH's car has been hit and repaired twice, with the most crash damage when it was hit on the rear driver's side, so we're extra paranoid about using the middle and passenger side only for carseats if at all possible. Plus with his height and build, he needs to keep the driver's seat all the way back to drive the car, limiting room for a RF seat and legroom for a FF carseat behind the driver's seat. The L100 also has a huge trunk (around 17 cubic feet) at the expense of rear legroom, lol.

I never had a chance to take pics after DH's driver's side crash because the car wasn't driveable and towed off to the body shop straight away, but it was damaged enough to be in the shop for well over a month to repair $10-11K of damage, IIRC. My L100 crash damage sig photos on photobucket are from the less severe crash on the rear passenger side. I was driving and got hit by a full size pickup driver who drove out of a bank driveway right into us ("only" $2700 of damage repairs that time). I was tempted to ask the driver if he'd robbed the bank since he was in such a rush. We barely had the car back for a couple of months after the first crash when we got hit by the pickup driver.

We were about to replace the L100 when our '03 Saturn Vue was sideswiped and shoved across the road into two utility guidewires. The sideswiping car was a police car attempting to make a U-turn because the police officer wanted to nab a speeding driver going in the opposite direction. Ironic, isn't it? Vue crash damage pictures are also in my sig's photobucket album. It was not really driveable despite the first tow truck driver's assurance it was. The radiator was busted and the steering was completely wonky, among other problems, to the tune of $10K or so to repair, thank goodness for insurance. We replaced the repaired Vue first with the Sienna when baby #2 was on the way and kept DH's car instead.

Our "crash curse" began pre-kids about 7 years ago, when DH was in a crash in a rented Dodge Intrepid that broke his collarbone and required surgery when the fracture didn't heal properly. Then I was in a crash (pre-kids) in a '00 Saturn SC1 we used to own before we had the Vue, when an oncoming driver ran a light when I had a green left turn arrow in my favor. None of our Saturn vehicle crashes resulted in any injuries except for a couple of bruises and seatbelt rug burns, and no airbags deployed.

I know an obvious solution would be to only drive the girls in the safer, never crashed Sienna. DH drives DD#1 on a regular basis and is starting to drive both girls with him more now, but hates driving the Sienna because he has lousy depth perception and doesn't like driving the bigger van. He has only driven the Sienna twice, once to make sure he could, lol, and to drive me to the hospital when DD#'s birth was imminent. I drove us home the day after DD#2 was born because it was rush hour, DH was even more sleep deprived than me, and his driving was way more potentially dangerous under those circumstances. I had a fast 2 hour, 20 minute labor and nobody told me I couldn't drive home. :p

We're hoping to replace the L100 within a couple of years, and are trying to do extended harnessing and keep the baby RF as long as possible in any vehicle given our apparent "car crash curse." We semi-jokingly refer to the L100 as the beater/demolition derby car, and to ourselves as the Saturn and Britax crash test dummies. :eek: :eek:

Friends and family still seem willing to ride places with us though, at least when I'm driving. DH was considered at fault for his two accidents but I was not at fault or ticketed for any of mine, honest. I have about 20 years of driving experience and rarely drive more than 6,000 miles a year since becoming a SAHM. Every one of our crashes has been within a few miles from home, reinforcing those statistics about how most crashes happen close to home.

Sorry for the long winded post to explain my safety motivations. I know I'm mostly preaching to the choir here, but stay safe everyone.
 

Longhorn Lady

New member
You've had good reason to feel the way you do. And you know we are all for extended harnessing, so you're good with us ;)

She looks so sweet in there! A second Regent sounds like the perfect solution :)
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
Yayyyyy

DH concurred with getting a second Regent, and UPS just delivered a big Britax box containing another Regent! This one is the Blue Bouquet pattern I had been admiring online for several months. I had mentioned to DH on Monday that BabyAge.com was having a closeout on the Blue Bouquet and Cougar patterns for $229.99 with free shipping and he took the hint.

I wouldn't have minded going back to the Toy House store for another Regent at some point because the proprietor is wonderful and it's such a great store. I still want to go back there and ogle the SafeGuard seats and browse more of the store in general.

Now I assume I need to install the more feminine Blue Bouquet in my van because DH prefers non-girly covers in his car, lol. :)
 

Jeanum

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
Staff member
Regent and RF Marathon fit side by side in L100

Whew, I'm tired and have a few shorter fingernails and a bruise on one arm, but I installed the Cougar Regent (long belt path, recline bar and tethered) in the middle spot in DH's Saturn L100 this evening. The Regent meshed together well with the Marathon RF on the passenger side (seatbelt install and tethered to the front passenger seat rail). It took a lot of leverage and sweating to get the seatbelt fastened using the long belt path for the Regent. Both carseats are solidly installed independently of each other.

DH was able to buckle in the Blue Bouquet Regent for me in the Sienna's third row center using the long belt path (recline bar and tethered). It's very solidly in there now, better than the LATCH installation I had done the other day.

I think we're all set for a while now, and I need a snack and a backrub. :)
 

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