Customer Reviews

Britax Marathon Convertible Car Seat, Granite

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Before identifying a potential problem with this carseat, let me say at the outset that we purchased a Britax Marathon for our toddler two years ago, and it is, hands down, the best car seat I have ever owned. Now that my eight month old is outgrowing her infant seat, we are most likely going to purchase another a Britax for her. As a busy mom, I appreciate that I have never had to fight with twisted straps or straps that snag and won't tighten the way they should!

That being said, I think it is important to be aware that Consumer Reports, a non-profit organization which tests and rates consumer products, noted in a recent test of this carseat that, when the carseat was installed in the rear-facing position and attached with the LATCH system, the seat tilted back on impact more than the federal standard allows. (This was not a problem with the Roundabout model). To avoid potential injuries from this problem, Consumer Reports recommends installing this carseat with the car's safety belt instead of the LATCH system.

Obviously, if you are purchasing this car seat for a toddler and will be installing it in the forward-facing position, this is not a concern. However, if you are planning on installing it in the rear-facing position, I believe this is something parents should be aware of.

We have 2 car seats. An Evenflo Triumph 5 in a 2003 Honda Accord and the Britax Marathon in a 1997 Jeep Cherokee Sport. We went the "economic" route first and bought the Evenflo ... we find that it's a cumbersome piece of equipment (my wife hates it). Then we bought the Britax ... wow ... LOVE it! I know the Britax is considerably more money, but if you can afford it, I would recommend spending the extra cash. It's a nice seat. For long trips, we generally drive the Honda and switch the seats for his comfort and our convenience.

Pros:

- Getting our son in and out is very, very easy

- He can comfortably sleep in this seat without any head bobbing

- Easy installation; of course the LATCH system is nice in general (Honda has it the Cherokee doesn't) but Britax takes it to another level (at least compared to Graco and Evenflo) with seatbelt-like push button releases so you don't have to dig your fingers in the crack of the seat trying to unhook to straps

- The back of the seat is open so you can slide the belts through easily

Cons:

- A little bulky. This car seat is in the Cherokee and if I'm driving, I have to keep the driver's seat scooched forward a little so our son has enough leg room (I'm 6'). My wife doesn't really have this problem (she's 5'7"). However, the Cherokee is a relatively snug SUV in general, so I'm not sure this is a big issue. We do not have this problem when the seat is in the Honda.

In short, the additional $130 makes a very small part of your life so much easier. We'll buy a second when our baby outgrows his Graco ... if we have the extra cash :)

My toddler son can easily reach down, lift the Velcro fabric patch, lift the metal release clamp and loosen the straps on his car seat. This happened the first time when I was driving in the HOV lanes during morning rush hour. It was quite a shock, and created a very dangerous situation. Fortunately, I did not have an accident, as my child would surely have been seriously injured.

We own the Wizard car seat, but the Britax Boulevard (the replacement for the Wizard) and the Marathon seats all use this faulty shoulder strap system. Many other parents of toddlers have reported the same problem with these seats, and there is at least one other specific complaint re the Marathon on this comment page.

We are loyal owners of Britax car seats (we own one Roundabout and two Wizard car seats), but I am appalled with the design of this strapping system and outraged by Britax's response to my complaint.

Britax first denied this was a design flaw and informed me that I need to teach my son the meaning of the word "no". Then they told me that I should use a safety pin to secure the fabric cover. Other parents posting on BabiesRUs and Babycenter.com have reported this same response to their complaints.

I also filed a written complaint with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) and with BabiesRUs. Since Britax is not voluntarily responding to this dangerous situation, parents must take action. Take a look at the placement of the metal clamp on the Blvd., Marathon or Wizard seats. If you have had a problem with your child pulling up the clamp and loosening the straps, or if you just agree that this situation is dangerous, first file a complaint with the NHTSA at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/, then post your comments on this web site. Of note, the NHTSA ratings give all three seats the top A rating for "ease of use" for securing the child. I agree the seats are easy to use; however, they are so easy to use they are DANGEROUS.

After spending much of my time reviewing convertible car seats I was able to narrow my decision to the Britax Marathon. The Marathon with its five point harness allows your child to remain in this seat until 49" and or 65 lbs, which is equivilent to a five year old. Thats reassuring considering that most boosters start at 30lbs and just use a shoulder/lap belt combination until your child out grows their seat. I also like the fact how easy the Britax Marathon was to install. Just latch in and tether down and your seat is safe and secure.

I made my purchase online at Traveling Tikes whom I have heard many great reviews. They included free shipping and charged no sales tax. They were pleasant and very professional in answering all my questions which is something that is lacking in this industry.

Sincerely,

Alice Lathers

I've read the other reviews here, so I decided to buy this seat for my 6 month old daughter, after being a veteran of Roundabout seats for my much older two boys. I used their Roundabouts until they were both almost 4 (then switched to the Graco high back booster) so I was more than happy to buy a new Britax for my surprise daughter :).

As soon as I got it home and quickly installed it in my car (I'm used to doing this though), I put my daughter in it and saw that the buckle is WAY TOO CLOSE TO THE BACK OF THE SEAT! She's 6 months old, 16lbs, and can't fit! She was practically sitting on the buckle, which I didn't expect, since the Roundabouts aren't built so poorly with this huge design flaw. The Roundabout's buckle is closer to the outside edge of the seat, so that baby can grow with the seat.

She hated this Marathon - it wasn't even plush or comfy like the Roundabout.

NO WAY could any baby be in this until they are 65 lbs (or even 25 lbs)....my 7 year old is only 60 lbs, and at 75% of his height/weight ratio. Unless you have a bigger, younger child, but even then s/he wouldn't fit the seat because the buckle is too far back into the crotch. And no 4 year old wants to be in a baby seat, at 40lbs.

Not only that, but I have a Toyota minivan and it was so huge that it barely fit in it in the rear-facing position. Too big for the captain's seats. My other two kids couldn't get around it. So I thought, maybe it's just my weirdo Japanese Toyota (which is one of the most popular and safest minivans around). So I asked my daughter's babysitter (next door neighbor) to try it, who promptly hated it - she couldn't fit it in her Dodge Dakota SUV!

I'm just writing this as a car seat veteran to help you all save your money and a big headache in a few months when your babies turn 1 (or earlier) and can't fit the seat any longer. Or when you go to buy your minivan, it wont fit.

I promptly returned this to BRU and got the Britax Roundabout, which not only has more padding than the Marathon, but I got it in a much cuter and more sturdy fabric (Aloha). And my daughter didn't scream bloody murder by me digging in her little private area just to get her buckled...I can't imagine how traumatic this seat will be to babies whose parents have to dig in their crotches just to get them buckled!

If you're going to drop more than $200 on a good carseat that will last you for years, be safe, and has good resale value when you're done with it (I got over $100 each on the other two Roundabouts when they were 4 years old), buy a Roundabout. These Marathons will start to show up on eBay with the captions of "Like new, just bought 4 months ago and can't return, too small for my baby and too big for my car!" Most likely, in about a year or two, they will no longer be making them (or do a huge redesign) due to the high return/complaint rate.

Just a note, when I took this back to my BRU, I asked if they'd seen a high return rate for these. They said YES, that people were really disappointed in them because their babies wouldn't fit or it wouldn't fit in their cars! The male clerk said he tells everyone not to even bother with this seat and to get the Roundabout. So I asked where he was when I bought this joke!

Everyone says that all car seats are the same...I think this one is worth the extra money. My second child is in this one and my first is in his original Cosco one. The Cosco is adequate but the Britax is 1. easier to install, 2. easier to put straps on, and 3. probably the most irritating thing about the Cosco is trying to adjust the straps and tighten them and Britax is a piece of cake. I have had so many less frustrations with the Britax and it even has little velcro spots to put the straps on when you are not using them so that when you put your child in, you are not mussing about trying to find the straps from underneath them. Great car seat!

I like this car seat, as does my 6 mos old son. He seems to be very comfortable riding in it. Initially, I thought I would have to exchange it, because it seemed that the Marathon was too big for my Honda Accord's middle seat, because I couldn't get it installed tightly enough. My husband and I took it by our local police department and the police officer re-installed the seat for us and she used the locking clip that I had from my old Snug Ride, to keep the Marathon from tilting to the side (which was an issue with the Snug Ride). I gave the Marathon 4 stars instead of 5, because of the locking clip issue. Most new cars now have lap/shoulder combo seat belts in all back seat positions, which makes it nearly impossible to install a rear-facing car seat in the middle position, without the seat tilting to the side where the seat belt locks. The metal locking clip is what keeps the seat stable and upright. Britax does not provide these locking clips for their car seats because their car seats come with their own "lock offs," which can and do pop open. The lock offs are plastic, and in my opinion, don't work nearly as well as the metal locking clip. These clips can be purchased separately, and they really help keep the car seat in place. Now, I feel that the seat is very safe, since it is rock solid; it doesn't move, slide, or tilt.

Being as frugal as I am, I had never considered purchasing a Britax carseat because of their hefty price tag. It just so happened Babies R Us was having a sale on certain fabrics the day that I was looking for a seat for my 3 year old. So, I bought three. Let me say, that I am a loyal Britax customer now. I'll never buy another brand of carseat again and I'll never recommend anything but Britax. This seat installed easily and perfectly the very first time I put it in my truck and it does not budge at all. Our previous Evenflo Triumph always moved at least a little bit (but still within the range of what is considered safe).

The straps are simple to operate. This is one of the reasons I was looking for a new seat for my mother in laws car (she had an Evenflo Titan) which the straps were nearly impossible to adjust. I still can't adjust them after 3 years. Not the case with this Marathon - I read the instructions and immediately could get them adjusted properly.

The fabric is incredibly plush and soft. I want to mention that the color of the Granite fabric is not nearly as dark as the picture on Amazon - it's a much lighter, prettier gray. I was concerned about the dark gray getting too hot, but the actual color is perfect.

The best feature, however, is the fact that this seat allows children to be harnessed until they are 65 pounds. This should take my daughter until she is at least 5 or 6 years old (she's a string bean - 27 pounds at 3).

Now let me share what my daughter thinks of it. I was at the store having her test out different seats. We tested out the Britax Marathon very last. The instant she sat in it, she said Mommy, this is SOOOOOO comfy!. She never said anything about any of the other seats. She loves her new seat and I anticipate that she'll be happy to stay harnessed until she outgrows it.

Bottom line, this seat is terrific and worth every penny!

We originally bought the Eddie Bauer seat and I ended up selling it on eBay. This is a great seat, he looks very comfortable in it. The straps are easy to latch and I think it's great they have velcro pieces to attach to the side of the seat so that the next time you put the baby is there is no fumbling with twisted straps.

The Latch system with this is SO easy, you literally install this in your car in a few minutes. What's also great is taking the straps in and out of the seat if needed to clean or adjust for baby's height. It is amazing how simple the design is yet it's very safe and secure. Well worth the money!

This is a great car seat. I have one other and a Bodyguard booster seat. They are expensive, but so is my cargo in my opinion.

Equipped with the LATCH system which stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children. This Anchor system is wounderful feature, it makes installation so much easier, especially if you ever have to switch the seat into another car that is also equiped with the anchor points. Some vehicles don't have the anchor points which would require the standard seatbelt installation.

These anchore are 2 locking devices, one on each side of the car seat which clip install into metal loops which are factory installed on some vehicles inbetween where the back of the seat and the bottom of the seat meet. You can feel them or see them if you dig or spread the cushion. Check your service manual for the location.

You simply push the achors and snap them into position. Then just kneel on the car seat and pull the tethers tight. removing is a simple push of a button.

The Versa-Tether, which keeps the seat from tilting forward or backward is a nice additional safety feature. Again, with vehicles built with the tether anchors installed. You don't need to use the anchors but if you can it helps anchor the seat.

The seats are rather large, make sure they fit before you just buy one. You can do that by testing one with a local retailer. I've found that getting a comfortable reclining angle while rear facing to be harder. It's easier forward facing, but those are based on my own vehicles, that can vary so again, you should try before you buy.

I'm overall very happy.