Customer Reviews

Britax Regent Youth Car Seat, Sahara

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It was time for our 5 yr old to move out of the Britax Marathon we have. Our problem is that our child is 41 inches tall, but only weighs 32 lbs. Too tall for a carseat, but not heavy enough (based on safety recomendations) to be in a booster (even the label on the Britax Parkway suggests that the child be 40 lbs).
We researched many carseat/booster combinations (we were really interested in the Recaro Young Sport), but found that eventhough they can keep a child up to 40 lbs in a 5-pt harness, the harness straps were not positioned high enough for a tall skinny kid (when we called a dealer for Recaro, they said that we should buy the Britax Regent). So we purchased the Regent.
We were extremely concerned about the size, as everyone has mentioned how big they are. We have a Mazda 626 and upon installing it, I was pleasantly surprised. Height-wise, the view looking out of my rearview mirror seems to be the same as when I had the Britax Marathon installed. Yes, is a bit wider, (we wouldn't be able to fit a 3rd person in the backseat with a Regent and a Marathon installed) but I don't see any difference between that, and when we had the Marathon and the Britax Companion installed. So far, so good. My child is very excited to ride in the big kid seat, and I'm glad we purchased it despite our concerns about the size.

This seat is a great addition to our lives. I bought this seat for our 5 year old when I realized that we wanted more security than a booster seat. I've had Britax Roundabouts for both of my children, so of course I was glad to use Britax again. As always, Britax produces quality products!! I have used this seat in my minivan, my husbands truck, and my mom's expedition. It has fit differently in all three, but with experience I was able to get a great fit in each vehicle. My van is the only one that works excellent with the LATCH system and tether, the other two vehicles work best with the seatbelt and tether. My son is extrememly comfortable in his seat, and my 2 year old already begs to ride in it. It is big, heavy, etc.; but it is worth all of that. If you are serious about wanting a larger seat to grow with your child, I would highly recommend it.

Have owned two "Husky" (now "Regent") model Britax since February 2005. Purchased them to keep our child in a 5-pt harness for as long as possible (Britax goes to 80 lbs and 53 inches tall). Our almost 4 year old has now reached the 40 lb max of the 5-pt seat/booster combo seats that we *thought* were the best protection available...so we are heading to the store to purchase our THIRD Britax seat for him. Because they are heavy/bulky and not the quickest seats to install *correctly*, we have decided to be less inconvenienced and more cash poor by buying a seat for each vehicle our son rides in.

Accidents happen and I want the piece of mind knowing that my son is as protected as he can possibly be for as long as he can be. In our case, we have another 38 lbs or 10 inches before he's exceeded the limits of the Britax Husky/Regent seats.

Unless another company offers a better seat...we'll be a Britax buying family for ourselves and family members.

The seats are easy to use once installed and our son hasn't had any complaints on long road trips. He jumps right into his seat and will quickly fall asleep on those road trips, comfy and secure. Adjustments are a breeze and we're almost at year two of ownership and they look practically new. User friendly and as easy to strap our son in, in the winter dressed in bulky coats, as it is in his summer shorts.

FYI: Our seats are in a: 2000 Ford Focus SE, 2000 Ford Taurus SE, 2003 Ford Explorer XLT 4dr 4x4 and we don't have ANY problems with getting them to fit as tightly into the vehicle as the seats that are a part of the car/truck.

This carseat, as other Britax seats, is excellent. It is extremely well made, sturdy, comes with adjustments so your child can use it as long as possible, and does not budge one millimeter, once installed properly in your vehicle. I love the little straps on the sides of the seat itself, to hook the plastic clasp of the harness into, so they belts aren't in the way when my child climbs in. Some reviewers have mentioned some difficulties with installation, but if the directions are followed, it is not difficult at all: (If you will be using the tether, make sure the strap is pulled out from the back of the seat, before latching the seat in place). The bar that is included easily is inserted into two holes in the back of the seat--this greatly improves stability of the seat once latched in. The belts with hooks in the back of the seat go UNDER the bar in the back, and click into your LATCH system of your car. (I have not tried the seatbelt installation). Once they click in, then tighten them by reaching through two openings on the FRONT of the seat, not the side of the seat. This increases the amount of belt you can pull on, improving stability. Finally, if you are using the tether, latch the hook onto your tether device of your car, and pull strap tightly. Your seat should not budge now.

This is a decent seat with many nice features, but beware- it is enormous. If you have other seats in the car, it will not fit next to them. It does seem sturdy, safe, and comfortable.

K I'll start off by saying that Yes this seat is pricey & heavy & bulky .... but totally worth every penny! SAFETY FIRST! I was stumped when it came to picking out the next step for a car seat for my kids. They had out grown their previous Britax Marathon seats, not by weight but by height. I looked at "booster" seats & even priced Britax boosters. But none of them made me feel good about safety. With boosters you use the car's seat belt to strap them in. Didn't feel good about that. Car seat belts can be faulty & 5 point harness is the way to go ... in my opinion. We have always been a Britax family and will stay a Britax family :) This seat should take my kids all the way thru college! LOL

This car seat is awesome once you get it in. The installation is difficult given its sheer size and needs two people or a very strong and patient person. The instructions are a bit confusing regarding the recline bar, which made the seat not fit a Toyota Tundra, but I think the recline bar is only needed if you do not use the tether that anchors to the floor. Now to the good stuff, our son is 53 pounds. We have two Marathons, which we love but he just hit the 49 inch limit. We bought the highly rated Compass booster, a Cosco Eddie Bauer Booster and a Graco Booster and tried these various items for a month. In all of them, my son fell forward at stops, and when asleep in the Compass he even hit his head on the front passenger seat. The lack of any protection has made us (especially me) very unhappy, so we found this Regent even though he only has 4 inches before the limit. It is so secure, it does not move at all and neither does our son. He is very comfy and sleeps in it. It's worth every penny and every moment of frustration during the installation process! Note: On the Tundra it literally took up the entire length of the seat belt so during the install you have to let out the whole length and have someone hold it while its pulled through.

First of all I want to start by saying that I ordered this seat yesterday with Happy Mothers and it already arrived today without any expedited shipping which I thought was great!

The seat came and yes it is large and heavy! The DSL guy had a hard time getting it up the front steps to my house.

The seat was so easy to set up. I had used a Decathalon for my daughter before this so I was familiar with how a Britax seat works. It was fairly easy to install despite it's size. It is pretty cumbersome. I was able to do it by myself in about 15 minutes. I have a Minivan with Captain's chairs and this seat is taller than the chair and hangs over the seat slightly to give you an idea of the size.

All in all though, it was exactly what I expect from a Britax. I had purchased the Decathalon for my daughter 2 years ago and now that we have a second child, it was time to pass it on to him. I decided on this one because of the reviews and the fact that I don't think that I will need to purchase another car seat until my son is old enough and then I plan on purchasing him this seat as well.

Can't say enough about Britax. My children are my life and their safety is worth every penny.

My daughter is in the 97th percentile for height and she was too tall to use her 3-in-1 car seat with the 5 point harness (she is only 3 years old) and I did not feel it was appropriate to use a booster seat for a 3-year old anyways. After doing much research, I stumbled across the Regent. Yes, it is a very large carseat (but you need a big car seat if you have a tall kid) and ackward to carry to the car to put it in, but I had no problems with the installation (we do have LATCH).
Once installed, the seat does not budge!
The color (Sahara) is also very nice and light (a plus if you live in an area that gets very HOT in the summer) and I would imagine match just about any car.
FYI, you cannot use the Regent on an airplane, as it is too wide to fit in the air craft seat. My daughter is 40 pounds, and per Southwest customer service, kids greater than 40 pounds can use the airplane seatbelt and do not require a carseat (and on a side note, she did great and stayed buckled in the whole time). We just checked the seat so we had it at our destination.

Easy to use tether clips and buckle. Very sturdy but is difficult to move from car to car as it is heavy.