Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recaro vs Britax, August 8, 2009
When I first started my research about car seats, I though that Britax was the best car seat on the market. Then I started to do more research on crash tests, read tons of reviews of car seats, and found people stating European car seats were far superior to our American made. Many people recommended purchasing a European car seat.
I researched the European market and found that Germany had the best car seats on the market, England's cars seats were second and American car seats came in third. All German cars seats must pass a crash test of 45mph, England 35mph, American 30mph standards. Since Britax was sold in the UK, I thought they must meet the UK standards, but they don't. They have completely different models and one study proved that Britax American car seats failed the Britax England crash tests studies (they have to because of the different crash test standards 30 vs 35mph). If you have time, research the English car seat market, and look how different their car seats look compared to our American versions (britax.co.uk). Their crash features are far superior to our car seats, All have side impact protection and many have a boot in front of the car seat that keeps the car seat in place during a collision. I tried desperately to buy a car seat from England, but was not able to. I called a ton of private shops, even tried ebay.co.uk and could not get a seller to send me a car seat. I called Britax UK to see if they would send me one, and they could not do it legally.
The next option was to try a German car seat. After much research I found Recaro car seats were not only sold in Germany, but the same car seats (and models) were available here, meaning if they are good enough to pass their standards (45mph vs our 30 mph), they are the best available here in the US. From what I could gather Recaro was not the best car seat sold in Germany, in fact, when I did my research a year ago, depending on which study you looked at, they came in 4th or 5th (it is difficult to read German or find an Amercian article written about German car seats). I happen to find a co-worker who knew German and who was able to read these articles for me. My conclusion was that this was the best car seat I could legally have here in America.
I was still torn between Britax and Recaro because it's safety features were still very similar (and they look very similar in pictures on the internet). I was determined to purchase one Britax car seat and one Recaro (we had two cars), but we went to USABaby to actually see both car seats side by side, this settled our dilemma once and for all. Recaro won, hands down. There is no comparison. The Recaro was so much more sturdy, solid, better side impact protection, superior features than the top of the line Britax (both were essentially the same price.) We purchased two Recaro's. The sales person stated that this was the best car seat available for purchase.
I had a smaller car, so I was concerned that it wouldn't fit, but it did. I had to push the front seat up a bit, but it worked fine. We have had it for over a year and we still love it. I have baby #2 in the Britax infant seat, (they no longer make) which was the top of the line at the time (2007). I was planning on purchasing a Recaro infant seat for baby #2, which was due to come out, but hasn't yet, so we kept the baby in the Britax. Now we are looking into purchasing another two Recaro's for our soon to be one year old. I look at other people's car seats and mine is just so much better than any other car seat I have seen available to purchase. I know they say it's not what car seat you purchase, it has to be the right car seat for the car, and it has to be installed correctly. My theory, you purchase the best car seat available, and you make sure it's installed correctly.
Do your homework and take a look at what is available at Babiesrus, and then look at USABaby or your local retailer who carries Recaro, and make the comparison yourself. There is none, but you have to see if for yourself. I am satisfied that I did my homework and I chose the best car seat that is available for my child. Car seats makers here in the U.S. are just now starting to catch up on the technology that Recaro has had for the past 5 years, which I am pleased to see, but is still not 'up to par', to Recaro's or current European standards. Every child deserves the best chance of survival if 'god forbid' you get into a collision. Recaro's are expensive, but it's worth every bit of sacrafice you need to give up, to purchase the best car seat available for your precious child, here in the U.S.
I hope this will help other's out there who are researching this topic as extensively as I was, because I was not able to find any article or personal review answering my question of which car seat is the best available, and why.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If Safety is your concern, this is the one., July 28, 2009
I already knew about Recaro from their history in racing seats, Porsches and airplanes. So when I saw they were making child seats, I figured they were worth looking into. I found a store that had floor models of the competing Britax and the Recaros and got in the car to go look. Side by side, it was no comparison. Though both companies list that they have side bolsters and protection, the Recaro's is so much more obvious and padded. It isn't even close. The shop owner and I spoke for about 15 minutes about his opinions on the seats. He said basically the same thing I was thinking. He stated that many people buy the Britax because of a suggestion from a friend or family member. He said if they are willing to look at other brands as soon as he puts the Recaro next to the Britax Marathons, people were choosing the Recaro 2 to 1. It is a superior product.
As I drive smaller cars (and plan to have more kids) I was very focused on having the proper side impact protection. The seat fits easily in my small coupe and hatchback without any trouble. My son is comfortable and can see easily out the front of the car. He has never whined about going into the seat, and has been on three trips that required us to drive over 10 hours in a day, and the seat didn't interfere with our travel (we stopped a few times, but that's expected.)
If I owned huge vehicles and could put him in the middle seat of both of my cars (coupe is a 4 seater) I might have been open to other seats, but that wasn't the case, so I needed to know this was the safest seat I could get. The higher cost versus some seats was easy to spend when it came to the safety of my child.
The infinitely adjustable straps are key too. The Como and Signo are basically the same seat, but the turn-dial adjustment is so easy, it'd be silly to waste you time on the Como. I immediately put the seat on the list to purchase. We bought it from the small shop and not here on Amazon, but I am in the market for another Signo and felt I would share my opinion.
I have since recommended this seat to every friend/family member that has/is having kids.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love it so much we bought 2!, May 10, 2009
After lots of research we chose the Recaro Signo over all other brands and models. The fact that Recaro also makes seat and restraint devices for Nascar made me feel extrememly secure that I was buying a safe product. My 20 mo. old son has been using this seat since he was 12 mos (and outgrew his infant seat). It's extremely comfortable for him - he sleeps great in it on long drives. When we learned we were pregnant again, we decided to buy a second seat - one for each car and then one for each kid when #2 was ready for a full-sized car seat.
My only gripe with the seat is that the buckles tend to twist around on the shoulder straps and you often have to spend a few extra seconds turing them around before you can buckle the seat. We've learned this doesn't happen as often if you stretch the straps out completely before removing your child, but it still happens on occassion. Still, I would recommend this seat to EVERYONE.
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