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The most helpful favorable review
The most helpful critical review
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
Britax Quality and Style
We've had this seat about one month now though our three year old has been in his Boulevard since he was 6 months. It is our second Britax Boulevard and our fourth Britax product overall. We like the Boulevard because of its excellent safety and comfort features. The Boulevard is very big and thus very versatile as it will span a long period of our child's early life...
Published 21 months ago by The MF
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67 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
Britax UK Evolve123 is much safer, costs fewer $USD
After doing a good amount of research, I've come the conclusion, this might be a top of the line product in the USA, in terms of US safety standards, but they have safer car seats available to UK parents.
For this reason alone, I am profoundly disappointed in this company. After all, who would make a decision to sell a much less safe product for American...
Published 16 months ago by Morrissey
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41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
Britax Quality and Style, November 23, 2008
We've had this seat about one month now though our three year old has been in his Boulevard since he was 6 months. It is our second Britax Boulevard and our fourth Britax product overall. We like the Boulevard because of its excellent safety and comfort features. The Boulevard is very big and thus very versatile as it will span a long period of our child's early life (up to 65 lbs). That said, the "Click and Safe" model is probably worth the extra few dollars so that folks not used to using a car seat (e.g. grandparents) can safely determine when the seat belt is sufficiently tight. However, we have it installed "rear facing" right now and it pinches the belt. Thus, I'm not sure the click and safe feature is really working. However, this is not our first seat so we know how tight it needs to be. Britax has improved the belt buckle so that it snaps together more easily now. We also think Britax offers that most stylish seats with the best quality fabric. The bottom line is that this is a great seat that is as safe or safer than anything else on the market. It's comfortable, versitile, and stylish. The lone 'negative' is that it's very big. Thus, if you have a compact car, you will have trouble getting it installed as a rear facing seat without impacting the driver or passenger seat. We have a 2003 BMW 5 Series wagon and, when installed rear facing, it does touch the front passenger seat. However, there is sufficient room for a 6 foot adult male to sit in front comfortably. On the flip side, I believe that if you're buying a small car seat, to some degree you're sacrificing safety. When installed front facing, the size is less of an issue. I know it's a pricey seat, but considering it should last us about five years, I think we can swing the $5/month it will cost us to keep our kids safe and happy. Last, but not least, the Mom wanted the 'girlie' fabric for our little girl. Her older brother has a different pattern. Even I must admit the pattern is cute for our little girl and I do think she likes it.
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25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
Installation, May 13, 2009
INSTALLATION:
I wish I had done more research (not on the car seat) but the actual installation of the car seat. When we opened the box and checked out the seat, we were VERY happy with it. Installing it was another thing. We have a Subaru Outback Station Wagon. Thinking that it was a family car, a car seat wouldn't have been an issue. Think again. There are only tethers in the roof (near the hatch). There are no tethers in the floor. Putting this car seat rear facing was a challenge. We ended up tethering it down on the rails of the front passenger seat. When we move this seat to forward facing, it will be a breeze since we can tether it up.
LATCH system - easy to install. make sure to pull the straps TIGHT after install. Seat will wobble a bit but once you tether it down (or up) it's very secure. If you do tether it up, make sure the seat is still within the 30-45 degree requirement. It makes it hard to keep the seat secure AND at those degrees. When we tethered it up, it looked like the seat was being pulled upright.
Recline: If installing rear facing, MAKE SURE TO RECLINE THE SEAT before installing the LATCH system. It's very hard to reach once your seat is latched.
DO NOT throw away the styrofoam pieces in the seat. They're part of the seat and not packing material. I'm glad I read through reviews before prying that foam out and chucking it. If you already threw it out, call Britax, they'll replace it.
Background Info: My son is now 6 months old. Sitting up on his own. 16lbs, 25" tall
SEAT:
Straps: REALLY SOFT!! Harness is easy to use and unclip to get our baby out. Drawback is that the rubber part of the strap is too tall (it's longer than my son's torso. It irritates him and doesn't seem comfortable. Britax has a lot of extra padding to make the straps bearable, there's a padded cushion that is useful to make sure the strap doesn't dig into his neck. There is also another pad behind the buckle so it doesn't push onto his bits and his belly.
Padding: Infant inserts removes easily so as my son gets bigger, we can take the cushion off. There's a way to fold the flaps/sides in so it gives a snugger fit for smaller babies. Looks like there will be plenty of room to grow.
Headrest: Easily moves up and down. Wish the side flaps weren't so stiff. Seems like it will work with his large head.
Style: Good looking. Fabric is soft and feels nice. Color combination is attractive. Looks like a "big boy" seat and blends in well with my car.
Overall: The seat is pretty light. I carried it without a problem. It looks great in my car. Took a bit of fussing but well worth it. It's great that the seat sits a little higher so my son can look out the window. He could see some stuff in his infant carrier but not really that great. I feel very confident and comfortable that my son is in a secured and well rated seat.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Wonderful for Safety, March 16, 2009
I researched and researched forward facing car seats. I debated buying this car seat for about a month. I finally decided to buy it and I am glad I did.
Positives:
Easy to install. It took us about 15 minutes to install with LATCH.
(just read the instructions a couple of times and watch the video on-line if you think you'll have trouble)
The seat fits well forward facing in our car. (Pacifica) It actually takes up less room then her infant carrier.
It is easy to adjust the positions. No loops, no straps to re-thread.
My child appears comfortable and the HUGS system ensures nothing rubs on her.
The safety rating is the best!
Negatives:
The Click and Safe feature is pointless. It doesn't get snug enough, even though it "clicks." It is actually harder to make the harness tight enough. I wish we would have bought just the Boulevard.
For the price, not a lot of features like cup holder. Not a big deal, but would have been nice.
It does not fit well into my husbands Civic. We are looking into a smaller Britax.
Overall, it is a wonderful seat. It is easy to clean and I feel comfortable knowing my child is in a super safe top rated car seat. I don't think I would use rear facing just because it doesn't have a removable base, so you would have to remove infant from seat to take in and out of home, store, ect. Summary: Great Forward facing infant seat!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Great seat, but..., July 24, 2009
We've had this seat for about 7 months now, and our 18 month old seems happy enough with it, but we've got a couple gripes about the Click n Safe system:
- From the beginning, it seemed to click when it wasn't tight at all, so we eventually started ignoring it.
- Somewhere around 3-4 months, it stopped clicking altogether. I didn't notice at first, since I had been ignoring the click anyway, but my wife commented one day and it hasn't clicked since.
This is a great seat, very comfy for our son, and fits great in the car, but we wish we would have saved the $20 and just gotten the regular Boulevard.
Update: My son is now 2 1/2, and we're still using this seat. It's been pretty durable, having traveled on a couple of airplanes and put up with general 2-year-old abuse well. The seat in our other car, however, is a Recaro Signo, and, while the two seats are very comparable, we like the Recaro a little better in every way: The fabric is softer, the pads on the straps pinch less, and the adjustments are smoother.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
We like this seat. Here's why. . ., December 22, 2008
Here are the principal reasons I purchased this seat: (1) Safety. I researched online and shopped around to various stores and, although I'm no expert in car seats, it seems that Britax has been in the business for many years and has been on the leading edge of making sure their seats are the safest. If you review the information that came with the seat, and if you browse the Britax website, you will get a good idea of the innovation built into these car seats. This particular model is one of, if not their best, as far as safety is concerned. (2) Functionality. We played around with various seats at Babies R Us and we think this one is one of the easiest to use. It has nice comfortable shoulder straps for our daughter, its easy to buckle up, and I am not kidding it took 3 minutes to install this into my 1997 Grand Cherokee. (3) Style. My wife thought the cow print was awesome, and I kind of like it because it can work for boys and girls. I was originally thinking we should get a nice pink seat for our daughter, but then what if we have a boy next....we'd be shelling out for another seat (or embarrasing him in a pink one). So there you have it, the three reasons we bought this seat. We've had it for about 3 months now and have no complaints. Also, you'd be wise to get it from Amazon. I research prices online like a mad man, and this seat could not be purchased for less than I got it on Amazon. Don't forget the free shipping...that adds up. Of course, you should check to make sure Amazon still has the best price but when I bought they were it. Good luck!
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67 of 91 people found the following review helpful:
Britax UK Evolve123 is much safer, costs fewer $USD, April 20, 2009
After doing a good amount of research, I've come the conclusion, this might be a top of the line product in the USA, in terms of US safety standards, but they have safer car seats available to UK parents.
For this reason alone, I am profoundly disappointed in this company. After all, who would make a decision to sell a much less safe product for American children to use, simply because there is a lower threshold of safety standards they need to meet here. The reason isn't cost, the European product is safer AND less expensive - I sincerely doubt it costs less to manufacture in the UK, than it does in the USA, and what about free trade?
I ask North American consumers to compare the Britax Evolve 1-2-3 Graphite available in the UK ($175 US dollars) to either the Britax Marathon, Britax Diplomat, Britax Boulevard (with its "True Side Impact protection"), Britax Advocate, Britax Decathlon, Britax Regent, or even the Britax Frontier - their entire US Line! The UK product's seat cushion is at least 1/3 thicker, also reaches further forward to protects children who lean forward to see out the window.
The much touted Britax Roundabout available in North America for ($200 USD), again offers relatively small amount of side impact protection to its UK counterpart Baby Safe Plus which costs only $140 US dollars. I believe if you call the company they'll blame US regulation, but it seems to me, US regulations allow safer products to be sold - these products exceed our regulation standards.
The level of importance you ask? according to a WSJ article:
"Years of collision data confirm that side-impact crashes tend to be more severe than other types. Such crashes have a significantly higher fatality rate among children up to age 12 than front or rear collisions, according to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Center for Injury Research and Prevention. Side-impact collisions also result in more-severe injuries at lower crash severities than frontal ones."
What kind of company would make such a decision to sell a much less safe product at a higher price to parents of American children, because it can? I'm disappointed. I wish there was a better American made option!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Great car seat and peace of mind., March 2, 2009
This was expensive but what is the protection from being t-boned worth? It's also made in the USA (assembled). I wish it could recline without unhooking. Great materials and no real complaints so far. We put in my wife's car (the main transport)and it hooked in easily and was easy to set up. Sometimes even though it clicks the belts are loose. It may be that we have a belt binding or ? We'll look into that. We feel safer driving around with baby in this seat. She seems to feel comfort too. Amazon shipped fast and free with no tax. I would give it 5 stars if it were less expensive.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
How does it perform in a car crash..., February 16, 2010
There are kwirks to this car seat. One, for example, is that the buckle is way up, snug in the crotch. It looks like it would probably make a boy uncomfortable. However, my 1yr old girl was buckled into this seat, rear-facing using LATCH during a ~40mph accident and is fine.
I think the result speaks for itself.
One note that someone else mentioned - if you regularly use the tensioning feature to loosen and re-tighten the belt, don't trust the clicking noise that's supposed to signify that it is snug. I very frequently found that it would click when the belt was obviously flapping around, very loose. Use your brain and *check* the tension after it clicks. Just because it clicks doesn't mean you can't cinch it down more.
I'll be replacing this seat with an Advocate CS.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Don't Pay Extra for the Click and Safe Feature, December 15, 2009
We've had this car seat for about 8 months now for my 16 month old daughter. Save a few bucks and buy the regular Boulevard. The Click and Safe feature does not work. I'm surprised this seat hasn't been recalled because if you actually relied on when the seat clicks to tell you when the belts are tight enough, you'd be leaving your child dangerously unsecured. The problem appears to get worse with the cold. The belts do not tighten freely now that it's winter. I have to stand up in the car and pull multiple times with all my might to get them secured listening to click after click the whole time (and no, the belts aren't twisted).
In general the seat is nice with the exception of the belts not tightening in cold weather but difficult belts are a huge pet peeve of mine so it probably bugs me more than it would others. Britax is generally good and that's really my only two complaints about the car seat. Other than that, it seems to work well which is why I'd say go with the regular Boulevard.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Still waiting to see..., September 26, 2009
This review is from: Britax Boulevard 65 CS Click & Safe Convertible Car Seat, Davenport (Baby Product)
RESEARCH: After researching every car seat we could find, we were debating between the Evenflo Triumph with the round crank adjuster and this Britax Boulevard. (We also really liked the Graco MyRide, but the reviews turned us off to it and we also noticed the fabric on it was really loose.) Anyways, because of Britax's high reviews and safety ratings, we decided to purchase it. Our baby girl is 11 months old and weighs 22 pounds. She was using a Graco Snugride but it had a 22lb limit on it. She loved that car seat (as did I), but alas, they do grow up.
COMFORT: The seat looks really comfortable and I feel like she fits it really well...however so far every time we put her in the Britax, she has arched her back and for almost the whole trip (her face turning bright red as if she's straining to get out), will continue to arch her back and push out and eventually start crying. She never cried in her other car seat so I'm not sure if this is a fluke (her deciding she wants to get out of the seat) or if she sits in it in such a way that she's uncomfortable. (I wonder if her back hurts.) We've tried it with and without the extra cushion insert and both ways cause her to strain and push trying to get out. Like I said, this never happened before this new car seat. I recommend testing your child in them at the store and seeing which seat s/he does not protest in. Our daughter protested in the store but we thought she was just sick of sitting in car seats! Perhaps she was trying to tell us something!
INSTALLATION: The seat is SUPER easy to install--we had it in the car in less than 5 minutes.
SAFETY: As others have mentioned before me, you cannot listen to the 'click' sound to ensure your child is strapped in tightly enough. It'll click and you'll notice there's a lot of room by the legs and you just have to pull that out a little and pull again until you hear the 'click.' I'm sure it's a very safe seat, it feels sturdy and nice; however, don't listen to the 'click!' It does have excellent safety reviews though...and we trust it to be one of the safest seats on the market.
FABRIC: The fabric is just beautiful. We have the Davenport---dark grey/light grey. We have 2 dogs that travel with us all the time and the dog hair doesn't show up at ALL. Big plus for us! Although, I know it is not machine washable and when it comes time to wash it, I am a little nervous...
ADJUSTMENTS: The seat seems very easy to adjust. The only 'glitch' we've had so far is that the crotch strap is NOT adjustable and our 11 month old (22 lbs, 27 inches) is already touching that strap so I'm wondering exactly how she'll 'grow into' the seat. The straps otherwise are easy to adjust as is the headrest. I'm not a big fan of the rubber pieces that fit around the harness area because they supposedly keep the straps from twisting (which, of course they still do)...but I think it's harder to adjust with those on...
BOTTOM LINE: So far I believe this is a very safe, nice looking seat. I am concerned with the fact that our daughter hates being in the seat, but I haven't come to the conclusion that it is the seat's fault--it may just be her resisting being confined now that she knows she can crawl around! It looks comfortable. She has fallen asleep in it and her head doesn't hang to the side--it actually is supported. I believe we made an informed purchase and if I had to do it again, I would purchase this seat again. Hopefully that's the case down the road as well. Good luck with your car seat research! In the end, they are our most precious possession and worth protecting! (P.S. Remember to keep your child rear-facing as long as possible!!)
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