Britax Marathon - Onyx Booster Car Seat

This is our second Britax seat (our first is a Roundabout that is on it's third child and second cover, but still going strong). I just can't say enough about the quality of Britax's convertible seats. I have researched and compared TONS of seats over my years as a mom and for me, no seat comes even close to comparing with a Britax. The price may seem outrageous to some, but consider this--our Roundabout has NEVER had a recall and if you divide the price we originally paid ($200) by 3 kids, that works out to about $67 per child. If you add up the cost of what you would spend to get the same features from a cheaper seat (ex. Cosco Scenera--$50 for a seat, $15 for a pad to sit it on so your nice leather upholstery doesn't get scratched by the sharp edges on the base, $10 for strap covers and a belly pad, and around $50 for a seat cover with better padding because there is virtually NONE on the original, that comes to $125. Give up soda pop, coffee, beer, eating out, or whatever for a month or two and you can save up enough money to make up the difference. After all, it is YOUR CHILD'S SAFETY we're talking about. I feel much better about my 3 1/2 year old being in a well built, 5 point harnessed, nicely padded Marathon than in a toddler seat / booster of any other kind. I am totally spoiled by the little creature comforts such as the belly pad, thick seat padding, rounded base that doesn't cut your upholstery, and the velcro strap holders (best car seat feature EVER and I don't know why they all don't have them). At almost $300 new, the Marathon still works out to under $100 per child for my 3 little peanuts. Since it can used from birth to approximately 5 years old, that works out to $60 dollars per year, or $5 per month of one child's life--less than a large cappucino or one 12 pack of name brand soda pop. We have tried others, and we keep coming back to Britax.

Recently we bought this carseat for my daughter when she turned 4. I wish I had bought it when she was first born. When my daughter turned 4 we put her into a booster seat like alot of parents, without realizing how dangerous these really are. When we were driving and I realized that her seat was nothing more than raising her height it scared me. She could easily slide out of the seat and after showing me how well she could unbuckle herself I thought that was enough and purchased this seat. There is so much room for her in this seat it's amazing! She's 44 pounds and is 42" tall, and has room to grow. It has lots of padding on the seat, and lots of roominess too. She enjoys being so high up and back in the middle of the backseat so she can see everything. I personally love the fact that it is so snug in the backseat. I drive a Pontiac Grand Prix and found this seat very easy to install (as easy as the others or easier) and doesn't take up as much room as you would think. Still room for 2 more passengers or even 2 more carseats in the back no problem. My only complaint is that there's not an optional cupholder that could be removed so it does make reaching to the backseat a little bit of a pain. Well worth the money.