Booster Seats - Recaro Young Sport and Vivo

Hey fellow parents!

Anna's now 4 and 1/2, and we feel it's getting time to think about a booster seat.

We're pretty set on getting a highback one.

The Recaro products have always caught my eye (well, so had the Sparco Wingman, but the $4K pricetag notwithstanding, that was a one-off concept ), but I've always worried about their safety, as I just couldn't find any good information about them.

Well, on this round of my research, things finally changed. I not only found some information, but it seems that the IIHS gives a big thumbs-up to the Recaro Young Sport as well as Vivo, and so do many on Car-Seat.org. The NHTSA also gave the Vivo a pass (did not rate the Young Sport). Safety-wise, I think we're good-to-go.

What I'm looking for are some tales of first-person experience: if you use the Young Sport or Vivo, if you'd be so kind as to post about how you like it, as well as how comfortable (or not) your child finds the seat.

The reason I ask is because the NHTSA's subjective rankings of the seats seem to suggest that they're not the easiest to use - and this concerns me, particularly with the grandparents.

Thanks in advance!

^ Dude, at least you *got* some kind of booster!

I still remember being 6 years old, in Taiwan, and sitting on top of my dad's lap, as we coursed our way down the mountain from where my maternal grandparents lived - my dad allowing me to work the turn signals, the lights, and even the stickshift (a simple 4-speed, H-pattern)!

Yeah, safety FAIL!

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OK, in all seriousness, thankyee!

I just purchased my 2nd Recaro Youngsport. I originally had one for my first daughter and she had been using it (3yrs) up until my youngest grew out of her infant seat (now 1yo)

So we moved the 1yo to the Recaro and my 3yo to a Graco. Well needless to say the Graco was flimsy compared to the Recaro (it was a spare seat from the grandparents) So i purchased a second Youngsport and now have two strapped into our outback...sturdy, great design and it grows with the kids.

One thing to note, the head rest of the Youngsport can be moved up 3 positions with the 4th position labled as "Booster"...we're not quite there yet with our 3yo

I have the black Recaro Young Sport in the LGT and the gray in my wife's Mazda CX9. We have been using it since my son was 1 (he is 3 now) and the seat back is currently in the middle position. I am guessing that by the time he is 4 or 4 1/2, we'll have to move it to the highest position. My son seemscomfortable in it as he does not seem to have a problem snoozing (despite my loud exhaust).

My only concern with it is that the padding on the buckle by the crotch area easily slips off because it is only held by a garter In fact, we lost the one that was in the CX9 but my son does not have a problem with it. Hope this helps.

I have the black Recaro Young Sport in the LGT and the gray in my wife's Mazda CX9. We have been using it since my son was 1 (he is 3 now) and the seat back is currently in the middle position. I am guessing that by the time he is 4 or 4 1/2, we'll have to move it to the highest position. My son seems to feel comfortable in it as he does not seem to have a problem snoozing (despite my loud exhaust). My only concern with it is that the padding on the buckle by the crotch area easily slips off because it is only held by a garter In fact, we lost the one that was in the CX9 but it seems my son does not have a problem with it. Hope this helps.

We've lost that center buckle pad many moons ago. Also the Youngsport comes with a seating pad/cushion which is removable to gain some extra comfort/room for bigger kids...

Yahoo came out with this article today. I say go for the Recaro for safety and bling!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100908/ap_on_bi_ge/us_booster_seats_list

^ Damnit, that came out yesterday! Now it's gonna be "out of stock" everywhere!

Thanks for the tip - indeed, that's the IIHS rankings that I alluded to earlier. It's too bad that they don't provide the outlink to the actual rankings, as the Recaros truly do rank among the top. Well, maybe that's a good thing, for me.

^ Oooooh, didn't know that! I'll have to see about my local brothers.

Thanks for that tip, SnoDork!

Timely posting of this topic. My 4 3/4 yr old is just about to graduate out of her Brittax into a booster. The 14mo old is to inherit the Brittax. I have forwarded on the linky of the Recaro Youngsport to my wife for her inspection... Diapers.com has it for $89...seems like a good price, no?

- Allen.

^ That's the Vivo - and don't just forward her the Yahoo link, you'll also want to forward her this:

http://www.iihs.org/research/topics/boosters/default.html

That's the primary source.

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Does anyone here know what Consumer Reports says of booster seat ratings?

Hey fellow parents!

 

Anna's now 4 and 1/2, and we feel it's getting time to think about a booster seat.

 

We're pretty set on getting a highback one.

 

Don't lie.

The booster seat's for you.

^ Hey now, I ain't one of those small Asians! A diet that's 85% buffalo wings will put some meat on ya!

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Truth be told, I did tell Anna, the other day, that I was super jealous: that she's going to be getting a Recaro seat, before I will.

Hummm......

Anyone have the ProSport?

Looks to be an update to the Young Sport - the harness weight/height capabilities are impressive!!!

^ Hey now, I ain't one of those small Asians! A diet that's 85% buffalo wings will put some meat on ya!

That's sideways growth.

^ Nothing gets by you, does it, bruddah!

Does anyone here know what Consumer Reports says of booster seat ratings?

I believe it is a fairly well documented fact that Consumer Reports has it's coffers lined by manufacturer dollars. I wouldn't put much faith in their reviews.

That said, and FWIW, not only does Recaro make the majority of airline seats, public transportation seats, and the majority of OEM seats (including the Subaru seats you sit on every day), I believe they also make the "Subaru" branded child safety seats for the EDM/JDM markets.

I believe it is a fairly well documented fact that Consumer Reports has it's coffers lined by manufacturer dollars. I wouldn't put much faith in their reviews.

Really?

^ That's an *honest* question.

Would you please kindly supply me with some background reading to support that argument?

Again, that's an honest question/request, for I've truly been ignorant of such claims of impropriety against Consumer Reports.

I know that there's the usual trash-talk from the various online fan-groups/manufacturers of certain vehicles which may have gotten reviews that were disappointing to those groups. But such talk can hardly be said to fit that mold.

I do know that the 2008 antivirus/spyware fiasco also put a black mark on the brand, but that's more along the lines of improper testing methodology than anything else: and certainly not bribery or conflict-of-interest.

Similarly, testing errors also spurred the 2007 child-safety seat "scandal" . Both my wife were very, very aware of this, as not only was our child still in such a seat at the time, but my wife is a practicing pediatrician, and I also lurk on Car-Seat.org (proof? you can backtrack my talk of ERF on various Forums).

Certainly, their compiled statistics - such as that for vehicle and small-appliance reliability ratings - can be called into question, but again, that's methodological problem, and not one of accepting bribery or other such impropriety.

I just spent the past half-hour or so looking for articles that implicate CR in such problems, and I've not found any...so if you can find some for me, I certainly would most appreciate it!

And don't worry, I'm not banking on any one source.

Remember that I cited the IIHS data in its 2009 iteration, in my OP on this thread (which came 5 days prior to the IIHS 2010 update, which is what today's Yahoo News article is about). I also looked at the NHTSA data, among others, and that, specifically, is what led me to post here, to ask users of these seats, specifically in our BL/BP (or other generation) Legacys to contribute their thoughts: to get both subjective impressions as well as intimate first-hand documentation of potential usage concerns, such as durability (look at SnoDork and Waxiboy's contributions).

That said, and FWIW, not only does Recaro make the majority of airline seats, public transportation seats, and the majority of OEM seats (including the Subaru seats you sit on every day), I believe they also make the "Subaru" branded child safety seats for the EDM/JDM markets.

What worried some of us about the Recaro child-seats, back prior to such seats having been tested in North America, is the specifics of crash-safety as it applies to our North American market vehicles. While the Recaros have always fared well in European testing, many of us here feared that the results may not "translate," based on the differences in vehicle crash protection.

^ Hey JimyJoeBob -

I'm embarrassed to say that I have not yet moved on this.

Anna's getting there, but there's still one notch in her Marathon (and yes, I've seen the Canadian test videos, so I'm trying to be careful and plan ahead, that she doesn't out-grow the seat: she's decently tall, but a light-weight, so we're still good), so I've got some time to play with this, yet.

So far, I have not heard back from BAC5.2 about the undue-influence issue RE: Consumer Reports.