What's the best carseat for RX330?
10-03-04, 06:00 PM
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What's the best carseat for RX330?
Hello everyone, I've got a baby girl on the way in December and have started looking at carseats. Anyone have advice on which one to buy? I am leaning toward buying one of the travel systems also, but am open to your thoughts and experiences. Thanks!!!
10-03-04, 11:18 PM
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My wife's **** about safety, so she researched car seats for our little girl for months ('Ava' was born in March). We've got the Peg-Perego that includes the base, which works well in her RX330 (I did buy a little car seat mat to go under the base though to keep the leather from getting jacked) and the car seat itself fits into their stroller. We can yank the seat out of the car, slap it in the stroller and we're off. Check them out...
10-04-04, 06:10 AM
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My wife and I also did enormous amounts of research on car seats and strollers. We now have a 7-week old (Emily).
What it came down to for us was the following:
1. Graco stroller quality is (relatively) poor. You can find far too many customer reviews about the wheels literally falling the strollers.
2. Peg stroller quality is quite high, but their strollers will not accept a Graco car seat.
3. Graco car seats have at least one advantage over the Peg car seats in that, if necessary, the Graco car seat can be used in a car without a base. The Peg car seats which MUST be used with a base. Granted, using the car seat without a base would be a rare event (e.g., emergency situation, car breaks down, in a taxi), but something to consider.
In the end, we got a Graco car seat, with a separate base for her car and my RX300, along with two separate strollers. One is a "Snap N Go" stroller by Swan which is a great, compact, and lightweight stroller light enough for my wife to get in and out of her car. We also got an Ingelsina Zippy. This is an Italian stroller and we LOVE it. Far better quality than Graco and Peg (and more expensive, but totally worth it). This stroller doesn't take a Graco car seat, but we use a completely flat bassinette for this one anyway, which we use for long walks and such and keep in the house.
The Graco car seat and base fit well in the outboard positions in the back seat, where the LATCH system is located. We too use a seat guard to protect the leather in the Lexus ("Supermat" by Sunshine Kids).
What it came down to for us was the following:
1. Graco stroller quality is (relatively) poor. You can find far too many customer reviews about the wheels literally falling the strollers.
2. Peg stroller quality is quite high, but their strollers will not accept a Graco car seat.
3. Graco car seats have at least one advantage over the Peg car seats in that, if necessary, the Graco car seat can be used in a car without a base. The Peg car seats which MUST be used with a base. Granted, using the car seat without a base would be a rare event (e.g., emergency situation, car breaks down, in a taxi), but something to consider.
In the end, we got a Graco car seat, with a separate base for her car and my RX300, along with two separate strollers. One is a "Snap N Go" stroller by Swan which is a great, compact, and lightweight stroller light enough for my wife to get in and out of her car. We also got an Ingelsina Zippy. This is an Italian stroller and we LOVE it. Far better quality than Graco and Peg (and more expensive, but totally worth it). This stroller doesn't take a Graco car seat, but we use a completely flat bassinette for this one anyway, which we use for long walks and such and keep in the house.
The Graco car seat and base fit well in the outboard positions in the back seat, where the LATCH system is located. We too use a seat guard to protect the leather in the Lexus ("Supermat" by Sunshine Kids).
10-05-04, 06:13 AM
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For what it's worth....from Consumer Reports:
Infant seat:
"The Graco SnugRide, $85, and the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio, $150, earned the highest marks overall."
Convertible seat:
"The top-rated Britax Roundabout E9L0240, $230, is costly but earned high marks overall."
Infant seat:
"The Graco SnugRide, $85, and the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio, $150, earned the highest marks overall."
Convertible seat:
"The top-rated Britax Roundabout E9L0240, $230, is costly but earned high marks overall."
10-14-04, 06:43 PM
#6
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Agree with the Britax thing...they make the best. I have a Graco travel system and the kid outgrew it at 18 lbs, she got too tall - and some kids can get that tall EARLY! if we had it to do over again (which we will!), we would buy a standalone stroller and separate carseat. while it IS cool to be able to take the kid out of the car by separating from the base and just popping it in the stroller, if you have a big kid, you wont want to do that for long! we still use the stroller but we LOVE the new Britax seat that can convert from rear facing to front facing up to 45 lbs. comes in cool patterns too (we got cow print). all personal preferance. the britax doesnt leave too bad of an indentation in the leather either...and the graco left a couple of dents in my backseat! you should get a pad to put it on regardless. congrats and good luck!
PS also bought an AWSOME jogger stroller if youre interested...the BOB stroller ROCKS!
PS also bought an AWSOME jogger stroller if youre interested...the BOB stroller ROCKS!
10-18-04, 03:42 PM
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I have the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio (my son is now 4 months old). First of all, whatever you get, make sure it as LATCH. It makes a big different. Peg has the built-in LATCH seat belt. But it is a bit too short to fit in the center seat. So I have it behind the Driver seat. I know it is not the best location but the car seat feel too lose using just the normal seat belt in the middle seat position.
The Lexus leather is too smooth, so I end up getting not slip pad and a seat protector. But the seat still moves a little bit.
The son is only around 16 lbs and 26 ins and he looks very snug in the seat and his feets starts to hang out of the car seat. I don't know how we can use it until he is 20 Ib. My friend has the Combi car seat and it looks more comfortable.
However, both my wife love the Peg Perego P3 stroller. It is not the easiest thing to attach the car seat to the stroller, but it works pretty well.
We also got the Britax Marathon for him once he grew out of th infant seat. I do know for sure the Britax LATCH belt is long enough to put it in the middle seat. I am looking forward to use it.
The Lexus leather is too smooth, so I end up getting not slip pad and a seat protector. But the seat still moves a little bit.
The son is only around 16 lbs and 26 ins and he looks very snug in the seat and his feets starts to hang out of the car seat. I don't know how we can use it until he is 20 Ib. My friend has the Combi car seat and it looks more comfortable.
However, both my wife love the Peg Perego P3 stroller. It is not the easiest thing to attach the car seat to the stroller, but it works pretty well.
We also got the Britax Marathon for him once he grew out of th infant seat. I do know for sure the Britax LATCH belt is long enough to put it in the middle seat. I am looking forward to use it.
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10-21-04, 12:49 PM
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Affordable SAFE Options
I used the Graco Quattro Tour Travel System (Snug Ride) and absolutely loved the carrier, car seat, stroller combo. No need to wake up that bundle of joy to put her/him in the car seat or stroller. The quality of the stroller is fine, after 2 years we have yet to have a "Wheel fall off." It has a lot of storage below when you go shopping, have big diaper bags or toys for the park. After the baby reached 20 lbs. we purchased the 3-in-1 convertible Cosco Alpha Omega car seat. You could start with this set from the beginning if you don't want to purchase two. Here are the 3-in-1 features - Rear-facing infant, 5 to 35 lbs., to front-facing toddler, 22 to 40 lbs., to young child, 30 to 80 lbs., riding a belt-positioning booster. We looked at the Britax and considered it, but why pay the extra money? Consumer Reports rates the Snug Ride and the Alpha Omega very well. Congratulations and best of luck in December.
10-22-04, 12:41 PM
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Britax Roundabout is sooooo comfy. And there are so many adjustments and guides....we love it and I'm about to get a second one. And the connections are of much better quality than anything else we've looked at...just compare the LATCH attachment on a Britax with anything else....the difference is obvious. For example, Britax has a full-blown carseat quality connectors with buttons...all others use a simple metal clip.
On the RX330 that really helps because its very hard to reach in between the seat cushions and unclip the a LATCH attached seat.
On all other car seats (that I owned or examined), you must reach your fingers blindy between seat cushions and push the LATCH attachment in and then push up while pulling back to attach with LATCH. To disconnect you must reach your fingers blindly in between the seat cushions, squeeze a metal clip, push forward, then push down while pulling out.
With the Britax Roundabout, you simply push the latch in and it snaps. To remove, you push a button and it pops out. No need to reach your fingers in between the seat cushions.
The britax also includes an extra tether which you can use to strap down the seat even when its rear-facing.
Is something like that worth $100 extra? If you rarely move the seats....no. But if you move the seat between your car, your parents, and/or friends occassionally...it's worth it (plus the other nice things about Britax)
Read about all the car seat ratings here...
http://www.consumerreports.org
(click babies and kids), then click "Child car seats 8/04 R"
Then you can see their full evaluation and list of all seats.
And here's a small RX330 observation...not all LATCH connectors are equal. In the newer RX330 I had as a loaner, the LATCH hoop in the carseat had a small plastic TAB to help protect the leather. My earlier model RX330 did not have this...
On the RX330 that really helps because its very hard to reach in between the seat cushions and unclip the a LATCH attached seat.
On all other car seats (that I owned or examined), you must reach your fingers blindy between seat cushions and push the LATCH attachment in and then push up while pulling back to attach with LATCH. To disconnect you must reach your fingers blindly in between the seat cushions, squeeze a metal clip, push forward, then push down while pulling out.
With the Britax Roundabout, you simply push the latch in and it snaps. To remove, you push a button and it pops out. No need to reach your fingers in between the seat cushions.
The britax also includes an extra tether which you can use to strap down the seat even when its rear-facing.
Is something like that worth $100 extra? If you rarely move the seats....no. But if you move the seat between your car, your parents, and/or friends occassionally...it's worth it (plus the other nice things about Britax)
Read about all the car seat ratings here...
http://www.consumerreports.org
(click babies and kids), then click "Child car seats 8/04 R"
Then you can see their full evaluation and list of all seats.
And here's a small RX330 observation...not all LATCH connectors are equal. In the newer RX330 I had as a loaner, the LATCH hoop in the carseat had a small plastic TAB to help protect the leather. My earlier model RX330 did not have this...
10-29-04, 06:52 PM
#10
Got an '04 RX330 and a 7month old son.
We initially bought the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio (to go with the matching stroller
), and my opinion is that it is just fine..... But when our son outgrew it a couple of months ago we bought a Britax Roundabout. My wife and I agree, the Britax seems to be more thoughtfully made and has a higher quality "feel" than the Peg Perego.
They are both terribly expensive (IMHO), but my advice is to be sure to look at Britax if you are willing to shell out the $$$ for the Peg Perego.
We initially bought the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio (to go with the matching stroller
), and my opinion is that it is just fine..... But when our son outgrew it a couple of months ago we bought a Britax Roundabout. My wife and I agree, the Britax seems to be more thoughtfully made and has a higher quality "feel" than the Peg Perego.They are both terribly expensive (IMHO), but my advice is to be sure to look at Britax if you are willing to shell out the $$$ for the Peg Perego.
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