Secondary Car Seat

The Evenflo Triumph 5 is rated #2 by Consumer Reports and cost around $120. We have this one and it is fine. Here are the ratings by Consumer Reports and price. I think the Triumph would be a good choice for you.
1. Britax Roundabout $220
2. Evenflo Triumph 5 $120
3. Cosco Alpha Omega Elite $160
4. Britax Marathon

1 mom found this helpful

The Evenflo Triumph is our secondary seat and we love it. We also have the Britax Marathon.

I really advise you not to buy from a garage sale or resale shop. Buying a used car seat is a big "NO" because you don't know the history of the seat and if it has been in an accident. Even if it looks ok to the naked eye, it still may have damage to it and not work properly in a crash. In some states, it is against the law to sell used car seats, and it should be that way in all states because it is unsafe. Plus, car seats do expire. Usually 5-7 years after they are manufactured, and a lot of used seats should be thrown away because they are expired.

I would advise that you buy the Evenflo Triumph Advance at about $130 (there are coupons out there for BRU, Target, etc) or the Fisher Price Safe Voyage car seat (online). The Fisher Price is made by Britax and mirrors the Marathon but is only $130. So you get Britax trusted name & quality for half the price. They will both last you for at least a couple of years, if not more. Check out albeebaby.com, they always have great deals.

One more thing, there are huge car seat sales this week on Britax and other seats due to the car seat show that was last weekend. It is the only time of the year that many retailers put Britax on sale. Just in case you do decide to go that route.

Hi L., I would suggest going to Sam's club. They sell car seats for half the amount that BRU and Target sells them for. I just bought the Cosco 3 in 1 for my mom's car for $60-70. I looked online and both stores wanted more than $150 for it. It seems like a great seat. I actually like it better than the Eddie Bauer seat I have in my husband's car. The car seat from Sam's Club isn't on-line.. you have to go the store. Costco has seats too but they aren't much of a deal. Good Luck!

Look at garage sales or walmart has some for 70.00 that are pretty good.

I was at Once Upon a Child in Naperville the other day and they had several that were in excellent condition. It is a resale store

I got the Cosco one from Walmart for $40. She is comfortable in it and it is easy to use.

The new Evenflo Triumph Deluxe has a weight limit up to 50 lbs which is excellent so you would get a lot of use out of it. I think that would be the best buy for your money. It is also rated excellent in safety. The Cosco seats, while they sound great, the harness only goes to 40 lbs (and I can tell you my 3 yo is not ready to go to a booster/reg seat belt) and the strap height is not high enough to accommodate the age of children it is made for.

hi L.,
we have the britax marathon, and love it! i bought it for my son who is now almost 4. but when my daughter was born, we needed another seat and found the fisher price safe voyage seat. it is made by britax, and almost identical to the marathon. but-it is at least $100.00 less expensive.

here's a link to the amazon website with some reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Fisher%252dPrice-Safe-Voyage-Conver...

i think albeebaby.com has them right now for $130.00

We have a Britax Roundabout as our second car seat. It is not as big as the Marathon and our dd will outgrow this one before the Marathon. They are both great car seats.

The other thing you might want to look into is someplace less expensive to buy the Marathon if you really like it. I got ours for closer to $200 because the color was being discontinued. I think the website we bought it from was www.babyage.com There are lots of great websites out there that ship for free for orders over $100. I find them through www.bizrate.com - just type in the item you want.
Good luck!

Our friends have a Britax, and they move it from car to car really easily when they need to. I don't know why you'd really need to buy another car seat for truly occasional use.

I have the graco comfort sport in Freeze, I think. I got it from Babies R Us and it was $100. I like it and it was rated in the consumer reports.

We love our Cosco Alpha Omega Elite, and it wasn't that expensive. Look for the cupons for Babies-R-Us.

You can purchase a car seat at Target,Toys R Us,Wal-Mart,Babies R Us and other stores. They have terrific car seats that are great and not so expensive.

We have a Britax Roundabout as our primary carseat and love it. For our secondary, we bought and Eddie Bauer seat from Target and hate it. We can never get it adjusted and it doesn't sit as high as the other so our daughter cannot see out as well. If we had it to do again, we would have bought another Britax. Good luck