Question Best Convertible for RF for small child

My DD is 18 months old and weighs 18 pounds. She is 29 1/2 inches tall. Obvoiusly she will be RF for quite awhile. Which is the best seat for her, and not the most expensive. I have a 2007 Chevy Trailblazer. Any help is greatly appreciated, I just found this website, and love the valuable information.

A Safety First Avenue would be an economical seat. This Britax Marathon is on sale for $100 off. They're such nice seats, easy to use correctly, wash up nice, hold up to the test of time and the Marathon doesn't have any weird quirks. That's a terrific price for that seat and I'd strongly urge you to consider it.

I'd say a Marathon on sale like a PP stated. The seat rear faces to 35 and forward faces to 65 pounds. It has build in lock offs and no twist straps which are nice. Also very cute covers if that matters

Otherwise the Evenflo Triumph Advance will last you probably as long since you don't need the extra 15 lbs the Marathon offers with your little one and they have the same harness heights basically. The EFTA goes to 50 lbs forward facing. It has a "different" way to tighten the harness so I'd make sure you like it first if possible. Most Targets and Walmarts carry it for you to try. Some love it and some hate it. It also has straps that move up and down as your child grows very easily. You never have to rethread them.

It can be found for about $120-$150. Otherwise, the Learning Curve True Fit that goes to 65 lbs (and 35 rear facing) is a tad more expensive but is very easy to use. It has built in lock offs and you never have to rethread the straps to change the harness height like most seats. They just move up and down. It can be up to about $180

The Safety 1st Avenue/Uptown is also a very good economical seat. It has high harness heights. While it only goes to 40 lbs, it should get most kids pretty close to 40 lbs vs other 40 seats that can be outgrown around 18 months-2years. It is very comfy. However, rear facing adjusting the harness tightness can be very difficult. The adjuster is so low it's hard to get at sometimes. This seat is around $90.

The Britax seat as the pp's said is very easy to install and use correctly. If not that seat check out the True Fit as easy to insatall. The EFTA is harder to install with the DX and LX model since they have the cheaper latch connectors.

While there are a lot of seats on the market that would fit your needs, if I were in your shoes I would not be able to pass up that deal on the Marathon.

We have two marathons and absolutely love them. My son is also very small and didn't hit 20 pounds until about 20 months old or so.

You can see in my signature picture below, he is now 4 years old and is still very comfortable in his Marathon.