Customer Reviews

Kolcraft Universal Infant Car Seat Carrier

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have a Graco Snug Ride II carseat...I selected this stroller frame because I had a gift certificate that covered the cost of it so it would be free.

Upon assembly, we attempted to attach the car seat to the stroller frame. The instructions made it look like the back part of the car seat should snap onto the frame. Our car seat does not.

Called customer service, got a prompt friendly associate on the phone who informed me that Graco Snugride II will not snap onto this frame, but that the safety strap should adequately secure the seat to the frame.

So for that, I take away one star.

However, the other four stars are well deserved. Here's why:
1. It fits in the trunk of my Honda Civic with room to spare.
2. It is lightweight.
3. You truly CAN open and close it with one hand, LOVE THIS!!
4. The ride is SMOOTH regardless of terrain.
5. The handle is just right for a 5 ft 2 mom. No back strain or arm tiredness from improper height.
6. The basket on the bottom is SPACIOUS and easy to access. Big ole diaper bag and Mom's purse fit nicely.
7. The parent tray is spacious and holds keys.

As for a recommendation, I am on the fence. I would prefer for the seat to snap onto the frame, this still bothers me. However, all the other features are important and work well for this product, including availability of customer service to quickly answer questions. So I would say I am 51% leaning towards a "Would Recommend" for the Kolcraft Universal Car Seat Carrier...

I'm a first-time mom of a 9 week old and I like things to be easy. (Why add stress to your life if you don't have to?) I'm so happy I decided to wait to buy a Peg Perego or Mclaren light weight stroller until my son gets bigger. I've been using this stroller actively for 7 weeks now and couldn't be happier. Here's what I love about it:

--I didn't notice when I purchased it that it has shock absorption, and it's a smooth ride for long neighborhood walks.
--The wheels have even survived the rough terrain of a gravel/hay pumpkin farm, when I thought I would damage it for sure, and didn't.
--It's so light
--It's narrow enough to use in tiny restaurants in the Bay Area, and is also great for long neighborhood walks.
--It holds my large diaper bag when needed.
--I can fold it with one hand, prop it up against my thigh and plunk it in the trunk with ease.
--It's good for talk people (I'm 5'9") and has a comfortable handle.
--I can push it with one hand and hold my coffee in the other. (I didn't know that you can't put a coffee in the cup holder of many strollers because coffee will go everywhere, but the cup holder is good for pacifiers, keys, water bottles and a baby bottle.)
--The storage compartment below has two mesh pockets--perfect for my wallet and small toys, receipts, etc.
--I don't have an SUV, and it fits in the trunk with room to spare.

I've never written a review before, but read them all the time, and wanted other mom's to know how happy I am with this purchase. It's not very often that you're the happiest with the cheapest option of anything, but I love it when that happens!

And oh, if you're into this kind of thing, it matches the new Graco Safe Seat (the black and red one) perfectly! The hooks on the back don't fit the stroller perfectly, but once it's strapped in, there's no way the seat is going anywhere.

According to the manufacturer, this car seat carrier is NOT compatible with thousands of infant car seats on the market despite the clearly misleading name "Universal". I bought the top rated infant car seat by Britax and then this carrier based on the box which said compatible with Britax. After reviewing the instructions, I found it was not compatible with this and many other infant car seats.

Several other reviewers nailed it: The Kolcraft Universal appears to be designed specifically NOT to work with many infant car seats (a Graco SnugRide in my case). An anti-roll bar-shaped steel strut connects the two handle shafts exactly where many seats would like to clip onto the stroller, thus affixing them securely. Without, the Kolcraft's single strap and basket tension method is tippy, at best.

Fortunately, this strut is connected with two light rivets on either end--a few minutes with a drill to remove the lower ones, and the strut pivots out of the way, allowing your seat to clip onto the support exactly where it looks as though it should (anyone who's ever drilled out a rivet will understand the potential for frustration here). With this method, you can easily stick in another rivet or tap in a small bolt to return it to a stock configuration. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

To all appearances, Kolcraft originally designed the stroller to work with these center-latch style seats, but added the bar specifically to prevent you from latching your seat on. Weird and highly inconvenient, at best--dangerous, at worst.

We bought this used before my daughter was born and it is absolutely one of the best purchases we made. Its lightweight, folds and unfolds easily even with one hand. It folds down really small (great when you have a smallish compact car like we do). The basket is huge -- it fits my largest diaper bag, purse, and a couple shopping bags. The handle is softly cushioned and feels nice. It steers really well, even when weighed down with baby and with a full basket. (I once used it to transport a case of water (in the infant seat), 36 cans of pop, a couple bags of chips, and a few packages of cookies while we were out and trying to move party supplies, and it STILL steered great with all that weight.)

I love it. LOVE it. I wish I could find a regular stroller that I loved as much -- it's going to be a hard act to follow.

One caveat: with our Combi infant carrier baby sat fairly upright, much at the same angle as when the carseat was in the car. When we borrowed a Graco infant seat from a friend after we were in a car accident, I found that the Graco reclined quite a ways. That would've been great for a young baby but my daughter was 4 months old and liked sitting upright a bit more.

I LOVE this stroller. I have the universal II. It's lightweight, easy to fold with one hand, fits in easilly in the trunk, and it's easy to put the car seat in and out. It has made such a difference to my overall mobility with the baby. We go everywhere now-Supermarket, mall, strolls in the park. It's so much better ( and smaller ) than my travel system stroller. The shopping basket is nice and large, and I've never had any problems. What a pity my son has outgrown his infant car seat. I'm really going to miss this stroller.

I love this car seat carrier! LOVE IT! I have a Graco Snugride and it fits perfectly in it. Its lightweight, incredibly easy to manuever and it has a HUGE storage basket underneath. Plus, the one hand folding mechanism is awesome!! This is MUCH easier than those big bulky travel systems - this folds up so small and takes up very little trunk room. I cannot find one thing that I don't like about it. . . its a must have!

I have the Chicco Keyfit 30 car seat and this stroller saves me! No more carrying heavy baby and seat! My particular car seat fits great and the safety strap has room to latch across and hold the seat in tight if needed. The cargo space underneath has plenty of room for those quick trips to the market or mall. It is easy to fold, even with one hand, and it goes everywhere with me in my car. I would definitely recommend this stroller to everyone!

Pros:
-Large, easily accessible basket.
-Large cup/snack holder.
-Long handle keeps you from kicking the stroller wheels as you walk.

Cons:
-Most car seats *do not* snap onto the frame including some that are supposedly compatible according to the manual (including my Graco SnugRide, which did not fit).
-The only thing left to secure the carseat to the frame is a belt that snaps across the middle of the carseat. If you run into something, the car seat flips upward, pivoting on the strap.

I took this to Babies R Us and tried it with all the infant seats, but could not find one that actually snapped onto the cross bar of this stroller frame (tried Evenflo, Combi, Graco SafeSeat). I was disappointed because I do like the design of the stroller and would have kept it if I could find a compatible carseat. I ended up returning this and getting a Graco SnugRider stroller frame instead - not as nice but at least my Graco seat sanps onto it securely.

My husband and I realized after our first son was born that we did not like the big bulky car seat stroller combos. So when my second baby was born I purchased a new infant carrier w/o the stroller thinking that I wouldn't need/want one for the car seat. As it turned out I changed my mind and bought this one and I love it. I have a Britax infant seat and it fits perfectly on the stroller. The stroller itself was easy to put together, actually not much to it at all. It fits nicely in my vehicle. I leave it in the back of my SUV. Unfortunately it does not fold up umbrella style but it's not as big and bulky as the stroller seat all in ones which I love. I've been very happy with this purchase and would recommend it to anyone. For anyone who has the Britax seat, you can use this stroller and not pay as much.