I was super excited when I got my marathon also, I never thought I would own a britax either, even though I am well aware that there are seats just as good, I knew how easy they were to use and was just thrilled to have such a nice seat.. I am just as thrilled with my true fit though and originally my my ride (we aren't getting another my ride we decided. )
They are all good seats but I do like my britax's ( we have a frontier now too and honestly I think it is the most awesome seat imaginable, for an older child! ) but they are all great seats they all meet the same safety standards.
Excactly this. I know that all carseats all pass the same safety guidelines and are all just as safe as the next one when used properly and installed correctly, and I know that there are other wonderful seats on the market that are excellent and would fit my needs too (true fit, radian, EFTA, etc) I have a EFTA right now and I love that seat! It is great and easy to install and easy to adjust the harness etc etc etc. And only just over a year old (it was bought to replace the old style EFTA that went up to 40lbs only FF because that was involved in an accident too where some lady backed into us) This time when our car was hit again (geez do we have bad luck or what with our cars getting hit!) we knew that the seat would need to be replaced. TBTH I was going to get the truefit as I knew I would never be able to afford a Britax seat. I wanted the truefit because of the lockoffs like the Britax seats and i'd heard that it was a bit easier to install because of the lockoffs, and I'm tired of sweating and hearing my DH cuss a carseat out when we are installing it to get it rock solid. The lockoffs seemed like a bonus for us instead of using a locking clip. We have a britax dealer here and have gone a few times to admire the seats and all the covers and styles. I've loved soo many features about the Britax just from looking at them, things like the belly pad to keep the hot buckle in the 100+ degree florida heat from coming anywhere near my child's skin, and the lock offs. But alas I knew we'd never be able to afford one, so I'd resigned myself to not getting one and looking for alternatives that are great seats and suit my purpose and are available "off the rack" sota speak.
Well, here we were again, in need of a carseat due to some lady talking on her cell phone and not paying attention to anyone else, assuming she was alone on the road, ramming into my DH causing some pretty nice damage to the car, and knowing that the carseat would need to be replaced, as we have the EFTA for DD, and I knew of evenflo's policy regarding seats in an accident, and hey the lady's insurance is paying for a new seat, so..... off we go for our search.
We kept looking at the truefit and I really liked the seat, everything about it, it was soo much like the Britax seat with all the "bells and whistles" but not at the britax prices, KWIM. It also had some nice cover choices as well. So, off to find this seat "off the rack" well, here's where we hit a snag, seems that all the stores in our town want only the newest, most hot ticket item on their shelves now, so anything that isn't the "new flavor of the month" doesn't get ordered to buy in teh store although you can buy offline. I've always been leery of buying a carseat offline for fear of, what would happen if the delivery truck bringing my seat were to get in an accident, or drop the box containing the carseat or in some way damaging it, etc. So, I saw the My ride. No I wasn't crazy about the apperance of it, but hey, the safety is not in the look of the seat, so I decided to give it a chance. I mean hey it goes up to 40lbs RFing that in itself was a huge selling point for me to purchase this seat to try it. I brought it home, and spent hours and hours trying to adjust the seat's harness so that it would properly tighten on my daughter to keep her safe, this was even before installing it in our car, it never saw the inside of our car outside the box
. I didn't like it, my DH didn't like it, and more importantly my DD didn't seem to like it either with the constant arching of her back and screaming! LOL
So, after trying more than a few times to make it work for us, I decided last night at midnight that this just wasn't the seat for us (and FTR I have never ever had a problem like this with any other carseat i've purchased for my kids, I've instantly fallen in love with every single carseat with the exception of the safety first alpha omega and the my ride, that i've bought. The myride reminded me of all the problems we personally had with the safety first alpha omega seat we had with DS) and that it would be going back. We were going to get the true fit shipped to us from walmart.com as it had all we were looking for, a nice cover, the lockoffs, and the price was right for $189.99 plus just .97cents shipping to my house. I came back here to say thanks for all the help and advice with the myride, but that it was going back to the store when I saw on the site a link to the "crazy britax bailout sale" and thought what the heck let's just go look, they probably will still be out of our price range at over $200 even on sale, but what can it hurt to look. I went there and what do you know I saw the marathon for $179.99. $10 cheaper then the truefit and also free shipping, on a Britax seat!!! How could I pass that up! I never ever thought I'd be able to own one, and TBTH I've always thought that price should be a factor when purchasing a carseat along with safety, I mean not everyone can afford the hefty price tag of a Britax seat. At least there are other options out there for higher weight/height seats unlike when my DS was a baby, at a reasonable, affordable price. But this seat is now in our price range, and yes I am curious about all the raves I've heard about this seat about how it teathers RFing, how it is sooo easy to install, how it is soo comfy for kids, etc etc. I want to see for myself, since I've always sort of rolled my eyes when I've heard these raves and said "WOW must be nice to be able to afford that seat!" LOL I'm not expecting some miracle chair to arrive, or that this seat is any better, safer then any other carseat on the market, and IF (God forbid!) we get hit again and have to replace the carseat (it seems here in florida if they see one in the car when you take it to the adjuster it is automatically replaced no questions asked, no matter the brand of seat) then we know we won't be able to afford another britax seat so we will go with the best carseat for us and our DD in our price range. I would have loved to have gotten the frontier for my DS and we did seriously consider it, but the $279 + tax price tag we just couldn't do that, and the graco Nautlius is a excellent seat, soo easy to use and install, and just a wonderful seat that I, my DH and DS have loved the instant we bought it, and it was easier to afford at $145! And really the same as the Frontier in terms of how it is used, KWIM.
I'm excited to get this seat because it has been something i never thought in a million years I could get, I've heard about the wonderful things about britax's seats, it is made in the USA (so i'm helping to stimulate MY economy and not some other country's for a change) and I have a seat where I can actually have some choices when it comes to covers and can change them to suit my mood sota speak. I just can't help but to jump up and down in excitement. To me this is just like getting a new carrier/wrap, or getting some new CD (which BTW I'm fixin to order 2 bumgenius diapers from Target because darn it I want to see what the raves are all about! LOL) or a new book! My DH thinks i'm nuts too, he said "I just don't get excited over a carseat like you do, I'm just looking at the safety factor of the seat alone" LOL Now we have both, the safety factor and the excitement at getting a long awaited carseat.
