Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat Onyx

My husband's Mom bought one of these for my daughter when she was just turning 1 and was ready to turn around and face front. She just turned 4 and we are still using it and it still looks and feels great. The fabric and the chair itself are very comfortable for my daughter and the chair is very sturdy. The way it is designed, it's hard to explain but when she is sitting in it the sides and back kind of envelope her a little bit to offer a little side protection.

The cover pulls off for easy cleaning and the rest of the seat and the straps can then be washed with a hose or in the tub, if necessary. Installation was no problem either. I have a '99 Jeep Cherokee so I have no Latch system and have to use a shoulder belt but have never had a problem getting a tight fit. I've taken it out before so someone could ride back there and it takes less than 5 minutes to get it back in. Size has never been an issue either, but we have plenty of room back there. It might be an issue in a smaller car but really, I'm glad she has plenty of room in her seat and some extra padding in case she needs it.

I just bought a Britax Frontier for her which she also loves and fits in well, and my now 1 year old daughter is going to inherit this seat. It may be a little more expensive than the other seats out there, but it's worth every penny and will last a long time.

We have four kids under 6...and have two in Marathons right now. We just bumped the oldest up to a booster at almost age 6 because her head was almost hitting the ceiling of our van when in the Marathon. We bought two Evenflo Triumphs and two Alpha Omegas before finally getting the Marathons. My husband and I liked the Triumphs okay, but it could be difficult getting the straps adjusted properly and relatives had a hard time understanding the straps at all. The AO's are okay, though the puzzle buckle can be a pain, and the straps do occasionally twist. We still use the AO's as our rear-facing option because the Marathons just don't fit properly in our van when rear-facing.

But the Marathons are far and away our favorites. I'm extremely picky about car seats. The Marathons are very easy to install, even for relatives who don't do it often. They straps have never twisted...not in 4 years of owning the first one. And best of all - we've been able to teach our nearly 5 year old how to strap herself in. (She couldn't do the puzzle buckle herself in the AO.)

If we needed to replace car seats, we would buy another and quickly. They are absolutely worth the money, just for ease of installation and non-twisting straps.

I was surprised at how easy it is to install this seat. I'm going to police station to get it inspected, just in case I didn't do it right, but it seems pretty straightforward...maybe it just felt too good to be true. It seems rather large but it fits in my Audi A3 rather fine. It's a bit high, I think, maybe because of the base or my car is a smaller car (vs. an SUV or something) but I can still see my rear window fine from the driver's seat when I placed the seat in the middle of the rear seat. I think my baby actually enjoys it being high as she can see the windows better now.

When I saw it at the store, it seemed rather flimsy but when it got here, I was glad to know it's actually not flimsy but rather quite sturdy. Maybe the store item was overused from display and had a lousy awful cover design which might have biased my impression then. I got the onyx cover and it's really sleek. My baby is 9.5 months old and about 19 lbs now and she fits in it pretty well, not too big for her at all, but still lots of room for growth.

The instructions is quite simple though for me it took a little exploring to find out the anatomy of the whole thing, but I'm just lousy with manuals and more interested in experiential learning so that's probably why.

The only thing I've to say is....somehow the box was severely damaged when it arrived at my house. I'm not sure why or how. UPS guy said it was like that already. I don't know if I should believe him. I was a bit worried that the seat would be damaged but it wasn't...thank goodness. So it's either Amazon sent me a package that was poorly packaged or UPS did a poor job at delivering it.

This is the best money I ever spent on a carseat. It is so easy to install and remove from the car. You don't have to jump on it or sit in it to make it tight. I wish I had known about it when my first child was born!

Very easy to install. My daughter is 11 months old, 20lbs and 30 inches. She is still rearfacing. Fits perfectly next to the Regent we purchased for our 3yr old in our Suburban.
The material is soft and plush. I love the velcro on the sides, it helps keep the straps in place after you take your child out of the carseat. No more wrestling with the straps. The straps are also very easy to adjust, and I LOVE the buckle under the seat to adjust the straps.
We are very happy with our purchase. If she doesn't outgrow it by height first, our daughter will be in this seat for years to come.