Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsUsing the Britax Marathon made me stray from Britax and start looking at other brands of car seats.
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2016
We are upgrading our child from a Britax B-Safe infant car seat to a convertible car seat, and staying within the Britax product line seemed logical considering how much we liked the B-Safe. After a some time with the Marathon ClickTight, however, we've decided to return it and will try some other car seats. We aren't questioning or have any concerns about the product's ability to keep our child safe - it's the annoyances of its usability and features that we just couldn't stand. We had three major issues: the seat belt fit on the legs, the reclining function, and the ClickTight feature, itself.
For the fitment of the seat belt on our child's legs, we experienced what many others have put in their reviews. That section of the belt fits awkwardly over the legs, with the edges "cutting" into the at a bad angle. When you tighten the harness to keep the child safe, this part also tightens because it is all connected. I just can't see how this can be comfortable for them. You can alleviate it a bit by removing what I believe they call the 'comfort pillow', which is just a kind of cushion that also serves to raise the child as they sit on it. Even with it removed the belt fits poorly over the legs.
The most annoying and frustrating function is the reclining one. Yes, I understand that this is not something you'd be adjust much as it should only need to be changed when changing vehicles or seats. But trying to adjust it in just one seat was maddening. In a rear facing position, the handle to adjust the recline is against the car's seat. When the Marathon is NOT on a car seat it is already difficult to recline. Try doing this when it's on a cushion that doesn't provide a steady enough base AND when trying to pull the lever to initiate the recline is pressed up against the seat. The back of my hand is rubbed raw from trying to do this. In fact, the only way I could manage it was to remove the Marathon from the car completely and adjusting it on the ground, then putting it back in. Of course, you have to take guesses at which position would end up being correct when it was all installed.
Even when I did manage to finally get the recline to move, once you get the seat belt to installed and the seat tightened and locked in, guess what? The reclining position is now different than what it was before you did that. So you kind of have to take a guess at what the the final recline position will be when you're all done, instead of setting it to what looks correct before you tighten it down. It was simply maddening to have to do this, undo do it, and do it all over again multiple times. Thank goodness I did it the night before and not before we were getting ready to go anywhere.
Finally, the ClickTight. I saw the video from Britax. It looked so easy the video didn't even really show you how it worked I had to find other ones to demonstrate it before I thought, "Neat - I guess we'll buy it". My thoughts now? It's not worth it. Unless you're going to be moving the seat from car to car often, or removing it and reinstalling it repeatedly, the benefit isn't there. The whole seat is heavy, anyway, so I wouldn't suggest taking it out and putting it back in more than you need to. That being said, I have no idea how the ClickTight functions properly.
You pop up the seat, thread the seatbelt through the hooks, tighten the belt to get rid of any slack, and then close the seat back down on it. It's supposed to be simple but with the seat belt going tightly across the Marathon's base, with a space underneath it, how the heck is the top o the car seat supposed to close down on it? It won't - not without you repeatedly slamming the top of the seat down on to it. There's little more disconcerting than deciding between leaving some slack in the seat belt that's supposed to be restraining the seat, and wondering if you've slammed the top of the seat down hard enough to engage the ClickTight. Yes, I know the CT button returns to a certain position to tell you that's it's locked, but it's nowhere near as simple as they make it out to be.
Finally, releasing the ClickTight. I feel like I'm going to snap that button by twisting it. You've got to twist it so hard to release it I wondered how anyone weaker than I am could manage it. I did find out that you can make this easier if you shove down on the car seat as you turn it. Again, not as simple as you'd think it should be.
So the Marathon may do a good job protecting your child, but it may take a lot of effort and patience on your part to make sure that it's installed properly to do so. If you're patient and only foresee yourself installing this a few times and basically leaving it as is, you may be ok. Otherwise, I'd stay away and try something else.
