Customer Reviews

Evenflo Symphony 65 E3 All in One Car Seat, Cicero

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

 

 

My husband and 12 month old were in a fatal car accident. My husband did not survive. There wasn't much left of the car, just my baby strapped into this car seat. The car was hit head on and flipped at least once. Thanks to angels and this car seat, I still have my baby.

My 16 month old son is extended rear facing. I wanted a seat that went up to 40lbs, had nice large wings around the head (I'm sure there is a technical name for those) and one that was comfortable. This seat is nice and plush, large and comfy, and he loves it. I LOVE the way the straps adjust. You just simply slide them up and down. There is no re-threading, and the fit is good. Adjusting how tight the straps are is a snap too. Just press the lever between the feet, pull the slack that you need from the base of the straps (at either hip) and then re-tighten. I have this in another pattern (I believe the Hamilton) but the seat is the same.

I can not say enough about the way this seat harnesses to the car's seat. I have owned countless carseats over the last 10 years and this one is so simple. You simply take the locking mechanism, snap it onto the anchor under your seat, repeat for the other side then using your knee you just press down into the seat until you don't hear anymore clicks. It will not move AN INCH. By far the best fit ever. It's also a rather compact seat, as the height of the seat is adjustable on the headrest. So this will easily fit in smaller cars. I drive a newer van, and there is enough room between the back of my seat and the carseat for my other children to easily walk between. Very happy. I feel that he's very safe in this seat and he will fit for a long time. Another added bonus is that after front facing, you can remove the straps and use this as a high back booster. It's really the only carseat you'll ever need!!!

I'm giving this seat 4 stars because of safety and value, however I do have several complaints, but two of those complaints apply to the car seat industry as a whole.

First off, you need to be careful about the way "they" rate car seats. Most are rated ~5-40lbs rear facing. Those are fantasy numbers. Your child will need to be ~16-19 inches long to use most convertible car seats, which means you child won't really be able to use the seat until they're 15-20lbs. Additionally, many if not most of them have a max "shoulder" height of ~16-18 inches and therefore you can forget about using that harness for a 65lbs child; the kid will be too tall. So this compliant applies to Evenflo and every other manufacture who is playing on the "bigger is better" mentality of the consumer.

Issue two, convertible car seats come with an indicator to set the seat angle when rear facing. For some reason many manufactures have chosen to make their seats set at the appropriate angle when on a flat store shelf, however car seats tilt back ~15-20 degrees and when you cinch the car seat down that adds another ~5 degrees of tilt. Again this is common throughout the industry and applies to Evenflo at this time. Why the industry hasn't figured this out and added another ~20 degrees of recline to their seats is beyond baffling. Plan on using a "pool noodle" or rolled up towel to achieve that extra ~20 degrees of recline and doing so it perfectly safe.

As for the seat itself, the LATCH system is great. You latch it in place, put your weight on the chair and the latches automatically take up the slack and lock. It's quick and easy. If you have LATCH in your car, you will get a nice tight, secure install with this seat. Ladies, you will be able to install this seat solo. This would be a simple chair to move from car to car if you plan to do that.

However, the seat belt install for this seat is worthless. It sits so far forward/low that your buckle will contact the seat base and prevent you from getting a nice tight install. I found the seat was extremely prone to sideway movement when installed using the seatbelt. Ironically, the seatbelt install on the entry level Evenflo Tribute is far superior.

The "infinite" shoulder adjusting system is hit and miss. On the plus side, I think it's extremely safe because the shoulder height should automatically adjust to the appropriate height when you tighten the harness and even if doesn't fit, it's extremely easy to LOWER into the perfect position. However, if they're too low and your squirmy child is in the seat they're a pain to RAISE. Additionally, if your child is fascinated by straps, then your child will pull the straps down. I've found the solution is to raise the head rest and shoulder straps to their highest height and then begin strapping your child in and then lower the strap and headrest into place. In the end it's inconvenient, but my daughter's fascination with straps will subside. OTOH, it is Evenflo's top of the line chair and ever other manufacture seems to have a better system on their high end chairs. Nevertheless, I do feel it's a very safe system and that is the most important issue. If anybody at Evenflo reads these things, you should know we almost passed because of the shoulder adjust system.

Lastly, we found the quality was similar to the Britax Marathon and Boulevard (which could be had for a similar price at this time), but the Evenflo converts to a booster, which will save us a ~$150 in a few years.

Great carseat, great safety reviews. Very adjustable, very comfortable. My 15 month old son is still able to comfortably sit in it rear facing - (70% height, 20% weight).

Searched high and low for one I love as much as this one. It will fit safely and securely in my 2001 Toyota Camry without latch and will transfer easily into my 2010 Toyota Tundra with latch.

This is a well made, very nice carseat. This seat is designed with clips that extend from the bottom of the car seat with a seatbelt type of fabric and ratcheting mechanism (like a seat belt). This attaches to hooks built into the seat of a car. These clips do not reach the hooks on my 2002 Honda civic, nor on my 2010 chevy 1/2 ton truck. They neeed to make this clip capable of extending farther.

Amazon was the cheapest place for us to buy this carseat. At least $60 cheaper than everywhere else we looked. Shipping was very quick. Seems easy to install (my husband did it). Only took a couple of minutes to fit in our car. It fits fine in our 09 Honda Fit (front passenger seat did have to be moved up a tiny bit). One thing I did not know before purchasing was that the straps adjust from the bottom. On our other carseat, when you would pull the strap to get a tighter fit it would pull from the shoulders, but this when you pull the strap it pulls from the legs (if that makes sense!) It's not a bad thing...just took some getting used to. I love that this seat will last us for a very long time & we can keep our baby rearfacing longer. This seat seems very safe (hopefully we will never have to test it out!)

I spent hours and hours researching car seats. I have a 3 year old that is 37" and 37 lbs and an 8 month old that is about 16 lbs. I wanted to get matching seats for my car and I wanted something that was really safe. I wanted a car seat that had a higher limit for using the 5 point harnass and I liked that this can be used as a booster as well. These seats should last us until both of our boys don't need carseats anymore.

I was nervous that this seat would not fit well (especially rear facing) in my 2010 Subaru Legacy, but they fit great! The only issue is, (that isn't an issue really) is that nobody will ever be able to fit in the back seat with the two car seats. They are quite wide and take up a good share of the seat. The seats installed so easily! I sat them in my car, attached the latches and put my body weight in the seats and they were installed perfectly!

The shoulder straps are extremely easy to adjust, as is the tightness. I think everything about the seat is easy to use. I don't usually move seats from car to car, but with this seat, it shouldn't be a problem because it's so quick to install.

The color.. I was worried about it. It really is pretty nice though. It goes nice in the beige interior in my car.

The seats do look huge. They feel so nice and sturdy. They also have a lot of nice padding. I really feel like these seats are going to keep my precious babies safe. I feel better knowing I have highly rated, correctly installed seats in my car.

Oh.. and this has nothing to do with Evenflo, but Amazon's price is great! About $60 less per seat than other retailers. I ordered them and had them the next day! I just used regular shipping.

When I got this seat, I was really excited to try out the SureLatch system and see how well it fit in our '08 Honda Accord. I read that this was a great seat for smaller cars, and that couldn't be more true. I was so impressed with how easy it was to put in the car, latch, and tighten. I had another seat that I had to send back because I couldn't get it tight at all. With this one, it was so secure and tight when I latched it. The SureLatch system makes me feel like my baby is incredibly safe. Also, I was happy to see that the adjustable headrest doesn't even come close to touching the back of the front seat. The color is actually really nice. I was a little worried about it being brown, but was pleasantly surprised. It is also super padded and seems really comfortable. When I saw the seat and felt the padding, my first thought was that she would be sitting in a lazy boy in the car :) All in all, I am more than impressed with this seat and couldn't be happier with it!!!

We have a Symphony first gen for my daughter, my 6 month old son has gotten bigger and bigger and he isn't slowing down, he has out grown the baby seat we have for him (carry on) So we picked this beauty up for a good price. The color worried me as it was a creamy brown funky color. upon closer inspection and putting it in my car with beige interior, it actually is really nice, don't let the color set you off. its really not bad at all. in fact for the savings (over $75.00) its well worth it!

easy to install
easy to take out
easy to adjust

No brainer. pick this seat up for your kids. one of the best on the market.

This seat is not for you if you need to remove it and carry it around. It is really heavy. however if you need a permanent seat in your car get it!

So far our son has really enjoyed his new car seat- got sick of the baby one. He's 10.5 months but we got it when he was about 9 months. It was easy to install and we both like it. My only complaint is that the strap gets twisted near the buckle and I am always having to un-twist it. Overall that's our only complaint. It's a good size (fits easily into my 2008 accord and husbands 2010 Sierra) love the colors and our son enjoys the ride!