why would you pay twice as much?

[aisraeltax]

*^harness height
*15lb ^ weight limit
*britax testing & reputation (what other company will do expensive advisories & recalls on their own?)
*britax customer service
*the fact that britax makes only CRs whereas Graco makes everything under the sun
*probably better covers
*LATCH-able booster
*because ~$120 really isn't that much

:yeahthat: plus a 9 yr lifespan

 

[Defrost]

All dependent on the 3pt seatbelt clasp to contain a 55+lb child AND that seat in place during an accident. Hmmmm.

That's the same seat belt that's holding in my 150+ lbs and my dh's 200+ lbs and my aunt's 300+ lbs, so why would a heavier booster matter in that regard??

I understand the concern about the weight of the booster being applied to the child in a crash, I just don't understand the worry about the weight of the booster causing the seat belt to fail?

 

[safeinthecar]

I'd pay more for the Frontier (as is) than for the GN (as is) right now simply because my 6yo is 70lbs.

That said, I can't really justify any more harnessed seats right now since my 6 yo is 70lbs and I own 2 Regents and a radian 80. And because she rides in a booster (very nicely, I might add) half the time anyway.

I really wish that kid would stop growing so fast. Really. I do.

 

[tweetykl]

The $$$ does not matter. How does it fit my child? I do believe I am a carseat snob too and love my Britax seats. The 9 year expiration is pretty good to.

 

[Shanora]

I think for myself wanting the Frontier is that
1. I live in Canada, so my selections are very limited
2. My DS no longer needs to be rear-facing so the Marathon is not really a good option for us (in the the sense that I wouldn't get the full use out of the seat)
3. And the more I hear about Britax, the more I really love this company

 

[Unregistered1]

I would say
*higher weight harness
*Three extra years of use
*Tested for TSIP
*Britax testing standards
*Comes in pink No in all reality that's not a big deal, just an added bonus.

That said, there is no way I see a Frontier anywhere in my near future... a Nautilus... well it depends on how she grows. Right now the Chase is doing the job just fine.
I guess it just depends on your preference as a parent/caregiver.

 

[lovinmyfamily]

I dunno, I'm in the market for a new seat for 3.5yo and I was just discussing the issue with dh tonight. I mentioned the Frontier and the Nautilus. He wants me to buy the Regent for her. We already have 2 and he said he knows those, doesn't want to figure out a new seat and the other kids like theirs, she'll like hers as well. I was actually trying to sway him towards the Nautilus and he doesn't want to get one.

 

[abacus2]

If the Frontier really has a 9 yr life span that fundamentally changes the price comparison. Nice LATCH clips, lock-offs, better or more colorful covers, LATCHable booster, 80lb weight limit, and/or an infinite adjust harness might be worth $150 to some people. I think it's naive to buy Britax seats for safety because Britax says they're safer. There is a MAJOR conflict of interest there and I'd want to see evidence from real world crashes and/or independent testers before I believe that the Britax "safety features" are actually safer.

Really it comes down to preferences and what features are important to you. I love the Nautilus and so wonder why someone would chose the much more expensive Frontier. If the Apex (which I loathe) were the only other option, I would absolutely spend twice as much for the Frontier if there were any way I could fund the purchase.

 

[scatterbunny]

I would say
*higher weight harness
*Three extra years of use
*Tested for TSIP
*Britax testing standards
*Comes in pink No in all reality that's not a big deal, just an added bonus.

While the Frontier is rated to 80 pounds and the Nautilus is only rated to 65 pounds, the top slots are virtually identical. Most kids outgrow most seats by height, and honestly, 18ish inch top slots are not tall enough to get the vast majority of kids anywhere near 80 pounds. 65 pounds is a reasonable weight for height-weight proportionate children, IMHO. We tried a 67 pound child in the Frontier today and he was definitely too tall (over the top slots) for the harness. He's too tall for the Nautilus, too. My daughter is 59 pounds and only 2-3 inches shorter than that child, and she *barely* fits in the Nautilus harness, so would barely fit in the Frontier harness, as well. So, to me, the higher weight rating on the Frontier isn't a great selling point over the Nautilus. It just won't make a difference for the majority of kids.

The nine year expiration is nice, if you want to use the seat for more than one child. Since it has minimums of 2yo and 25 pounds, I'm not sure one child could actually use it a full 9 years without outgrowing it first.

TSIP and Britax being safer are not proven facts; Evenflo says their seats are tested (and pass) at twice the federal standards. Will we all run out to buy Evenflo now because they're *so* much safer?

 

[scatterbunny]

Really it comes down to preferences and what features are important to you. I love the Nautilus and so wonder why someone would chose the much more expensive Frontier. If the Apex (which I loathe) were the only other option, I would absolutely spend twice as much for the Frontier if there were any way I could fund the purchase.

:yeahthat:

 

[bethng]

That the booster will LATCH is worth $150 to me easy. Also the bonus of the better looking covers (imo) and the britax name. All worth $150 to me. The nautilus is just , well....ugly. But LOVE that its available for others who are not as shallow as me! lol

 

[snowbird25ca]

If the Frontier really has a 9 yr life span that fundamentally changes the price comparison. Nice LATCH clips, lock-offs, better or more colorful covers, LATCHable booster, 80lb weight limit, and/or an infinite adjust harness might be worth $150 to some people.

Just to add a bit of clarification.

The Frontier does not have lock'offs, and it is not an infinite adjust harness - it's a headrest with 7 positions that adjust in 3/4" increments. :thumbsup:

 

[Morganthe]

That's the same seat belt that's holding in my 150+ lbs and my dh's 200+ lbs and my aunt's 300+ lbs, so why would a heavier booster matter in that regard??

I understand the concern about the weight of the booster being applied to the child in a crash, I just don't understand the worry about the weight of the booster causing the seat belt to fail?

I don't know if I'm right or wrong... but imo, there's a huge difference between a single individual in a seatbelt vs a 2 part combo..

Child hitting seatbelt & Booster seat hitting it.... plus the pressure of the seat against the child who is against the belt. I also wonder if there's a difference between a hard frame & a human body for how the buckle area is fits around the area.

A booster's frame is top heavy in different areas than a human body. An adult can barely handle whiplash, but what about the booster whipping forward against the child? I just don't know, not an engineer or physics major.

But I'd prefer having a lighter booster or a completely top tethered/lower anchor booster if it's over a certain weight. Recaro insists on TT with its Start -- so why not other brands? The nautilus isn't that far off on weight and bulk.

Anyway, jmho and I hope I'm making some sort of coherent sense.

 

[Momof4Girls]

Britax...name is simple enough. The company behind that name is why the name is "it" for me...I've never had anything other than great assistance from customer service, I've never had a seat I didn't like (some of the others, here, complain about features on a Britax that I haven't experienced difficulties with, although I don't have a Dec), and their testing practices and whatnot.

Actual features of the seat?

1.) LATCHable booster mode (especially important, for us, as our seats are moved from our cars to ILs' cars, and ILs have LATCH and a complete lack of skill and desire to learn on installing car seats...our van does not have LATCH).

2.) HIGH harness slots (again, if that's what ILs get from us, that's what they'll use. They don't have the skills to take the harness out and use it in booster mode, and if they did....well. They'd have serious problems wtih visiting grandkids).

3.) Seat padding/comfort. We do a lot of road-tripping, and quite frankly, I have not been pleased with the GN's padding at all.

4.) And a biggie...NOT Made in China. I'll settle for UK or elsewhere in Europe, but I will not buy a made in China seat. I'll pay more to buy an American product.

Raechel

 

[firemomof3]

I shouldn't have read this thread! Now I want a Frontier! How do I get this past my husband?!

 

[An Aurora]

I'd pay twice as much for the Frontier for the same reason I would pay twice as much for a, say, Roundabout versus a Comfortsport. Sure, it harnesses to the same weight and both will be outgrown very early, but the difference in quality is astounding. :twocents:

 

[snowbird25ca]

I don't know if I'm right or wrong... but imo, there's a huge difference between a single individual in a seatbelt vs a 2 part combo..

Child hitting seatbelt & Booster seat hitting it.... plus the pressure of the seat against the child who is against the belt. I also wonder if there's a difference between a hard frame & a human body for how the buckle area is fits around the area.

A booster's frame is top heavy in different areas than a human body. An adult can barely handle whiplash, but what about the booster whipping forward against the child? I just don't know, not an engineer or physics major.

But I'd prefer having a lighter booster or a completely top tethered/lower anchor booster if it's over a certain weight. Recaro insists on TT with its Start -- so why not other brands? The nautilus isn't that far off on weight and bulk.

Anyway, jmho and I hope I'm making some sort of coherent sense.

I understand totally what you're saying.

This is assuming though that for some reason the booster is going to be delayed in moving forward with the child and that there'd be a moment where the booster impacted the child. If a child is out of position and not against the back of the booster, then that's totally possible, but if a child is sitting against the booster like they should be, the booster will go forward at the same time as the child and there won't be any kind of double loading.

Dave, the engineer with SK behind the radian and the monterey, said that they didn't see increased loads in the LATCH vs. non-LATCH testing that they did with the Monterey - and the Monterey is a heavy booster. He said that LATCH may add some extra stability in a side impact crash, but aside from that there was no difference in testing between LATCH vs. non LATCH.

My honest opinion, is that LATCH in booster mode has become another run away train of somebody mentioning a possible risk or concern with it, and all the sudden everyone else thinking it's a huge risk if a heavier booster isn't LATCH'ed. Many many people are going to buy the Frontier who don't have LATCH, and will use it that way in booster mode too. I just think there's a bit of an over-reaction when all the sudden heavier non-latching boosters get thrown into the category of being dangerous. There is no evidence to prove that, and if anything there is evidence to show that there is very minimal difference in testing between a booster that is latch'ed vs. not latch'ed.

I don't think that a brand name is enough to just blanketly assume a seat is worth double the price either, but that's just me. I buy seats that meet my needs, and while Britax blew me away when I first bought one & replaced my AO, there are now others available that compare to it and in some cases I prefer them to Britax. :shrug-shoulders:

Now the extra 3yrs useful life and the harness heights being so close together so a better fit was likely, that may make a seat worth double the price, if I liked the rest of the features of the seat.

 

[loufrando]

I AM going to pay twice as much for:

- LATCH in booster mode
- 9 year lifespan

I know it will harness the same amount of time as the GN, but when my dd is using it in booster mode for a few years after that, I really like knowing that it is LATCHed in. I know there haven't been any difinitive crash tests done to prove one way or the other the safety of an un-LATCHed heavy booster, but having it LATCHed in means that I don't have to worry about that. Also, there ARE crash tests that show that there is an improvement in the performance of LATCHed boosters in SIP and since we know that SIP are the most deadly type of crashes... well, it's worth the peace of mind for me. It is also one less thing I'll have to train my dh to do correctly (buckle in the unoccupied booster).

ETA: Okay, and I'll admit a touch of brand loyalty.

 

[southpawboston]

4.) And a biggie...NOT Made in China. I'll settle for UK or elsewhere in Europe, but I will not buy a made in China seat. I'll pay more to buy an American product.

Raechel

is it already established that the frontier is made in the US like the rest of britax seats sold here?

 

[joolsplus3]

Lysandra lives in the same state as Britax, if she gets it first, good bet it's not made in China (I'm kidding, but as for now they do assemble all their seats in the US from shells and harnesses made in the US and Covers that are sometimes made in Mexico, and I haven't heard anything different from that through the grapevine...)