Customer Ratings: 
List Price: $289.99
Sale Price: $269.00
Today's Bonus: 7% Off
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program We've been using Britax's older style Marathons for five years so I was anxious to try this latest manifestation to see how it stacked up. It is larger, but it now fits children up to 70 lbs forward facing (and 5-40 rear facing) and still fits easily in our Honda Odyssey and forward facing in our small VW Golf. Like the older Britax models, the new Marathon is often outgrown by height, rather than weight. I sat both of our children in it and found the difference to be slight, if any, over the old model, so if you are in the market for a new seat for child outgrowing the shell, this is probably not the best choice.
The legendary Britax quality continues with a solid, intuitive build. Some of the newer head protecting technology from other, more expensive Britax seats has been integrated. The new harness adjuster is amazing, making it so simple and easy to change the height of the straps. We often carpool and I'm glad I can quickly and easily customize the seat to every child.
Britax seats are always soft and comfortable for riders, so much so that my children notice the difference when they ride in other seats! My four year old gave this her seal of approval comfort-wise, declaring the new design even better than her old one.
There are new spots to store latch clips when they are not in use that I love, most every change is a great improvement with the exception of the locking mechanisms for using a seat belt. They are MUCH harder to use than they were on the older model Marathons. I assume that they are also safer, but I had such a hard time with it, I could imagine parents using it incorrectly (and unsafely.)
The instructions are clear and easy to follow, but take advantage of seat checks in your area to make sure you install it correctly and as secure as it can be. Britax is an industry leader in safety and innovation, and I am glad my girls (at 4.5 and 6) are still riding safely in 5 point harnesses and protected by their Britax seats in the event of a crash.
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Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program Overall I feel that all car seats properly installed provide an extraordinary level of protection that we never had as children. So I have bought all sorts of car seats between 2 kids and 2 cars from snap-in travel systems to boosters, and from economy models to plush models. This is what I found that separates them convenience and materials.
The seats that cost less than $100 usually have little padding and are made from just enough plastic and foam as necessary. Pretty much all the adjustments are manual from shoulder height to anchor clips to strap length. The nice thing other than the price is that they are usually dead simple to install and very light.
The seats that cost more than $100 but less than $200 are usually very well padded and come with a lot of conveniences such as reclining, cup holders, mechanical strap adjustments, extra weight maximums. They're still usually plastic and foam, but a lot more of it. I do find that they can also be more difficult to work with, because with all their conveniences and padding the rare mechanical adjustments (installation and shoulder adjustments) are harder to perform. Also, I don't feel that seats I have in this class are any safer than my economy seats just more comfortable.
Now once we get over $200 we find ourselves in Britax Marathon 70 country... This is a very well appointed car seat in terms of comfortable padding, conveniences, and materials. You notice it's different once you see the steel beams supporting it, then as you use it and find the shoulder height can be adjusted without rethreading while installed (which is also a breeze), and that the recline doesn't require great force, and that there's Velcro to hold the straps back if you want it to and many other small touches... it's easy to start falling in love. Okay but that just brings me back to... Are we just buying the convenience or is there really something better about these seats? Well perhaps it's all really good marketing, but I now feel that this construction and these more rigid (yet designed to yield appropriately) materials are providing better safety and that the fact that you do not need to uninstall it to make adjustments also lowers the chance for a bad reinstall. So yes, I think that once you pass the $200 mark you actually can buy a safer seat. On the other hand this one doesn't come with cup holders ;).
Best Deals for Britax Marathon 70 Convertible Car Seat (Previous Version)
Britax is one of the most trusted car seat manufacturer's around. They have been making convertible car seats for the US market since 1997. Never satisfied, Britax continuously improves their products to make them safer, easier to use, and more comfortable. In August of 2010, they released their new line of convertible car seats with many improvements. Having been a Britax customer since 2007, I was excited to see the improvements they made.
My Configuration:
2000 Jetta 4DR
Forward Facing
LATCH Install
PROS:
Supports up to 70lbs forward-facing, and 5-40lbs rear-facing
Supports infants with an infant positioning insert (sold separately)
MUCH improved/easier harness height adjustment
New integrated steel bars
Serial number located in easy to find location
Harness buckle can now be in two positions
Comfort pads now removable
Super easy LATCH installation
Certified for air travel
Consistently rated Very Good by Consumer Reports (though this model has not yet been tested by CR)
CONS:
Expensive
On March 21, 2011, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their recommendations for car seats. They now recommend that children stay in the rear-facing position until the age of 2, rather than their previous recommendation of 20lbs and 1 year of age. You can read the full press release and recommendations HERE. With these new recommendations, getting a car seat with better height and weight ratings become more important. Obviously the AAP recommendations are only recommendations and if your child exceeds the limits of the car seat, it's better to switch them to forward-facing even if not yet 2 years old. Put plainly, keep your child in the rear-facing position for as long as possible and resist the temptation to switch them too soon.
SAFETY
Safety is the most important feature of a car seat that I can think of. Year in and year out, Britax seems to garner very good ratings from professional publications and consumers alike. The Marathon 70 has many safety features that have given previous Marathon's a "Very Good" rating by Consumer Reports. As of this writing, Consumer Reports has not published any crash test results of the current Marathon 70.
The Marathon 70 has good side impact protection, though not the better "True Impact" protection that Britax's higher end convertible car seats have. The only difference between them is described as:
Minimize side to side head movement and literally "trues" the head:
Minimizing movement and keeping the neck and spine aligned limits potential injury. A abrupt, violent change in speed may cause injury to the body. By limiting the movement of your child during a crash, you are limiting potential injury.
The Marathon 70 however, does share the new integrated steel bars with their more expensive seats that "can minimize the risk of your child being violently propelled forward and hitting the back of the vehicle seat in front of the child restraint."
One thing that always stuck with me from the very first Britax we purchased was being told by the car seat techs at the police station and at AAA that they used Britax car seats for their own children. I'm not sure what better endorsement a car seat could get than that!
COMFORT
My children have always been pretty comfortable in Britax car seats. The seat cover material in the older Britax car seats were soft and plush but they changed the material to a more nylon like material on the Marathon 70. It looks much easier to clean but it doesn't have the nice soft feel as the older covers. The design of Britax seats tend to cradle your child and some larger children who prefer to place their arms out of the car seat or on the sides like an arm rest may find it somewhat uncomfortable. One complaint I'd read from a lot of users in the older Britax car seats was the placement of the harness buckle (crotch area). Britax must have been listening because they now provide two different positions to help find the best location for your child. Also, the harness straps have comfort pads for the shoulder area that are now removable. Some older Britax car seats had permanently attached comfort pads, which car seat techs I spoke with, recommended be removed. The pads, while providing additional comfort, can make it harder to determine the correct tightness of the harness, so unless your child is screaming bloody murder, I would probably remove them.
FIT
The Britax Marathon is smaller than the Boulevard and Advocate. We have the Boulevard and Advocate in our SUV but we elected to use the Marathon for our Volkswagen Jetta sedan. We had to remove the head rest but it fit well otherwise. It could be an optical illusion, but the new Marathon 70 seems smaller than the older Marathon. Still, if you own a small car and are considered tall or you like to recline your seat far back, you might want to buy the car seat from a retailer that has a good return/exchange policy, to make sure it will work for you. We now have a Marathon 65 CS and a Marathon 70 in our Jetta and we find the fit works well for us.
EASE OF USE
Though I haven't installed either Marathon with a seat belt, I have with our Advocate and Boulevard; they are a pain in the butt to install. Thankfully, our Jetta has LATCH connectors which made installing the Marathon 70 amazingly simple. Just clip the two LATCH connectors into the anchors in your car until you hear them click, then put all your body weight on the car seat (using your knees) and yank the straps as tight as you can. You can also use the Versa-Tether (the strap in the top rear of the car seat) and hook it to the anchor located in your car (see your automobile's manual). Installation took me no more than 10 minutes and adjusting the buckles and straps took another few minutes. I recommend you read through the entire manual AND watch the installation video. The video for the Marathon 70 can be viewed HERE.
The one major problem I had with the old Marathon was that adjusting the harness height required me to remove the car seat then rethread the straps. I feel like Britax read my review and custom-made the new Marathon just for us! They implemented a new system that allows you to just squeeze the handle located at the top of the car seat and glide it up or down to adjust it; no rethreading required! There is one drawback to this system though. At the highest harness height, the mechanism rises with it so it can potentially obstruct viewing out of the rear window. The best harness height system I've ever seen was from a competitor's car seat that used a rotating knob located on the sides of the seat. Keep in mind that in the forward-facing position, you want the harness to be at or above your child's shoulders. In the rear-facing position, you want the harness to be below your child's shoulders.
MISC
The serial number sticker is easily located on the right side (facing the seat), towards the top. The serial number stickers on some of their older car seats were rather difficult to find so I'm glad Britax addressed this.
I always found washing the cover to be a hassle on our Boulevard seat and I admit that I haven't washed the cover on our Advocate or our first Marathon. The cover on the Marathon 70 is easier to remove than my older Boulevard but it's still recommended that you hand wash the cover with cold water and mild soap, then line dry it. Unfortunately, this means that you have to wash the cover when you know you won't need the car seat for at least a few hours as the cover can take a while to dry. With the new material though, daily or weekly cleanups should be easier with only the biggest messes requiring the removal of the cover. The cover comes in several different colors and designs to match your style preference.
CONCLUSION
Britax convertible car seats have advanced safety features and are consistently rated among the best. The Marathon 70 is a good choice for smaller vehicles. Britax has also made the Marathon 70 easier to use than ever before and increased the forward-facing weight rating to 70lbs. The latest Marathon is a definite improvement over previous generations and I recommend it if you can justify the cost premium.
* Review sample courtesy of Britax USA
Honest reviews on Britax Marathon 70 Convertible Car Seat (Previous Version)
I have used Britax Marathons for over six years and have recommended them to anyone who's asked-they are simple to install, comfortable, safe and easy to use. After a recent car accident, I began to look for a replacement Marathon for my three-year old son, but had a hard time finding the model I was familiar with. The owners of my local baby store told me about all the new features of the Marathon 70, so I decided to try it out. After getting it home and having my son try it out in the living room, I've decided to return it and search out the original design.
CONS:
I think it would be a great car seat for an infant or smaller child, but my son is 40 lbs and 40 inches tall and I had a very difficult time buckling the seat belts with him sitting in the seat. For some reason, it seemed like the buckle was placed farther back in the seat or maybe the strap on the buckle is shorter, so once buckled in, he was practically sitting on the hard, plastic buckle. Even with the straps adjusted to their longest length, the buckle was still uncomfortably pressing into my child. I cannot imagine a 70lb child sitting in this chair comfortably. Another thing that I am not a fan of is the two-piece cover. The old model's cover was just one piece and really easy to remove for washing. The Marathon 70 has two to three pieces (depending on if you use the extra cushion that comes with it) and plastic clips that hold it on to the frame. For me, the more pieces to remove and wash, the more inconvenient.
PROS:
I do love the easier strap adjustment system. It is was really easy to push a button and move the headrest/straps to the right position. I also liked the extra cushioning. It seems like it would be really comfortable and soft.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Britax Marathon 70 Convertible Car Seat (Previous Version)
I had a Marathon 65 and was just in a horrible accident with my 2 year old son in the car. A car ran a red light and T-boned us right in front of my driver door going about 50mph. My son was forward-facing on the passenger side. I had the seat latched and tethered and the chest clip was secure at his chest. We spun and were hit again on the back. I tell you this because we walked away. My Marathon never moved. He was very safe. I know this seat is safe if installed properly. I bought the 70 since once they are in an accident they are not safe.
I hope you all use the weight and height limits for your children and delay booster seats and use the 5-point harness until your child is out of it due to height or weight. It can possibly save them in an accident like this one. I recommend this seat based on my experience and love this new one!
