Mother's Choice Carrera

Safe but awful buckle – We bought two of these. The first was a write-off in a car accident but my daughter was completely unharmed. The second we are now using with my 2nd. My only qualm is with the adjustment buckle at the front. It is ridiculously difficult to change the length of the straps at a moment's notice. Safe, compact, comes with a drop mat Terrible buckle adjustment mechanism.

Mothers Choice Carrera vs Safe n Sound Meridian – We had 2 cars and needed 2 seats. The Meridian was put in the 'main' car. We went down to one car and the Carrera was put into storage. We are now back to 2 vehicles and it's been brought out of retirement. To be honest the 22 month old far prefers the Carrera. It is in the newer vehicle and on long distances she seems a lot more comfortable… Read more

in the Carrera. The Meridian annoys me as the headrest doesn't stay where it should (position 4 in frontfacing) and I have to adjust every time. We got the Meridian as thought safety wise more $$$ was the best option but to be honest - after pulling both seats apart for washing and adjusting I don't see any safety concerns unless the seat completely disintegrates in an accident and the straps come loose - which doesn't look likely.

The Meridian had it over the Carrera in the rear facing stage. The Carrera didn't have enough padding, the insert was a bit flimsy and baby didn't look snuggly buggly. But this could be fixed by buying a better insert for $30. - this is the only reason for 4 stars....

We are about to have another addition to the family and need another 2 seats. I think we will be heading down the path of 2 seats for the price of 1 Meridian. Toddler prefers it! Insert flimsy in rear facing mode

You get what you pay for – Like the rest of the Carrera owning population, we bought this 50% off at Target to replace a HiPod Milan as that wasn't on sale at the time (loved the Milan, mind you). First and foremost, it is not worth the full price, there are better seats out there. However, even at the discounted price, I still think it's not the greatest seat available. We… Read more

bought two, one for us and one for the mother in law's car, so I feel doubly cheated.

My key issues are related to design. The fabric is poorly made and does not live up to use by a toddler and padding is next to non existent. The clasp to tighten the straps is the most horrible, annoying, poorly designed piece of plastic ever created, and constantly twists the straps when you can work it. It makes loosening and tightening it hell, even worse so when your charming toddler hits the stage where it's fun to make not sitting still be be strapped in a game.

Positives - it was easy enough to install, and cheap. For the same price though, just wait til the Milan goes on sale again. It scored okay on the safety ratings, not brilliantly; messy mat included in price; easy install The design is woeful, particularly fabric and strap loosening clasp.

Good for the price – Overall I'm fairly happy with the job this seat has done (now being used by 2nd child). As I purchased this from Target for approx $130 I think we've got a lot of use out of it for the price. There are only a few flaws that I've found which are: - The material has slightly pilled after being washed which makes it hard to wipe mess off. - The… Read more

straps twisted which meant I had to pull the seat out to fix them.

- There's a couple of little plastic tabs that stick out of the leg thing, that supports the seat when it's rear facing, the both of my kids knocked their feet on which must've hurt a bit. Have had to cover them up so they don't stick out.

Other than that I'm pretty happy with it and it should see out my daughter until she's in a booster.

I would recommend this if you can buy it 50% off at Target (could probably find something better if you had to pay full price) Price. Overall pretty good. The few flaws as stated.

Would not recommend – Whilst in the rear facing position the shoulder straps were easy to adjust by grabbing them from behind. But, once the seat was in the forward facing position the shoulder straps were almost impossible to tighten with a child in the seat. We felt like we were going to slip on the strap and that we could potentially hit our child in the face. Price, but you do get what you pay for. Shoulder straps were hard to adjust.

Just okay! – We bought this seat 50% off at the Target baby sale.. At first inspection & without a baby yet I was very happy with what I saw.. The seat is very sturdy & the addition of the messy mat made it great value. However now after 6 months of use, there are some obvious flaws. The seat is not particularly supportive for a newborn and I went and bought a… Read more

newborn head hugger for the seat, without it I feel the seat may have been quite unsafe. The straps constantly get twisted, which is frustrating when you are in a hurry. The biggest disappointment however is how the seat has faired, with daily use over 6 months, the fabric has pilled terribly making it look like it has been used by multiple children over many years. Cost, messy mat inclusion, the different inserts that come with the seat & the overall look of the seat. Needs better newborn support (even with the included inserts added),straps get twisted easily & the fabric on the seat has pilled.

Has worked just fine for me – I bought this car seat while we were living in Australia as my husband suddenly found himself with a company car and we needed it for our young son (7 mo at the time). It is hard for me to compare it to others as I have zero experience with other seats. So I will just explain the good/bad I have experienced with it. On the negative side I have… Read more

found that I wish it had a second buckle/snap up near the chest as the absense of this has meant that, unless I tighten it almost to being uncomfortable for him, it is easy for him to slip his arms though the middle to where he is only held in around his legs. This is frustrating especially when I am on a 2 hour car ride and have to pull over to fix it. I have also found that it is hard to tighten/losen unless my son is not in the seat, then it is easier. So it takes a few times to adjust as I have to keep putting him in/taking him out to get it 'right'. I feel it is hard to remove the anchor belt from the car, but then again it's difficulty to remove makes me feel it is safer. It can just become frustrating if I have to put the car seat in our second vehicle for any reason. It can hurt my fingers trying to get it to release. Finally, I don't know if it's just the one I bought or if this is a defect with all of them, but I also find that even though it sounds like the left side has snapped shut, I have at times either discovered myself before leaving that it has not in fact locked into place, or to my horror realize this after a trip to/from somewhere when I see that the one side of my son is not strapped in at all. I always double check now just for this reason.

I am not a picky person so I definitely feel the seat was well worth what we paid (also bought at Target on a Baby sale). He is now 2.5 yrs old and we are still using this seat and I feel it is perfectly safe (when checked properly first). I am only switching him out to a new booster seat soon because I am expecting another child and plan to use the Carrera for her now. My son was past his newborn stage when we bought this so I can't comment on how well/bad it is for newborns (I'm hoping well). The carseat has held up incredibly well since we have had it, it still looks in fairly new condition. Little wear and tear at all even though he has had food/drink while in it. It is of a good weight. Not light enough for me to think it's 'cheap' but not heavy enough for it to be a nuisance when moving it. I would definitely recommend it to other parents who can't afford to spend the rediculous amounts of money some of these car seat manufacturers/stores charge :) Fairly Reliable, good bargain and I definitely feel my son is safe in it. Needs a chest buckle, can be difficult to adjust when the child is in the seat.

Great carseat at an awesome price – Perfect, easy to use and install. Padding is really soft and comfortable, my little one falls asleep straight away in this carseat. Safe and easy to use adjustable harness. Pockets for drinks/ snacks and anything else. Also comes with a mat to protect your car seats which is a bonus! I would recommend this carseat. :-) Price was really good… Read more

as it was on sale at Target and the Bounty bag gave me another $10 off! Carseat cost us $112.00! Nothing, very happy with this carseat.

It was a perfect choice! – It was simple and fast to install and it provides the right support in the right places for my son. I had a big baby (9lb3oz) and he is growing quite rapidly, so the fact that the seat is convertible was very handy and economical for us. It meant that when he got strong enough to support his head well (6 weeks of age) we were ready at the… Read more

convenience of turning the seat around. Another benefit, was that the adjustment of straps etc. is very easy. Inexpensive at full price and quite often goes on sale, so it is even more economical if you can get lucky.

Good – nice and sturdy, a great price compared with some others on the market (especially if you can buy it during a big sale). it will also last long term being appropriate from birth to about age four. ideal if you need to put several in the back seat It was easy to put in and we bought it on sale at target so it was a very good price. the fabric feels… Read more

nice and the workmanship (ie stitching) is high quality. the two mesh pockets on the sides are perfect for holding a dummy or bottle or small toys. i love that it comes with a piece of padding/kick guard to protect the car from toddler's shoes. the cover comes off easily to machine wash without having to remove the seat from the car! it is quite a bit narrower than other seats on the market, which is perfect if you need to fit three across the back seat! there is also eatra paddig for use in rearward mode for young babies. would like a bit more head support for a newborn, sometimes worry that it isn't as safe as more expensive models, but they all meet the same safety standard so it must be ok. you need a bit of strength to tighten the straps.

Well priced car seat – We bought this on sale from target when our baby grew out of his capsule. We are generally happy with it, he looks comfy and sleeps well in it. Well priced, comfortable Straps are so hard to tighten, I cant do it so my husband has to

Not my favourite child seat – My mother has one of these in her car for when she has her Grand-daughter for the day. Like everyone else, it was purchased from Target for 50% off the RRP. My mum thinks it's OK, I however struggle to get my daughter in and out of the seat - the harness loosening toggle is extremely stiff and hasn't loosened at all in the 6 months my mum has had… Read more

this seat. She doesn't bother to loosen the harness, just unbuckles it, but it makes it a tight fit when trying buckle it up again. My daughter does seem comfortable in the seat though and never complains.

I much prefer my 'Hipod Madrid' which was also purchased at Target on sale and is much easier to use. Great value Stiff harness loosener (maybe it's faulty)

Great seat – I used this from when my second bub was born and it was great, comfortable plenty of space but heaps of support for newborn, Great for when turned around also, Used upto 4years when we had to upgrade. Very reliable Reliable, Not to expensive

Great price and my baby loves it – Have used this since birth and find it great. Bought from Target when half price and haven't had any issues really. Hardest thing was installing into our Hyundai Tuscon as the attachment points where in an awkward place. Bubs sleeps great in this - probably the most annoying thing is the straps mean you have to lift baby over or under, but that… Read more ·  2

seems pretty universal with most car seats when rear-facing. Cover is removeable and there are handy pockets to put toys in. I actually use the straps that clip into the back to hang toys off for bubs to play with on the journey which is an added bonus.

Possibly could use a cushion support for a newborn, but we didn't bother and didn't find any issues from this. I have just adjusted the shoulder straps to the next higher setting and found this quite easy when following the manual. Inexpensive, easy to wash, does everything I need. Straps to anchor are in awkward place when rear facing, but have managed okay with it