It was time for our 5 yr old to move out of the Britax Marathon we have. Our problem is that our child is 41 inches tall, but only weighs 32 lbs. Too tall for a carseat, but not heavy enough (based on safety recomendations) to be in a booster (even the label on the Britax Parkway suggests that the child be 40 lbs).
br /We researched many carseat/booster combinations (we were really interested in the Recaro Young Sport), but found that eventhough they can keep a child up to 40 lbs in a 5-pt harness, the harness straps were not positioned high enough for a tall skinny kid (when we called a dealer for Recaro, they said that we should buy the Britax Regent). So we purchased the Regent.
br /We were extremely concerned about the size, as everyone has mentioned how big they are. We have a Mazda 626 and upon installing it, I was pleasantly surprised. Height-wise, the view looking out of my rearview mirror seems to be the same as when I had the Britax Marathon installed. Yes, is a bit wider, (we wouldn't be able to fit a 3rd person in the backseat with a Regent and a Marathon installed) but I don't see any difference between that, and when we had the Marathon and the Britax Companion installed. So far, so good. My child is very excited to ride in the big kid seat, and I'm glad we purchased it despite our concerns about the size.

This seat is a great addition to our lives. I bought this seat for our 5 year old when I realized that we wanted more security than a booster seat. I've had Britax Roundabouts for both of my children, so of course I was glad to use Britax again. As always, Britax produces quality products!! I have used this seat in my minivan, my husbands truck, and my mom's expedition. It has fit differently in all three, but with experience I was able to get a great fit in each vehicle. My van is the only one that works excellent with the LATCH system and tether, the other two vehicles work best with the seatbelt and tether. My son is extrememly comfortable in his seat, and my 2 year old already begs to ride in it. It is big, heavy, etc.; but it is worth all of that. If you are serious about wanting a larger seat to grow with your child, I would highly recommend it.

This carseat, as other Britax seats, is excellent. It is extremely well made, sturdy, comes with adjustments so your child can use it as long as possible, and does not budge one millimeter, once installed properly in your vehicle. I love the little straps on the sides of the seat itself, to hook the plastic clasp of the harness into, so they belts aren't in the way when my child climbs in. Some reviewers have mentioned some difficulties with installation, but if the directions are followed, it is not difficult at all: (If you will be using the tether, make sure the strap is pulled out from the back of the seat, before latching the seat in place). The bar that is included easily is inserted into two holes in the back of the seat--this greatly improves stability of the seat once latched in. The belts with hooks in the back of the seat go UNDER the bar in the back, and click into your LATCH system of your car. (I have not tried the seatbelt installation). Once they click in, then tighten them by reaching through two openings on the FRONT of the seat, not the side of the seat. This increases the amount of belt you can pull on, improving stability. Finally, if you are using the tether, latch the hook onto your tether device of your car, and pull strap tightly. Your seat should not budge now.

This is a decent seat with many nice features, but beware- it is enormous. If you have other seats in the car, it will not fit next to them. It does seem sturdy, safe, and comfortable.

K I'll start off by saying that Yes this seat is pricey heavy bulky .... but totally worth every penny! SAFETY FIRST! I was stumped when it came to picking out the next step for a car seat for my kids. They had out grown their previous Britax Marathon seats, not by weight but by height. I looked at "booster" seats even priced Britax boosters. But none of them made me feel good about safety. With boosters you use the car's seat belt to strap them in. Didn't feel good about that. Car seat belts can be faulty 5 point harness is the way to go ... in my opinion. We have always been a Britax family and will stay a Britax family :) This seat should take my kids all the way thru college! LOL

First of all I want to start by saying that I ordered this seat yesterday with Happy Mothers and it already arrived today without any expedited shipping which I thought was great!
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br /The seat came and yes it is large and heavy! The DSL guy had a hard time getting it up the front steps to my house.
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br /The seat was so easy to set up. I had used a Decathalon for my daughter before this so I was familiar with how a Britax seat works. It was fairly easy to install despite it's size. It is pretty cumbersome. I was able to do it by myself in about 15 minutes. I have a Minivan with Captain's chairs and this seat is taller than the chair and hangs over the seat slightly to give you an idea of the size.
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br /All in all though, it was exactly what I expect from a Britax. I had purchased the Decathalon for my daughter 2 years ago and now that we have a second child, it was time to pass it on to him. I decided on this one because of the reviews and the fact that I don't think that I will need to purchase another car seat until my son is old enough and then I plan on purchasing him this seat as well.
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br /Can't say enough about Britax. My children are my life and their safety is worth every penny.

Easy to use tether clips and buckle. Very sturdy but is difficult to move from car to car as it is heavy.

This product is the best. We have 2 other Britax seats and I feel so much better knowing my son is now in a 5 point harness even in his booster! It is big and takes up a lot of space, but it is so worth it.

This car seat is awesome once you get it in. The installation is difficult given its sheer size and needs two people or a very strong and patient person. The instructions are a bit confusing regarding the recline bar, which made the seat not fit a Toyota Tundra, but I think the recline bar is only needed if you do not use the tether that anchors to the floor. Now to the good stuff, our son is 53 pounds. We have two Marathons, which we love but he just hit the 49 inch limit. We bought the highly rated Compass booster, a Cosco Eddie Bauer Booster and a Graco Booster and tried these various items for a month. In all of them, my son fell forward at stops, and when asleep in the Compass he even hit his head on the front passenger seat. The lack of any protection has made us (especially me) very unhappy, so we found this Regent even though he only has 4 inches before the limit. It is so secure, it does not move at all and neither does our son. He is very comfy and sleeps in it. It's worth every penny and every moment of frustration during the installation process! Note: On the Tundra it literally took up the entire length of the seat belt so during the install you have to let out the whole length and have someone hold it while its pulled through.

Have owned two "Husky" (now "Regent") model Britax since February 2005. Purchased them to keep our child in a 5-pt harness for as long as possible (Britax goes to 80 lbs and 53 inches tall). Our almost 4 year old has now reached the 40 lb max of the 5-pt seat/booster combo seats that we *thought* were the best protection available...so we are heading to the store to purchase our THIRD Britax seat for him. Because they are heavy/bulky and not the quickest seats to install *correctly*, we have decided to be less inconvenienced and more cash poor by buying a seat for each vehicle our son rides in.
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br /Accidents happen and I want the piece of mind knowing that my son is as protected as he can possibly be for as long as he can be. In our case, we have another 38 lbs or 10 inches before he's exceeded the limits of the Britax Husky/Regent seats.
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br /Unless another company offers a better seat...we'll be a Britax buying family for ourselves and family members.
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br /The seats are easy to use once installed and our son hasn't had any complaints on long road trips. He jumps right into his seat and will quickly fall asleep on those road trips, comfy and secure. Adjustments are a breeze and we're almost at year two of ownership and they look practically new. User friendly and as easy to strap our son in, in the winter dressed in bulky coats, as it is in his summer shorts.
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br /FYI: Our seats are in a: 2000 Ford Focus SE, 2000 Ford Taurus SE, 2003 Ford Explorer XLT 4dr 4x4 and we don't have ANY problems with getting them to fit as tightly into the vehicle as the seats that are a part of the car/truck.
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I notice that without the recline bar the booster seat will not rest flat on the vehicles seat.
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br /My daughter is 40pounds and she outgrew her original Britax Marathon harness height limit. She love her new car seat. The base is huge so it is more stable for my daughter's weight. There are enough room for both her arm or when she is reading books in the car. It is a very good quality car seat and for many years I have trusted Britax products. It is heavy and you might need assistance during installation. The only cons is that it is expensive, it cost double the price of other brands.

I love the Britax line and really liked this seat but the base was to wide for our car. We had to return it for a smaller seat. The harness was easy to use and my daughter liked the feel but the base was to wide for our 2004 Jetta. We went with the Recaro Youth sport and love it.

This is a HUGH seat, but very very comfortable and safe. It fit well in my small SUV (Honda CRV)... but it does occupy almost the whole right side of it. I do need a recline bar to make it work (even though the menu say that you won't need one if you have the thether...). But I do able to put it in my car in less than 15 minutes.. and it is not even moving at all!! :)
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I know it is expensive, but worth it! I have never seen a carseat so tight fitting. I take comfort knowing my child is as safe as possible in the car. This carseat does not rely on the seatbelt in an accident.

My daughter is in the 97th percentile for height and she was too tall to use her 3-in-1 car seat with the 5 point harness (she is only 3 years old) and I did not feel it was appropriate to use a booster seat for a 3-year old anyways. After doing much research, I stumbled across the Regent. Yes, it is a very large carseat (but you need a big car seat if you have a tall kid) and ackward to carry to the car to put it in, but I had no problems with the installation (we do have LATCH).
br /Once installed, the seat does not budge!
br /The color (Sahara) is also very nice and light (a plus if you live in an area that gets very HOT in the summer) and I would imagine match just about any car.
br /FYI, you cannot use the Regent on an airplane, as it is too wide to fit in the air craft seat. My daughter is 40 pounds, and per Southwest customer service, kids greater than 40 pounds can use the airplane seatbelt and do not require a carseat (and on a side note, she did great and stayed buckled in the whole time). We just checked the seat so we had it at our destination.

Installation, is it ever easy for these seats? I don't think I found one carseat that was a breeze to install until you get the hang of it. My daughter grew quickly and is now in this seat at 18 months old and it is the 3rd seat that we have gotten her. I did all the research for the best seat and this is it!!! Yes, it's big, bulky and whatever else you want to say, but it is sturdy, uses the safest method to keep your child buckled in, and is really of high quality when you get it. It's worth every penny. My daughter loves it. Carseats will claim to be the last that you get, but this one you get what is advertised.

I have owned nothing but Britax since my 1st son was born and we have loved them. Now that he is bigger and has a new little brother, we purchased the Britax Regent. I am not impressed with the installation. It is not a tight fit like my other two Britax carseats. This seat slides all over. Not sure what the recline bar is for. Had trouble keeping the bar in the holes during installation so we ended up not using it. Has anyone else had this problem? Do we need to use the recline bar to keep the seat in a tight fit? The seat is very heavy too. Not a seat for moving around to Grandma's car!! Thanks!

The Britax Regent, is certainly a wonderful, expensive, large car seat. Having said that, it is the safest car seat out in the market aside from the Sunshine Kids car seat for children over 40 plus pounds. When searching for car seats, I was not aware of the importance of having a child in a 5 point harness for as long as possible until I read a story of a four yearl old boy who lost his life while seated in a booster seat. Studies show, that it is beneficial to have your children in a five point harness for as long as possible.
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br /The price of this seat is hefty but nothing compares to having the peace of mind and security that your child is in the best seat available.
br /The seat itself is large, too large for that matter- but it sure does look and feel cozy and safe.
br /We bought a 2008 highlander and could barely stretch out the seatbelt to accommodate this car seat. So be warned!
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br /I personally would buy another one for our Echo- if the car was a little larger- for now, our only choice is the Sunshine Kids and Britax for our SUV.
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I have a 1997 Saturn SL1 2 door that does not have a latch system. We are having a great deal of trouble getting the seat secured so it doesn't move all over the place. We use both the shoulder seat belt and the lap belt and still the seat moves around. We are also confused as to the purpose of the recline bar. Does anyone have any suggestions?

The Regent is a great seat but we bought the seats by accident and called to cancel our order the next morning- Baby Age said they had been sent gave us the rules to send it back which we had to do at our cost of 52.00- plus had we not called them back prior to receiving had opened the box they would not have accepted the return. It was very hard to get a hold of a person at Baby Age. Even though we followedf the exact procedure Baby Age still tried to issue us a credit which we did not want- we purchased 2 seats over 500. They did rectify that although I had to wait on hold again for a very long time. Amazon charged us a 20 fee for order refusal which should not have been charged they haven't responded to our email requesting that it be refunded. I will not purchase a large weight item again on Amazon suggest others not do it as well- it was a total pain!