Indecisive decision making: Car Seats

I decided to start blogging about some of the decisions that I have a really hard time making, perhaps in hopes that by writing out my thoughts I'll gain some clarity, but also possibly to solicit input on how to make what is becoming to be a very difficult decision.  Thus, this may be the beginning of a series on my indecisive decision making. :)

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Evan has outgrown his infant car seat (not by weight, but by height), and thus I had picked up a Britax Roundabout 50 Classic convertible car seat on clearance at Target a few months ago and that is now his new seat.  I'd read a lot of reviews and Britax is a very good brand, with great safety ratings, however they are pretty pricey and bigger and bulkier than other brands.  I figured for the price, even though it is the most basic Britax model they make, that it would be a good seat to start with.  Then we could take our time to choose a second car seat (for the second car, since these seats don't just pop in and out of a car seat base like the infant seat did).  

Britax Roundabout 50 Classic (even same color/pattern as the one we got)

However, "take our time" has turned into take forever!  I have read so many reviews and I think I really want another Britax, but our second car is small and thus I've read good things about the Diono Radian line that is slimmer (and yet even taller though).  Both brands aren't cheap (looking to pay around $200-$300 for any of the models we're considering), so that may also be playing a role in why it's become so hard for me to choose.

We're considering the Britax Marathon 70, which is currently just over $200 and is a bit bulkier yet than the Roundabout we already have because it has even more side impact protection (bonus for safety!).  These fancier Britax models (some run closer to $300, like the highly rated Britax Boulevard and Advocate) have various levels of improved side impact protection, and can be used rear-facing or forward-facing.  I also like that the Marathon has strap covers for around the neck, which the Roundabout sadly does not have, and we were advised by the Police Department staff who helped us install our infant seat not to use any after market add-ons as the car seats are safety tested as they come (our infant car seat also did not have neck strap covers, even though we wanted to get them to put on to protect his neck from having red strap lines in it!).  

Britax Marathon 70

We're also considering the Diono Radian R100 and Radian RXT (around $200 and $250 respectively).  Both of these models fold up for easy portability (thought they are heavy, but most of these seats are around 20 lbs plus anyway), which will be nice for taking trips by airplane, and they are so slim they can actually fit three to a backseat.  Not that we need that feature (nor do we plan to need it in the future), thus perhaps we can handle the bulkiness of the fancier Britax models?  I just don't know how well they'll fit in my Honda Civic and think that the foldability of the Diono's would be nice.  The RXT is a step above the R100 in weight limits (not really an issue I'm concerned about), but also it has more head support (side headrests, or wings, which might be nice for a kid who falls asleep on a long drive), and a cupholder and extra padding for the bum.  Those comfort and convenience features tempt me to lean toward the RXT, but I'd also read some reviews that were not so in favor of the head "wings" (they slipped out of position easily or things like that) and the price is just that much more then too.  Both of these Diono options also convert into a booster seat for really long-term use (they can be used as rear-facing, then forward-facing, then as a booster seat up to 100 or 120 lbs weight limit).

Diono Radian R100 (left) and RXT (right)

While what I just wrote about the Diono options makes it seems like I may be more in favor of them, what I am hesitant about is the lack of side impact protection (at least from the looks of them, being slimmer and all, they don't have as much as something like a Britax Marathon model, but probably no less than what we already have with the Roundabout), the lack of reviews on consumer reports (a source I highly trust and they didn't test any Diono models, but highly rank nearly all Britax models), and some customer reviews suggest the Diono is so tall that it's impossible to use it rear-facing without the front seats being all the way scooted forward.  I have long legs, thus I need to have the seat back pretty far and I don't like being too close to the airbags anyway, and we want to do rear-facing until Evan is at least 2 years old, as the American Academy of Pediatrics now advises.

Thus, I'm still feeling torn and I don't want to spend a few hundred dollars on a car seat that I won't (or Evan won't) like.  Since I think I got the Britax Roundabout at a steal on clearance, I can live with its inadequacies (in comfort features and the like) because it was cheaper and as long as I know we have a really good (and comfortable) seat for the long car rides and such.  

So, I'm still mulling over this, but I hope to make a decision soon so I can use a 20% special that is going on until the end of this month on Amazon.com (for Amazon Mom members like me!).  That will help me feel a bit better about the price of whichever seat we buy, since none are what I would really consider cheap.  If any other moms have experience with making this decision and/or any of these car seat models, please share!