Evenflo Triumph Advance LX Convertible Car Seat, Harbortown
by Evenflo
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List Price: Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Evenflo Triumph Advance LX Convertible Car Seat, Harbortown
Customer Review: Possibly the best seat ever!
Summary: 5 Stars
We've bought and/or borrowed a lot of different seats and this one is the best because:
-It is easy to install and the instructions are easy to follow. You can't beat that.
-The cover comes off to be washed WITHOUT removing the seat. So once you get a good, tight install you don't have to mess with it if the seat is dirty. Especially nice if you're potty training. You can't do that with most seats.
-The harness can be adjusted WITHOUT removing the seat. This is fantastic if you have a couple seats and/or have different sized kids riding around with you. I imagine it would be a nanny's dream. You can switch from a 15 month old to a 3 year old, back and forth, WITHOUT removing the seat to re-thread. Since the rear-facing limit is pretty high you can also set it up for an infant and use it for an older child (within the limits) that way, too.
-The knob that adjusts the harness is a DREAM with a rear-facing child. I borrowed a friend's seat on a trip that had the pull-through harness strap access and it was jammed against the car's back seat. The knob is on the SIDE so all you do is pop your little one in and easily turn the knob.
-The year I bought mine (2008) it was as top-rated for safety as a Britax but half the price. I imagine that's still true.
-If you're on a budget this really is the only seat you'll need. A lot of people like seats that can harness up to 65 lbs or more, but this one goes to 50lbs. That's 5 years old for a child in the 90th percentile for weight, and similar for the 50 inch height.
- SO comfortable for the child. No complaining, ever, even on long trips. My seat should be so comfortable.
The cupholder is totally useless; but that's no reason to remove a star. Just toss it out as soon as you unwrap your seat or else your little one will endlessly play with it and/or get their sleeve stuck on it and cry while you're going 65 on the freeway. It will never hold any actual cups.
You would never fit three of these in the back of a sedan. It was a tight fit, rear-facing, in my 2005 jetta, but not impossible and the front seat was still usable for a smaller adult.
Hope this is useful.
Customer Review: Hated it at first, but easy to use now
Summary: 4 Stars
I drive 2 vehicles regularly, so I hesitantly ordered 2 carseats before knowing how I'd like them. I liked the idea that they had the 2nd best safety rating. (The first one cost around $300 and I had to get 2). I got a great price on them. I paid $14 less than my sister did for hers on sale at Kmart, and it was even delivered to my door! I also liked the idea that this was the only brand where the belts adjusted with the tension knobs. My Camry does not have the LATCH system, so the carseat was installed by the seatbelt. We had to use a noodle for the correct and recommended 45 degree angle and it worked out fine. We did get it installed so nice and tight that the belt-adjusting knob is a little awkward to access for rear-facing. It was fairly easy to install after we figured it out. Our RAV 4 is equipped with the LATCH system and I thought it would be a piece of cake like the infant carrier was to install. We also used a noodle in the RAV 4 for the right angles. The adjustment buckle for the LATCH belt was very difficult to loosen. My husband had to thread a screwdriver through the loop for leverage to get it to budge as I put my weight into the seat to get it tight enough.
What caused me to hate them in the beginning was that the owners manual, that I thought I read thoroughly more than once, did not describe in detail enough that you have to push the tension release button and pull VERY HARD on the straps at the same time to lengthen/loosen the straps. (I especially noticed it in the Camry, since the car seat is plushier than the RAV I guess). I did not see how on earth that the carseat would accomodate him to 50 pounds. The belt was very snug on my baby's chubby thighs. It took a frustrating outing on a Saturday morning to figure out by chance how hard you have to pull to get them to release. Once I figured it out, I do like the carseats. They seems fairly comfortable, but he doesn't seem to doze as much as in the infant carrier...maybe because he's older? I am pleased and think I will like them even better as forward facing seats.
Customer Review: Great until your kid gets sick (and he/she will)
Summary: 3 Stars
I now officially HATE this car seat. I was so thrilled to find a convertible seat that was 1/2 the price of Britax but received the highest safety rating from Consumer Reports. The colors were ugly, the material makes all my kids sweat even in 30 degree weather and the seat is unnecessarily wide (it wings out at the ends, meaning, not even a 7-year-old can squeeze between two of them in the back seat of a mid size sedan), but I was willing to put up with that for the price tag and safety rating.
Now, I wish I had simply gone with Graco. My children have been sick (as in vomited) in this seat 3 times and when your child gets sick in the car, most of it ends up on the straps. Unlike EVERY OTHER CHILD GEAR THAT REQUIRES STRAPS KNOWN TO MAN, the straps on this thing do NOT come off. You have to unscrew the entire back JUST to remove the padding to wash. The pads are not dryer safe, so you get to sit around until it drips dry, despite the fact that your 3-year-old is anxiously waiting to be picked up from preschool, not to mention, the way the awesome screws come out (they come out DOWN), 2-3 will inevitably fall into the base, to be unrecoverable without some sort of rain dance to the child seat gods (which, at least, made my toddler laugh).
But really the worst part is, the straps don't come off at all. Then, you have the fun experience of precariously balancing it on top of a bucket of soapy water (which doesn't really work with chunky vomit anyway), then trying to rinse them in the bath tub/sink. Always so fun when you have a toddler careening around on his push and ride Thomas toy (another product I need to review). But don't do it outside. The first time, we tried that, and we ended up with ants all over and inside our child's seat base.
This thing is not worth the hassle! Kids getting sick in cars is inevitable and just one experience will make you want to throw this thing out the window. After the third time, we just chunked it and bought the Graco.
Customer Review: Not what I hoped for- but not bad either
Summary: 3 Stars
We live overseas so I wasn't able to look at the carseat in a store first, which probably wouldn't have helped any. From just looking at it, I love the seat, my 9 months old boy, who is outgrowing his infant carseat seemed very comfortable in it when I put him in the seat when I just got it out of the box.
The seat is roomy, sturdy and well cushioned.
Then I tried to install it. We drive a 3 series BMW touring, it's not a huge car but not very small either, just to give you an idea. The seat fits right in in the rearfacing position, but since I am tall, I had to change the way I had the driversseat reclined. It is more upright now. I didn't want to put the seat on the passengers side for convenience and because I wasn't able to see my son in the rearviw mirror I have installed.
anyway..the installation was a trip! I wasn't able to get the seatbelt tight enough to prevent the seat from moving around. Then I used the latchbelt, first with the same result.
The manual says to push down on the seat on both sides and then tighten the strap, now, I have only two arms. I had to basically climb into my car and kneel down on the carseat in order to tighten the strap enough to keep it in place. I don't plan on moving the seat, so I am okay with this one time hassle, but it sure wasn't fun.
The knob to tighten the childs seatbelts is at a position that is in my car only hard to reach, it is too close to the cars back of the seat, I can barely reach it with my hands.
I had my son with me today for the first time and he fell asleep. Even with the headsupport, his head fell over to his chest, the seat is way to upright to sleep in it comfortably. I think a seat that is advertised for children even under 10 pounds, they should make it recline much further.
By all means, this is not a bad seat at all, but for my son and our car probably not the best solution.
Customer Review: Great seat, a little on the big/bulky side...
Summary: 4 Stars
I got this seat for my 6 month old son (18 lbs. 26" give or take). I've had it about a month now and love it. We travel every weekend in the car for about 1 hour to grandma's house (which is why we got the bigger seat for comfort) currently used in an '07 ford escape suv in the rear facing position. Previous car seat was a infant carrier that clicks into a base, loved it!! Problem was he just got to heavy carrying him around in it, solution new car seat.
Pros (also the reasons why we got this car seat)
-easy to use shoulder slide harness, always a perfect fit, never have to take apart the car seat to adjust the shoulder positioning
-LARGE comfortable seat
-2 buckle positions
-he can grow into this seat and we won't have to buy another one in a few months (convertible style)
-easy to pull him in an out of the seat/harness
-sides are tall enough for him to rest his head on (Even though they are for side impact)
Cons
-large seat, will NOT fit in '08 extended cab colorado pickup, fits in '07 escape suv, used on the passenger side in the rear NOT IN THE MIDDLE (per ford recommendations for LATCH system)HOWEVER with this seat you can not fit three car seats across like some people try to do in other cars due to size.
-bulky, I do not recommend this seat if you are going to be transferring it between cars daily
Reason it is a 4 star and not 5... It's too early to tell just yet since I have only had it a month and currently using it in the rear facing position. We still have another 6 months or so before we can let him ride face forward, and that would be where the 5th star would come into play for us. If everything works out as well as I hope for the forward facing I definitely would give it the 5th star.