Customer Reviews

Britax Roundabout 55 Convertible Car Seat (Previous Version), Smokey Pearl

5 star:		(93)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I ordered this seat after trying several others without success, and it's great! I have a 2009 Honda Fit which is a very small car. I wanted something that was safe, easy to use, would last at least a couple more years, was affordable, and most importantly...fit in my car!

The fabric on the seat is nice and plush, but even in the summer heat my girl did not seem extra sweaty. The quality is noticable compared to other models you see in big box stores. I love that is has a steel bar frame and that the base is stationary so the seat just pivots to recline. The LATCH connectors are super easy and store away neatly if you are using a seat belt. I installed it in my car with both methods and they were both easy and quick. I have used it both in the center and passenger side positions (both rear-facing) and it fit with enough room for my passenger to be comfortable. I couldn't even do that on the passenger side with my infant car seat. It's able to work because the base kind of lifts the shell up and over the back of the front seat, but not so high that it impedes on visibility. It is also narrow enough that the other side of my split seat will still fold down. It's not a narrow seat or anything, just not overly huge.

I only have a couple of minor complaints. First, the fabric cover is mostly just fitted on with elastic. I forsee it slipping off and/or having to be re-adjusted every once in a while. Also, the pouch to hold the tether when not in use makes a bulge at the top, taking up space. I had to leave it out of the pouch in the outboard position so it did not interfere with the front seat. And last, the pull to tighten the straps is pressed against the back seat, so it can be hard to pull (it's plenty long though!)

I'm glad I got this seat and I'll probably be ordering a Britax Marathon as well for my husband's truck. From the manufacturer's website, the outer dimensions are the same on both seats, so they should be a great pair!

We ordered 2 of the Britax Roundabout 55 carseats in smokey pearl, one for each of our vehicles. We have this carseat installed rear-facing in both a 2005 Toyota Camry and a 2005 Chevy Silverado extended cab pickup, and it fits great in both vehicles. In the Camry, the carseat is installed behind the passenger, and there is lots of leg room for the person riding in the passenger seat - the passenger seat is almost all the way back. Our previous carseat was a Graco Snugride, and the Roundabout 55 takes up MUCH less of the passenger's leg room. In the pickup, we have the carseat installed in the rear center seat. We initially installed it behind the passenger, but rear-facing, this seat was not a good fit - the passenger seat had to be almost all the way forward. However, there is plenty of room for the seat to rear-face in the middle and the seat does not affect the position of the driver or passenger seats at all.

We have been using this carseat for about a week, and so far so good. The seat installed easily using the LATCH system, we have not tried a seatbelt install with this seat yet. The quality of this seat is obvious, especially when compared with our previous seat. The cloth cover is a soft, plush fabric, and the colors are true to what is shown in the picture. The dots on the cream background are a grayish-brown color and beige, and the edging is a medium-brown color. The seat is well padded, and our daughter seems comfortable and happy in it. The velco tabs for holding the harness straps back when not in use are a nice touch. The buckle on the 5-point harness is not any more or less difficult to latch and unlatch than the Graco seat. The harness is much easier to adjust on this seat compared to our previous seat, except (as another reviewer mentioned) that the adjuster strap does get trapped between the carseat and the seat back when rear-facing. However, that is not a big deal to us, since we don't often adjust the harness straps anyway.

One of the reasons we chose this seat is because it can potentially rear-face to 40 pounds. However, I am almost certain that our daughter will outgrow this seat rear-facing on height well before she reaches 40 pounds. Same thing for forward facing. Right now, our 9 month old is 20.5 pounds and 28.5 inches and the shoulder straps are threaded thru the 2nd set of holes, and is not far from moving up to the 3rd set of holes. However, if we can keep her rear-facing in this seat until she is 2-2.5 years old, and forward facing until she is 4 or so, I will be satisfied.

We bought this seat 2.5 months ago for my now 10.5 month old son. Before I went out and bought this for my baby I spent months researching safety reviews and parent reviews of so many different car seats it was so draining. We settled on a Britax because these do get excellent safety ratings. Anyways, we've owned this seat for over 2 months now and it fits great in our 2007 Honda Accord. I thought that the installation was easy and it is buckled tight and secure in the backseat.
I do have a few complaints about this seat though:
1) I wish that the shoulder straps were easier to thread. I personally thought that getting them threaded into the right slats was challenging and cumbersome.
2)For some reason the restraint straps and buckles are always getting twisted. It just makes it a little more challenging trying to get a very active 10 month old restrained into his car seat.
3) For me the seat cover is always popping off the back of the seat. I'm not sure if anyone else is having this problem but I'm constantly having to reapply the seat cover to the back of the car seat. To me it's a big annoyance.
4) I'm concerned that he'll be outgrowing this car seat sooner than I hope that he would. He's only 10 months and his shoulders are already reaching the second to the last slat on this car seat. I don't think that I'll be getting the years of use out this seat that I hoped for.
These annoyances that I have about this seat keep me from being thrilled about this product. But with all of those things said I will say that I do feel that my son is safe and secure in this seat and he is comfortable in it.

We bought this car seat because we have an older roundabout that rocks. We had no problem installing it but here's where trouble entered paradise.

Once our toddler was in the seat and it came time to pull the strap tight, it was a beast. At first I thought it was just new so it would need some time. My wife's older roundabout was like pulling butter.

Six months later, no improvement. By this time, we both despised it but not the Britax name. So we phoned them up, explained our dilemma and surprisingly and wonderfully they shipped a brand new one to us. Wow. Cool.

We got the new one, put the old one in the box and mailed it back at their expense.

Britax said they were completely unaware of this problem. Yet, dig deep enough and you'll see this is not an uncommon issue at all.

The new one had the identical issue, maybe not quite as bad. So, we put it back in the box and sold it.

We ended up buying the older version with the push button release "used" and in seemingly great condition on Craigslist as the backup.

If you have access to consumer reports via subscription, Britax car seats are no longer in the top 3. In fact, they're not even in the top 5. Seems the price no longer reflects the value. Evenflo and Cosco and another manufacturer own the top 3 spots now and the highest score on ANY car seat currently listed/reviewed with them is 70 out of 100. Sad.

Good luck on your search for the perfect car seat.

The things I looked for in a convertible car seat: not too big, easy buckle, easy strap tightening, comfortable for child, looks good in car. I got all of these in the Roundabout 55.

I have this seat installed rear-facing in my Hyundai Santa Fe- it fits like a dream. It's behind the passenger seat (so that I could use the LATCH system; there's no LATCH anchors in the center seat of the car) and I didn't have to move the front seat forward. It's not too wide, not too tall. The sides are a little higher than the Roundabout 50, but I haven't found them to be an issue when getting the child in and out the seat. In fact, it's easier to get her out of the Roundabout than it was to get her out of her infant seat when I started leaving the infant seat in the car because it got too heavy to carry.

The buckle is a convenient push button, not too stiff. I was not a fan of the slide button on the Graco seat; I found this to be more comfortable in my fingers.

The lever to loosen the straps is a little more awkward to reach than the super-easy button on my Chicco infant carrier, but it's not a big deal. I think all convertible seats have this downfall, especially when installed rear-facing. I was actually very concerned about this, however, I find that I can easily loosen and tighten the straps while my child is in this seat.

My child has no problems with this seat- she looks very happy in in. The Roundabout 55 comes with the HUGS padding for the shoulder straps, which is an improvement over the Roundabout 50, and I'm glad they're there to prevent the straps from cutting into her neck.

The color of this seat (Davenport) is a beautiful gray that matches the interior of my car. I have had no problems with the seat cover being too loose or accidentally coming off, and it is easy to remove for cleaning. Just right.

I would definitely recommend this seat. It was very easy for me to get a nice tight installation with the LATCH system. However, I do recommend reading BOTH the car seat manual AND your car's owners manual when installing a car seat. I learned a few things from the car manual that I wouldn't have done with just reading the seat instructions.

We just got this seat and now that it's installed (phew, that was hard with no latch system in our car!) it looks great and performs quite well.

Except:
I have one major complaint which is that it's hard to get our 10 month old son in (rear-facing). The shape of the car door opening (in our Subaru Outback) combined with the high sides of this car seat mean I have to angle him back and slip him in. I have trouble imagining I'll be able to keep him rear-facing for nearly as long as I'd like to (or is now recommended) in this seat. I don't know if the last model of this seat (the Roundabout 50) had this problem but I think that part of the redesign involved raising the sides for side-impact protection. That's probably fine in forward facing mode but I'm finding it a bit tricky here. Right now it's installed in the passenger side rear seat and one solution would be to move it to the center.

I do like:
The velcro that holds the straps up when you're putting the kiddo in is great
The crotch guard under the buckle is a nice touch
Seems really safe

By the way I think the padded insert shown is only needed for young infants. I thought it was a selling point vs. the 50 version of this seat but we didn't end up using it.

We bought this seat when my daughter was 6 months old because a car accident necessitated the replacement of her infant seat. For more than two years, we have liked it for its high quality materials and durable cover (you can throw it in the washing machine -- wonderful). Unfortunately, my daughter has outgrown its top notch for the harness even though she's only 2 years and 8 months old and 28 pounds. We had expected to use it until she was closer to 4 years old and then switch to a booster. We feel that we are being rushed into a booster because this seat is designed to accommodate weight not height (she's 40 inches tall but a lot of her length is in her torso). Be aware that if your child is on the high end of the height range for her age, this seat will not go the distance for you.

Great seat otherwise -- no complaints on any counts except that we wish we could have used it longer.

I bought this for our BMW 325 because our Marathon impacted the front seats when mounted rear-facing. The roundabout fits great. We have it mounted in the center seat, rear facing, and it leaves plenty of room for the front seats.

LATCH makes it easy to install, although I spent quite a long time adjusting towels under it to get the rear-facing recline angle right. There are three recline positions, and you put the seat into max recline, then adjust rolled-up towels under the base until a line on the base is horizontal.

Overall, very satisfied with the purchase.

We had to go ahead and move our 6 month old daugher up to convertible car seat and with all the great reviews about Britax and the smaller footprint of the Roundabout than many others, which we needed due to our smaller car (2 door G6)it seemed the logical choice. Overall I am really happy with our decision but there are a few things I wish were a bit different.

Pros:
-Great material, soft and plush and cleans up easily.
-Love the velcro on the straps that holds them to the side of the chair to make them easier to get when putting the baby in.
- Like the padding around the crotch strap, for a girl not a huge thing but probably great for a little guy.
- Feels solid and well constructed I can easily see this lasting thru 2 or 3 kids.
-As I mentioned it has one of the smaller footprints of the large convertible carseats. Even rearfacing we actually got back quite a bit of front leg room space when we put this in and took out our Snugrider.

Cons:
- The location of the reclining mechanism is terrible, if you have the carseat rear facing you abslolutely can not adjust the recline without uninstalling the whole seat since the mechanism is jammed up against the seat of your car when installed and thus inaccessible.
- While I know that the raised sides are better for side impact protection they make getting an infant in and out while the seat is rear facing much harder than it should be. I'm sure it will be fine once she is front facing but for the mean time it is frankly a pain.
- The Latch mechanism, I would much rather have just a simple little hook like I did on my old Graco Snugrider than these awkward trigger latchs they have on the Roundabout. Unfortunatly with leather bucket seats it is really hard to manuever the thicker latch mechanism into place between the back and bottom of the seat of our car.

Overall a great carseat and I think we got a great deal!

We purchased this car seat for my one year old daughter who had reached the height limit on our infant seat. We first purchased the Safety 1st Complete Air, but it didn't fit rear-facing in our 2008 Honda Civic. This seat fits perfectly rear facing in our car with enough leg room for the passenger in the front seat.

What I like about this seat:
- It fits in my car.
- Easy to install.
- I feel like this has a tighter fit than our Graco seat had. Each latch adjusts independently, and I can get the seat very snug. This seat also uses the rear tether which additionally makes for an even snugger fit.
- Easy to change the position of harness.


What I don't like:
- The manual says that this cover is not machine washable.

We debated between this seat and the Marathon 70. Since my daughter is very petite (we still haven't crossed the 20 pound mark), I'm not worried about her outgrowing the weight limit anytime soon. We're hoping to have another baby next year, so I figure this seat will get passed on when the next child outgrows the infant seat. So not being concerned about the weight limit, the extra features of the Marathon (extra head padding & easy adjustable harness straps) to me wasn't worth the extra $100.