Customer Reviews

Britax Boulevard 65 TSIP Convertible Car Seat, Shannon

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This carseat was a god-send, my husband was in a rollover accident with my son in the car in his Britax Boulevard carseat. Thanks to the car (subaru WRX) and the carseat, my son emerged from the car unscathed and said "Dad, your car is broken". The carseat had no stress marks and the tether indicator made it easy to verify that the webbing had not been damaged in the wreck. I'm not sure if the side impact made the difference, but the fact is my son was totally untouched and had no pain or whiplash after a high-speed complete rollover accident on the freeway. I highly recommend this carseat!!!

When my son started outgrowing the Roundabout, I tried the Boulevard and was very surprised to see that it actually fit well in our 2004 Subaru Forester, which has a notoriously small, narrow back seat. Install was easy and rock-solid.

Although the Boulevard "looks" huge in the store, it's OK once installed rear-facing because the base is very compact. Also, this car seat has a small footprint so it doesn't hang off the edge.

Side to side, the Marathon and the Boulevard are about the same size. The Boulevard is actually smaller than the Graco Sport car seat, which has a very large base and could not be secured tightly in the Forester. Seat depth from the back to the crotch strap is 6" for the Marathon, 6.5" for the Boulevard and 7" for the Roundabout, so if you have a boy, go for the Boulevard.

Although the front passenger seat of my car is moved forward more than I'd like, I can still sit there in a pinch (I'm 5'8" and my knees are 2" from the glove compartment, with the seat very upright). In back, the car seat takes up the whole right seat (there's not much of a "center seat" anyway), so there's really only room for an adult behind the driver. I must clarify that this happens with any car seat I've tried - the problem is the size of the back seat, not the car seat.

The Boulevard car seat will not fit rearfacing behind the driver's seat in my small car. Front-facing, the size of the Boulevard is not an issue.

As with any Britax, the front passenger seat should not be moved or reclined after the car seat is installed - it could interfere with the back tether, the angle of the car seat and the clearance between the back of the front seat and the Britax (there must be about an inch or two fingers, to allow the car seat some give in case of a crash). Follow the manual's instructions to make sure the seat is level - there's a red line on the base as a guide.

The Boulevard also fits well in a Honda Accord, Nissan XTerra, Toyota Rav4 and Lexus SUVs. However, if your car is really, really small and you want that side impact protection, try the Britax Diplomat, about the size of the Roundabout but with wings and a 40 lb. maximum weight limit. If the Diplomat doesn't work, and you need a rear-facing seat, it's time for a minivan.

We ordered the Boulevard in the Madison design last week, after looking at the Britax Marathon, we decided to go for a seat with the better side-impact protection.

The first thing I noticed when it arrived was that the thing is absolutely huge. I had an opportunity to see it in a store after buying it, and the Boulevard seriously dominated the shelf. The next thing I noticed was that the build quality is incredible.

Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant about buying in to the almost cult-like following Britax has, but the Boulevard really is the most serious safety seat I have ever seen. And after reading a few posts about Britax seats, and the (alleged) importance of manufacturing dates, I can say that the seat we received from Amazon (not a third party seller) had a manufacture date of 02/27/2009, and we received it on 03/30/2009 -- so no need to worry about buying an "older" seat.

A few tips for potential buyers:

1) Look at this seat in the store before you buy, especially if your back seat is small. Make sure you understand exactly how big this thing is.

2) The instruction manual is designed to be permanently affixed to the car seat. Fortunately, I read the manual before nearly breaking the protective foam that its cord is covered by.

I purchased this car seat for my 3-year-old daughter. It was an upgrade from the Britax Roundabout, which we have had since she was 10 months. The Boulevard provides a very safe and comfortable ride for her. The HUGS system, with the ribbing under the padding feature, makes it that she can't slide around easily once harnessed. Her head is protected from the Side Impact Protection if she falls asleep. I like the colors and design of the Barrington -- they go with any car decor, are smart looking, and conceal dirt due to the dark colors.

I have a few minor issues with this car seat. One is as was mentioned in other reviews, the crotch strap is very short (the one in our Roundabout was a little longer and posed no problems). I usually have to dig for it under my daughter once she gets in the seat, which she does not particularly enjoy. Two, the deep side walls obstruct her view somewhat when looking to the extreme right or left. This is only a minor issue, as I value the protection her head gets with the Side Impact Protection. And third, as with our other Britax, when you (hand) wash the car seat cover, it can take a long time to dry. So you either have to have another car seat handy to put your child in while it dries, or are just unable to use the car seat until it is dry.

Overall, I am very happy with the Boulevard and would highly recommend it. It was worthwhile to me to spend the extra money for a more luxurious and safe car seat that my daughter would enjoy riding in. No complaints from her as far as comfort goes -- a big deal if you're in the car for a while!

After 9 months of Graco Infant car seat, I needed to get new convertible car seat for my daughter. After much research, I decided to get a Britax. But I couldn't choose which one. Marathon, Decathlon, or Boulevard. Finally my husband decided to get a Boulevard as safer option.
We love this car seat. My daughter is very comfortable in it and she doesn't sweat or cry as much as in Graco. It is very easy to install and very secure.

I've sworn by Britax for years for both of my children, and was very disappointed by how flimsy and fragile the EPS foam is on this model, and the promise of side-impact protection was absolutely what lured me in. The foam is not secured to the headrest, so when the cover is removed for cleaning, great care must be taken to not crack the EPS foam. Also the seat belt buckle is set further back than the seat belt buckles on other Britax models, it seems like an odd design flaw. Shop around- there must be better designed 5-point harness, side impact protection seats out there for under $300! Recaro, anyone?

I bought this car seat from Amazon at an awesome price and they shipped so fast I didn't expect it to come 2 days earlier than the estimated delivery date. My little guy outgrew his Graco snug ride at just before 6 months. He is a big boy at 20 lbs and has chubby little thighs. I previously bought the Roundabout model because I looked up the specs and saw that the buckle strap depth is deeper at over 6 inches compared to the boulevard at 5.25 inches. Some of the reviews I read described this being a problem for little boys or for bigger babies. With the roundabout my sons thighs seemed like they were being squeezed to an uncomfortable fit with the straps. My sister had purchased a Boulevard Click and Safe for her son a while back and so I fitted my baby to their seat and saw that even when I tightened the harness snug, my baby's thighs didn't look uncomfortably tight. (The click and safe upgrade isn't necessary; it seems to click every time the harness is pulled even though there is obvious slack left between baby and harness. Britax says it clicks when the child seat harness is within range of proper snugness, but that you should use your own judgement.)

I'm 5'4 and I own a 2006 VW Jetta. I was worried it wouldn't fit right rear-facing in the middle of the back seat. It fits just fine but the car seat base covers the other seat belt buckles so no one else can really sit in the back.

He is a lot happier in this seat. He used to get fussy in the other seat but now he seems so relaxed.
Hope this helps.

Even as a third time Mom I don't mess around when it comes to car seats, there's no buying the best deal or garage sales. We scour reviews and crash test ratings for hours, replace car seats at least sign of wear despite the cost. The safety of our children is paramount, and its not an area where we cut costs. My daughter outgrew her infant car seat at 6 months so we moved into the Britax Roundabout which was incredibly sound and sturdy, and safety features built into every Britax car seat are very impressive. When you start talking about solid though, even the Roundabout has nothing on the Boulevard TSIP. We ordered this online and when we took it out of the box all we could do was stare at it. Its fully adjustable to fix a child big or small, it has the "wings" I call them to protect the head. It has metal bars welded onto the sides to provide a secondary support for a lapbelt or the latch system. You look at it when it arrives and think "how is my little girl ever going to fit that" but with all the different adjustments it fits like a glove. I won't lie to you, there are a lot of people whose main complaint is that its heavy, but heavy is what is going to withstand a crash. Honestly I wouldn't want to put my baby in a carseat that wasn't "heavy".

After doing research for a few weeks I finally decided on the Britax Boulevard for our 9 month old son. He had outgrown his Baby Trend Flex Loc by height so it was time for a convertible. I love this car seat! It arrived yesterday via UPS and was taken to a PA tech car seat inspection today to have it properly installed. They all agreed that it was a "top of the line car seat" and the "best in safety". My son loves it and fell asleep in it on the way home. His car seat pattern is in Evening Sand which has a black cross stitch going across the "sand" colored fabric that isn't really detectable in pics. I'm glad I went with the print. We bought ours from Albee Baby for only $229 vs $309 elsewhere so shop around to see if you can find a deal. Oh yeah and most important the DOM (date of manufacture) was October 27, 2009 so not even two months old and on sale; it was a no brainer;)BTW fits perfectly in my 2005 Corolla.

we bought this car seat for our 14 month baby girl recently. she was quickly outgrowing (lengthwise) her Graco infant seat and we felt uncomfortable transitioning her to a toddler seat until she was at least 20lbs. she absolutely loves this chair! when we go to put her in, she actually tries to climb in herself. she sits there singing and happily kicks and rocks her legs back and forth. this is a big difference from her infant seat where she would toss and turn and demand to be picked up. it's a big chair but she looks absolutely (and i suppose feels) comfortable in it since she falls quickly asleep when we have long rides.

the only drawback is that the bottom belts are too short and looks to be cutting into her legs.