# Evenflo Triumph Premier vs. Britax Boulevard



## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

My car was in a collision and I have to replace the child safety seats. I've narrowed it down to these two but can't quite make up my mind. Price is part of it. The Triumph is about half the price of the Boulevard. I could buy the Boulevard but I can't really afford it, iykwim. I checked Consumer Reports and the NHTSA. CR scored the Triumph the same as the Britax but it wasn't the Boulevard. It was either the Roundabout or the Marathon, can't remember which. Interestingly, the Triumph scored better on crash protection all around. They both have side impact material. The NHTSA gave the Triumph DLX the only straight A score of all the convertibles including all of the Britax models. Granted, the only thing the Boulevard got a B rating on was label evaluation, whatever that means. Everything else was an A. So, I'm trying to determine if there's anything safety wise that makes the Britax worth twice as much money. The convenience features are all pretty much the same, same type of LATCH (in the Premier), easy adjustable harness, side impact material. Actually, the Triumph has side impact foam the entire length of the car seat whereas the Marathon only had it around the head. I don't know about the Boulevard because I can't find one IRL to get my hands on. The only thing that has me wondering is the width of the head part. The Triumph is wider than the Britax so I'm wondering if that means more room for side head movement. The Britax does have enough room that the head would move sideways anyway so maybe it doesn't really matter.

Anyone compare these two, get their hands on both, and have any opinions or info to share?


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Consumer reports is not a good source for carseat information.

The boulevard is a much better seat. I would never even consider an evenflo seat for my child.

-Angela


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Okay- safety features:

the boulevard has TSIP (true side impact protection) the evenflo does not.

The boulevard tethers rearfacing. The evenflo does not.

The boulevard has higher top strap heights- keeping children harnessed longer.

No comparison. Really. If you had to go cheaper there are several other seats I'd consider before the evenflo

-Angela


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## LilyGrace (Jun 10, 2007)

Britax, hands down. I will never buy another Evenflo after finding out they continued to sell a seat (which we bought!) even after knowing it would fall apart in a crash. Bad ethics.

Have you looked at the FP Safe Voyage? It might be a good compromise for you between safety and price (made by Britax, $129 at Albeebaby.com)


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Do you have independent sources that backup the Britax claims of better safety? Like I said, I checked out Consumer Reports and NHTSA and they both rate the Evenflo Triumph either as good or better than the Britax. No other convertible car seats got ratings that good. The only place I found info about the "true side impact protection" was on the Britax site. Do you know exactly what that means? Also, can you tell me how a seat tethers rear-facing and why that's safer?

What is FP?

If I don't get the Triumph, I will get the Boulevard, so convince me.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MarineWife* 
Do you have independent sources that backup the Britax claims of better safety? Like I said, I checked out Consumer Reports and NHTSA and they both rate the Evenflo Triumph either as good or better than the Britax. No other convertible car seats got ratings that good. The only place I found info about the "true side impact protection" was on the Britax site. Do you know exactly what that means? Also, can you tell me how a seat tethers rear-facing and why that's safer?

What is FP?

If I don't get the Triumph, I will get the Boulevard, so convince me.

There is not a single independent source that tests carseats. Just doesn't exist.

I'm sure a tech will be along with the TSIP info. Recaro uses the same terminology and I know I've seen it mentioned that it's standardized in some method.

Britax seats tether rear facing to any fixed to the floor place. Usually the bottom of another seat. It keeps the seat from slamming into the back of the seat it's facing in a crash.

-Angela


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## LilyGrace (Jun 10, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MarineWife* 
Do you have independent sources that backup the Britax claims of better safety? Like I said, I checked out Consumer Reports and NHTSA and they both rate the Evenflo Triumph either as good or better than the Britax. No other convertible car seats got ratings that good. The only place I found info about the "true side impact protection" was on the Britax site. Do you know exactly what that means? Also, can you tell me how a seat tethers rear-facing and why that's safer?

What is FP?

If I don't get the Triumph, I will get the Boulevard, so convince me.

If I'm not mistaken, Consumer Reports also adds cost into their evaluation, so higher priced seats rarely come out above the lowerpriced, barely standard ones.

FP is Fisher Price. Britax teamed up with them to create the Safe Voyage convertible and booster. The convertible is a stripped down Marathon (no rear tether, goes to 55lbs)

If the Boulevard tethers rear facing, that's great. It means the car seat won't rebound into the back of the seat during a crash. To see how it tethers, look at the rear facing seats on the videos here.

True Side Impact Protection better contains a child in a crash. I have a video from a UK site that shows very well the differences in boosters, one with TSIP.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

I'm convinced. The Britax Boulevard it is. That didn't take much. My biggest concern in comparing the 2 was the side impact safety, maybe because my car was hit on the side. Luckily, my babies weren't in the car. My 16yo was but the side airbags saved him. Thanks so much. Now I'm off to find the best price. I'll have to order them because the stores don't carry them.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

BTW, did you look into having your insurance (or the insurance of the person who hit you) pay for the seats?


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Yes. They said they'd pay a "reasonable amount" but no one will tell me exactly what that is. The adjuster told me he'd take my word for whatever they cost and to just send him the receipt. Of course, he hasn't seen the price tag for a Britax yet.







I'm figuring middle of the road is around $150 each, which seems reasonable to me, so I'm hoping to at least get half of what I paid back. If I get more, that will be a bonus.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

When I was rear-ended their insurance paid for a new boulevard without batting an eye.

-Angela


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

That's great that they will reimburse you!


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
When I was rear-ended their insurance paid for a new boulevard without batting an eye.

-Angela

Oh cool. Did you already have a Boulevard that you were replacing or did you upgrade? That's my main concern. If I had already had a Boulevard, I would absolutely expect them to fully reimburse me. But, since I'm upgrading a bit (about twice as much), I'm afraid they may only reimburse me for the cost of my old car seats.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

I had a Wizard, but they didn't ask until after they cut the check.

-Angela


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

The adjuster didn't ask me what I had so I'm not going to tell him. He said something about pictures but he didn't say I needed to send any. I'm not going to take pics of my car seats unless they insist on it before they'll give me a check. I think I lucked out because the adjuster I got said he doesn't have kids and has never priced a car seat so he'll just take my word for whatever is reasonable..hehe. I've been told my insurance company is excellent at taking care of claims and so far they have been right on top of everything. If nothing else, I can always point out that the cost of hospital bills for an injured baby or child would be far more than a few hundred for a car seat. Thanks so much.

I just got an email that the car seats have shipped. I can't wait to get them. It's funny to get so excited over a car seat.







Now, if I only had my car to put them in.


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## iot (Aug 1, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *alegna* 
Consumer reports is not a good source for carseat information.

The boulevard is a much better seat. I would never even consider an evenflo seat for my child.

-Angela

why? this is a totally honest question, as I used consumer reports to guide my decision on car seats.

and why would you not choose an evenflo carseat? I own one (triumph), so if there's something to be concerned about I would really like to know!

Thanks!


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

I DID have to give them the old seat. But she didn't see it until I had the check in hand for the new one.

-Angela


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

I know I'm not the one you asked and I can't tell you first hand why CR is not a good resource. I use them myself. I also checked this website, Car Seat Safety, and searched "Triumph". Everyone there seems to think the Triumph is a very good seat. The NHTSA also rated the Triumph DLX very high. I really like my Triumph. I ultimately chose the Britax to replace the Triumph because it has the true side impact protection and should be a better fit for my car since I need 2 car seats but also have to fit a teenager in the car, and my insurance company is going to reimburse me at least some of the cost. The Triumph is much wider at the top and the new ones are even longer than the one I had and I was already having problems fitting everyone in my 7 passenger SUV with just the one Triumph in the car. I didn't read anything, though, that said there were any problems with the Triumph.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

We must've been posting at the same time. That was going to be my next question. What do I do with the old seats? I'm a little concerned about putting them out for the trash because I'm afraid someone might come along and take them to use. I guess I should keep them at least until I get everything finalized with the insurance company.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *iot* 
why? this is a totally honest question, as I used consumer reports to guide my decision on car seats.

and why would you not choose an evenflo carseat? I own one (triumph), so if there's something to be concerned about I would really like to know!

Thanks!

First and foremost, CR does not release their data. So their results can not be recreated. Making them useless.

Add to that, they don't use certified techs. to install seats for testing and have even admitted to not being able to get acceptable installs and testing anyway.

Add to that they have recalled their own tests when they were proven to be HIGHLY inaccurate (claimed to be testing at 35mph, turned out they tested at 70mph- a 70mph crash is not generally survivable- no matter what)

Evenflo does not have a good track record. They leave deadly seats on the market and refuse to recall unless death is PROVEN (to be the fault of their seats...)I believe in at least 2 crashes.

Compare this to Britax who regularly issues voluntary recalls for tiny little things that they think should be better.

Which would you trust with your most precious cargo?

-Angela


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## sheilajolene (Oct 11, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MarineWife* 
We must've been posting at the same time. That was going to be my next question. What do I do with the old seats? I'm a little concerned about putting them out for the trash because I'm afraid someone might come along and take them to use. I guess I should keep them at least until I get everything finalized with the insurance company.

I had my seat professionally installed today and the guy told me to cut the straps on my old car seat before I took it to the dump. That way no one would be tempted to take it. (My bright Idea was to put a note on it that said, "this seat was in an accident.








His idea was much better!)


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *sheilajolene* 
My bright Idea was to put a note on it that said, "this seat was in an accident.









That was my idea, too.







I like the seat installers idea better.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

I got my Britax Boulevards and I have to say, there is no comparison! I previously had an Evenflo Triumph so I can make a practical comparison. The Boulevards are so much easier to install. My kids look so much more protected and snuggled in them. I got two, one for my forward facing 3yo and one for my rear-facing 3 month old. I am so glad I chose the Britax over the Triumph. They fit into the car better. Even if I weren't getting reimbursed by my insurance company, I'd still spend the money on them. They are just so, so, so much better.


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## alegna (Jan 14, 2003)

There really is no comparison after you've seen them and used them.

-Angela


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## ryleigh'smama (Aug 10, 2005)

I LOVE ds' Boulevard, we had an evenflo for dd, it was terrible. She has a Recaro now, and I like that seat (it was a gift), and it has TSIP as well, but only harnesses to 40lbs so we'll be buying a Regent someday.


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## MarineWife (May 1, 2004)

yes, angela. thanks so much for your help.

i looked at the recaro after i got the boulevard for my 3yo. i was afraid that maybe i should've gotten that for him instead because it converts to a booster. once i saw that it only harnesses to 40 lbs i realized i still made the right choice with the boulevard.


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