Which Car Convertible Seat Is Compatible My Honda Element?

I have a Honda Odyssey and I have both a Roudabout and a Marathon. They are basically the same carseat, but the Marathon is just slightly bigger. They are both in my van right now and seem to fit the same. The only difference I can see is the Marathon looks to be about an inch to two inches taller.

Hope that helps.

PS. I Actually have a Evenflo Triumph in my van too, as I do in home childcare and need to do errands once in a while. I like this one far less. It does not fit quite as well as the other two.

Hi there,

I used the Evenflo Triumph in my Element when my daughter was the same size. I found it fit the backseat better since the seat is so narrow. We had a hard time finding a car seat that fit but it worked the best for us. I did have to take her out of it around 32 pounds because she would not fit in it comfortably with her winter coat on. I hope this helps. Good luck.

Hi,
I don't know if this helps, but we had purchased both the Britax roundabout and the marathon. After trying both in the car, we went with the Roundabout.. The only difference between the two are that the Marathon has a higher back...head area. Both fit into the backseat rear facing exactly the same, one was just higher. Hope that helps...and when he's a year and you turn him around, that won't matter one bit! The width of the seat and eveyrthing else is the same. Also, although he's big now, it's possible that your son may either lose weight or plateau when he's crawling/walking. Generally the average 3-4 year old is about 30-40 lbs. We decided on the Roundabout becauase we will be having a second child and will need to buy another seat anyways for the older one!!!

Hi K.,

I drive an Element and use the Britax Marathon. It fits very nicely. I've never had any problems with it. :O)

R.

Good Morning,

I have a very small car, a VW Golf and had issues with the sizes of convertible car seats - may daughter is 9 months old. So I went to the local fire station and got their recommendations, afterall, they have a lot of experience installing car seats. Call yours to see if they have licensed car seat installers and ask them. I now have a Graco installed and it's taken some getting used to - I miss the seat that just clips in and out, but it's a great seat.

Hi K.,
I have a Marathon and LOVE IT. I know that Babies R Us does let you try car seats out in your car at the store before purchasing it. If you have a Babies R Us near you, you could give that a try. Good luck!

I use the roundabout and LOVE it - my 3 year old is still using it (she is small), but I THINK you can use it to 40 lbs, at which point you will want to buy a booster anyway - I never liked the convertiblie car seats, becuase at 35 lbs the kids tend to like the smaller boosters (so do I! - esp at 5 yrs old with car pools to school and moms are all throwing their car seats into other moms cars...)Good luck! J.

i don't have the element but have a ford explorer - the marathon should fit - rear facing was fine and then for forward facing - we did have to take the head rest off - but other than that it fits fine - the comparison between the 2 size wise is that the marathon is about 2" bigger in both height and width of the overall seat and can go up to 65 lbs.

I would not get the evenflo as they are short shelled and most kids out grow them way before the out weight them my son is getting to big for his alreay

but my firend who is a car seat tech said this seat
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8054497
will last a long time for hight and weight and fits in almost every car and you cant beat the price!! and the fact that it can be used rear facing for a while is a major plus! i think you can rear face till 45lbs with it!!

most retailers will let you try the seat in your car before you purchase it...you could go and see if the marathon does fit. (we have marathons for both our kids, my almost 6 yr old daughter is still in hers!)

We have the Britax Roundabout and it is a wonderful seat. My daughter is a year and only about 20 lbs., so I think your son is WAY bigger. It goes up to 40-45 pounds, so I know it will be years before my daughter outgrows it. I'm not sure how much time you'll have. The Evenflo is also supposed to be a good seat, but I don't know the height restriction. If your car limits to one of these two seats, I think you don't have much of a choice and have to see how your son develops and go from there? If that's the case, you may want to go with the Evenflo because I think it's about $200 cheaper than the Britax.

We also have a Britax Marathon, the next step up from the Roundabout. They have the same seat 'footprint', but the Marathon goes up to 65 lbs. I would contact Britax directly for their suggestion-- as long as the Marathon fits, it is a better choice for growing with your child. (And despite what some posts say, even though your child may hit the weight required for a booster, it is ALWAYS safer for them to ride in a car seat until they are much older.)

Try a SunShine Kids brand seat. We use 3- 3 year old twins and 11 month old. It great for both sizes! good luck

Hi,
We went through the same thing when we were trying to find a car seat for our daughter who is also very big (100% for height). I drive a honda pilot and we had trouble finding a seat that had high saftey ratings and fit well in the car while rear facing. We ended up buying the Britax Roundabout B/c of the saftey and soon we will have to replace it with the Britax Marathon (she is now 20 months and we will replace it around her second b-day). We figured her saftey was more important than the money so we decided to go with both. One the seats are turned around and forward facing they take up much less room.
Good luck,
C.

The Marathon and the Roundabout both install in exactly the same way. Find out where this site gets it's Data- I know that Consumer Reports just reports on the Roundabout since it's the same as the other Britax seats.
The Britax seats install in the same way- and are the same size. They just have different weight limits for the child.
We have the Britax Boulevards and they are the same size as the Britax Roundabout. They install the same way.
I am positive that the Marathon is 100% compatible with your car if the Roundabout is. If you are not sure- go to Baby's-R-Us and try it out. You should also give Safe Kids a call. They do the installations at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital and can give advice as well.
-S.

We have the Roundabout & really like it.

I agree with Colleen H! I think that the Marathon will fit just fine, and where you have only one child you can put it in the "middle" seat so that the front seats aren't affected. This means you will have to sit on the seat to put him into his, but really he's safest in the center, away from the doors.

You should go to Babies 'R Us and ask to try and install the Marathon in your car ~ they are very open to letting people do it and I've not only heard of it being done I've actually seen it. They let you take the display to your car and the car seat person puts it in! This does not mean you have to buy from them, and I would recommend buying online where it's cheapest (http://babycheapskate.blogspot.com/2008/05/20-off-britax-...)

I have both the Marathon and Roundabout and have very large kids. My 6 month old required my buying the convertible at 3 mos. due to height and weight, and I chose the Roundabout as Consumer Reports gave it better *infant* crash ratings (I can send you a copy of the report if you'd like) than the Marathon ~ but it was an "Excellent" vs. a "Very Good" (I think). My 3 year old (now at 35 pounds) is in a Marathon and so buying the Roundabout wasn't a concern since I figured by the time he's three, she'll be in a booster and he can have her seat!

Good luck deciding. I know it's a hard decision, especially with it being so expensive--I just went through it myself!

L. :)

I dont know if you still need to get a car seat but incase you do. here are some options buy it from babies r us
YOU HAVE 30 days to return it. we had to return one so we returned it to the box with packing stuff retaped it and then they checked it when we brought it back. keep in mid returning it because (it is not what you wanted is ok)
Goodluck! ps my sister has that seat and loves it.

I have a britax marathon and for over a year I had it in my Dodge Neon (small car) If you have any doubts about it you should be able to take the tester car seat out to your car to try it out. Babies R Us is good about that.

my sister has an element and my alpha omega carseat fits beautifully in it. your best bet is to go to babys r us they let you take the floor models out to your car and try them out. Thats how we picked our seat. Its got better safety ratings that the more expensive seats and it goes all the way up to 100 lbs. and into a booster seat so we will never have to buy another one. the extra padding is removeable for chunkier babies my son is very slim so I like that he fits very secure in it. Good luck with your search.

The Marathon will fit in your car. I have a Honda Civic and it fit rearfacing in my car from when my son was 5 months through 2 years and now we still have many years left forward facing!! I disagree with the other person who said you will want to put your child in a booster at 40 lbs! My son is just under 40 lbs (almost 4) and he will be in a 5 point harness for quite a while longer. It's safer for him and gives me piece of mind!

Both the roundabout and marathon are great seats - but if your child grows out of the roundabout when he is still young (<3) or when he is too immature to sit correctly in a seatbelt booster....you will have to invest in another 5 point harness seat! If you get the marathon....it will last for many years (>5). You get more for your money that way too!

I like the sunshine kids Radain 65 and 80 too!

We used the Marathon in our element. There were no issues with fit.