Best Price on Britax Advocate CS?

[BayAreaMom]

A coworker of mine needs a convertible for his baby, who is about to outgrow his snugride. He's a big baby- 3 months, 16.5 lbs & 25 inches long!
I recommended the Britax Blvd, and found it 16% off retail at elitecarseats.org- $260.39, plus a $9.99 rebate for Parents magazine, so $250.40 shipped w/o tax. He only wants the Blvd, not a smaller Britax.

However, he found the Advocate CS, which looks like an awesome seat. He has an older (2003) Corolla with no side air bags and liked the Side Impact Cushion Technology of the Advocate. His other car is a Toyota FJ Cruiser.

A basic search of car-seat.org turned up some reports of difficulty tightening the harness of the CS. This is something I ran into with my Decathlon, which Britax ultimately replaced for free with a MA (which I ultimately wished was a Blvd for the headwings).

Since the Advocate is a new seat that I know nothing about, I thought I would see what people here thought of it. Elitecarseats.com has it for 16% off also- $310.79, so $300.80 w/ the rebate. My coworker says he's willing to pay the $50 more for a better seat. But I still told him I'd check here first!

Can anyone find a better deal on this than $300?

 

[monstah]

There are a handful of car seats most of us here recommend before any Britax now. There are other seats that will keep him rearfacing longer and that itself is MUCH safer than the name "Britax".

A RadianXTSL will rearface to 45 pounds and uses a rearface tether.
A True Fit has a taller shell and harness height than any Britax.
The My Ride will rearface to 40 pounds.

I suggest searching this site for other options and posting a new thread asking for opinions. Most members here (CPST's even) feel the Advocate is just a gimmick seat and a rip off.

 

[jess71903]

I agree- I would recommend a Radian 80SL or XTSL, True Fit (especially the Premier), and MyRide before ever thinking about any of the Britax seats, and especially any of the CS models. I've just heard of too many issues with the CS feature and I think the side impact thing is a bit silly, myself.

All of the seats listed above have better leg room for rear-facing. The Radian and True Fit have taller usable shells and top slots, and they all cost a lot less.

 

[Madeline410]

The "pillows" are useless unless the car seat is forward facing next to someone in a booster or seat belt. It doesn't do anything for the child in the seat. It's supposed to protect whoever is next to it. That's it. It's a waste of money, IMO. They make the seat very wide and hard to install.

The Blvd is a fine seat. It should get the child to at least 2-3 rear facing, though it doesn't have a lot of leg room and it only goes to 35lbs RF. But if that's what he wants, that's ok

 

[CandCfam]

There are a handful of car seats most of us here recommend before any Britax now. There are other seats that will keep him rearfacing longer and that itself is MUCH safer than the name "Britax".

A RadianXTSL will rearface to 45 pounds and uses a rearface tether.
A True Fit has a taller shell and harness height than any Britax.
The My Ride will rearface to 40 pounds.

I suggest searching this site for other options and posting a new thread asking for opinions. Most members here (CPST's even) feel the Advocate is just a gimmick seat and a rip off.

Ditto, except the MyRide would never have RF either of my kids to 40 lbs, the shell is WAY too short.

 

[Maedze]

I concur with everyone else, neither the Boulevard nor the Advocate is great buy (or even, frankly, a middling buy) for a convertible, and I would not recommend one, ever. It's not a 'better' seat, and your coworker shouldn't waste his money.

I'd rather see him get a Graco My Ride 65, The First Years True Fit/True Fit PRemier, Safety 1st Complete Air or the Sunshine Kids Radian 80SL or XT SL.

 

[Logan's Mommy]

I've done some research lately and next time I need a convertible seat I will definitely get a True Fit. I had a Boulevard for my son and I wasn't that impressed...especially for how much it cost!

 

[BayAreaMom]

Thanks for your input- my coworker is now looking at the Radian SLXT. Will post a separate thread on that to find best price. Thanks!

 

[TechnoGranola]

The "pillows" are useless unless the car seat is forward facing next to someone in a booster or seat belt. It doesn't do anything for the child in the seat. It's supposed to protect whoever is next to it. That's it.

That is incorrect according to Sarah Tilton from Britax. In this post she says the primary purpose is to protect the child IN the seat and the secondary purpose is to protect other occupants. The referenced post has more information about the air pillows for those interested.

Now if we could talk to them about the FF bitty, toddler in the opening scene of the video for the Advocate (linked to in that post).....

 

[Maedze]

Rear facing that infant will do far more to protect that child than those ridiculous air bags.

Furthermore, the airbags are going to be essentially useless unless the outside of the shell impacts something in the vehicle. Not generally a problem for children who are able to ride in the center position.

 

[TechnoGranola]

Rear facing that infant will do far more to protect that child than those ridiculous air bags.

Which is what my point was about the FF bitty toddler in the video! (although as I reread, my point was not clear )

Furthermore, the airbags are going to be essentially useless unless the outside of the shell impacts something in the vehicle. Not generally a problem for children who are able to ride in the center position.

I am not advocating for the Advocate air bags here (heh, bad pun!), but how many kids really do sit in the centre? For a plethora of reasons (2 seater car, rear seat with only 2 seating positions, small rear seat that won't fit RF child restraint are some of those reasons in various vehicles) my one child was almost always outboard and now with two, they are also outboard. Anyone I know with two kids has at least one outboard. I personally know many more outboard kids than centre kids.

*If* the airbags were proven with crash test data to the public, it would definitely intrigue me. I have always been worried about how RF seats can fly over to the opposite side of the vehicle in a side impact crash and how my older DD would feel getting hit by that seat (she's in seat belt only).

 

[Maedze]

I'd rather see a rear facing tether to address *that* issue. But, you know, that would require updating the test bench and FMVSS standards. Sigh. Things do not move quick enough to satisfy me!

 

[TechnoGranola]

I'd rather see a rear facing tether to address *that* issue. But, you know, that would require updating the test bench and FMVSS standards. Sigh. Things do not move quick enough to satisfy me!

Yes, yes, that somehow slipped my mind! Initially, I was only considering a seat with RF tether. Unfortunately they were quickly eliminated for me as at the time in Canada the MA and Radian both had 30# RF weight limits and 32" height limits (and neither company could explain WHY the height limit was so slow so I got to distrust them). I got lucky and the TF came out with 35# RF limit but no RF tether. Now that she's close to the weight limit of the TF, she's got a MR. I would have liked a tethered Radian when they come out here, but I for the life of me, I can't get a solid OR upright enough install in my vehicle, so it's out too.

The point to that long ramble, I agree we need to kick some butts and get that test bench upgraded in the U.S. and Canada! More manufacturers may opt for RF tethering and/or foot props if that's done!