Question No latch, 1998 minivan, which seat??

[Unregistered]

Which seat would be the best choice: Britax Marathon or Chicco NextFit??
I have a 1998 Dodge Caravan, no LATCH system, no center seat, lap/shoulder seatbelt combo, 10 month old (24#, 30+ inches), wanting to extended rear face....
I've narrowed down to these two seats, but just can't make up my mind!!
Thanks for your help!
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[Nedra]

Are you looking at the Britax Marathon Clicktight? Or the G4.1? Either way, for a seatbelt install I am partial to the Britax lock-offs versus the Nextfit. I can get a much better seatbelt install with my Britax Roundabout G4 than my Nextfit. A Clicktight is definitely the easiest seatbelt install out there!

With the Nextfit, you'd get more legroom, but my daughter looks equally comfy in all 3 of her seats.


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[katymyers]

A '98 Caravan would have locking latch plates which makes built in lock offs on the seat unnecessary. Personally, I'm a big fan of the Britax convertibles for rear facing but the Chicco Nextfit is an excellent seat too, though some babies seem to dislike the shape of the seat more than others.


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[Nedra]

A '98 Caravan would have locking latch plates which makes built in lock offs on the seat unnecessary.

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It's true that a seat with a lock-off is unnecessary, but the Nextfit (and maybe the Britax G4.1 seats as well as well?) requires its use for a Lap/Shoulder belt install, so if the OP is considering a Nextift, it's important to know that lock-offs differ in their ease of use.


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[katymyers]

It's true that a seat with a lock-off is unnecessary, but the Nextfit (and maybe the Britax G4.1 seats as well as well?) requires its use for a Lap/Shoulder belt install, so if the OP is considering a Nextift, it's important to know that lock-offs differ in their ease of use.


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The Britax seats do not require you to use the lock offs unless they've changed that recently.


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[Unregistered]

Are you looking at the Britax Marathon Clicktight? Or the G4.1? Either way, for a seatbelt install I am partial to the Britax lock-offs versus the Nextfit. I can get a much better seatbelt install with my Britax Roundabout G4 than my Nextfit. A Clicktight is definitely the easiest seatbelt install out there!

With the Nextfit, you'd get more legroom, but my daughter looks equally comfy in all 3 of her seats.


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I'm looking at the Clicktight!
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[Nedra]

I'm looking at the Clicktight!
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I think that's a great choice -- definitely the easiest seatbelt install available. Keep in mind that the Clicktight seats are heavy (although so is the Nextfit!) so you may not want to deal with it if you have to switch seats between cars or plan to bring it on an airplane. (If you do plan to travel, a $45, <10 lb Scenera NEXT is worth its weight in gold!)

Do you have a Babies R Us or Buy Buy Baby in town? These stores usually let you try out the floor models in your car, so you could see how you like the lock-offs on the Nextfit. You might like them! I love our Nextfit, but I have only had to do a seatbelt install with it once and I just wasn't a fan of the style of lock-off. The SuperCinch LATCH was one of the main reasons we bought it -- much like how the Clicktight seatbelt install was one of the main reasons we bought our Boulevard Clicktight.


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[MelodyoftheForest]

I have the NextFit also, and it is usually installed with the seatbelt and lockoff. Since the only other lockoffs I have used regularly were on the Keyfit base, they don't bother me I guess. I can now close them without Seeing what I am doing, so I find them pretty easy! I have also moved it between cars some, and I might not want to do it every day, but it was fine. I have so far used Latch in the other cars since I unzip the seat pad to tighten the seatbelt, and I didn't want to bother with that in the temporary cars.


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