Why are Britax Clicktight seats impossible to find?

[fortnightlily]

My local Buy Buy Baby has been out for weeks, and can't say when they'll be back in stock.  Amazon claims to still have Advocates and Boulevards, but Marathons are now on 1-3 month availability.  

DS is on the verge of outgrowing his infant seat.  We have the Nextfit in our other car, but I tried out all the seats at the stores like a month ago, decided I wanted the Marathon, and *boom* the damn thing is impossible to get.  The headroom on the Boulevard and Advocate just seem so narrow.

I emailed Britax but curious if anyone else has any intel.  And if I can't find the Marathon what should I get?  The Nextfit is kind of obnoxiously deep and the Britax by far had the easiest buckling and strap adjustment of any of the others I tried at the store.

[arch01]

BRU shows this in stock

www.toysrus.com/buy/car-seats/britax-marathon-clicktight-ultimatecomfort-series-convertible-car-seat-prescott-e9lt76p-37974846

[fortnightlily]

Ooh, thanks arch01! I might just have to order that tonight. I was ignoring TRU/BRU because I don't have any in my area and wasn't sure I could get it as cheap as Amazon or BBB w/coupon.

[arch01]

I freaking hate BRU but it was worth a shot

Otherwise, try Kohl's. They have a decent selection of car seats. Or Target.

[fortnightlily]

I had assumed my Amazon and BBB data point of 2 meant that there was some weird production issue.

[arch01]

Mar 3, 2015 16:35:15 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

The Boulevard and Advocate will last longer than the Marathon (both RFing and FFing), if that changes your mind at all.

You could also look at the 4Ever/Milestone.

The Advocate is showing 40/65-is the difference in the height limits? (Just curious!)

[fortnightlily]

I'm curious too! I was told by the BBB staff that literally the only difference between Marathon/Boulevard/Advocate was the extra side/head padding, and I'm not sure how that translates to lasting longer?

[Deleted]

Mar 3, 2015 16:35:15 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

The Boulevard and Advocate will last longer than the Marathon (both RFing and FFing), if that changes your mind at all.

You could also look at the 4Ever/Milestone.

I agree. DS outgrew his Marathon RFing by height at 23 months, I was peeved, I wanted to RF longer. He's getting close to the FF limits now at 3. I assume I'll pass the seat on to DD in 6 months and buy DS a Frontier.

[D2M]

Weird. I just bought a Marathon from diapers.com a couple of weeks ago and now they are out of stock.

Aaaaand reading this, I wish I also had done more research about the height stuff. I bought the Marathon primarily for the ease of installation (we do not have a car and will be using it only for taxis and vacations).

[speckledfrog]

Mar 3, 2015 16:46:37 GMT -5 @fivedogs said:

Shell height and top harness slots, both of which are limiting in the non-ClickTight models. For the ClickTights, the Boulevard and Advocate shells are about 2.5 inches taller than the Marathon, and the top harness slots are 2" taller. The Marathon CT didn't gain a whole lot of height over the regular model. In the Boulevard and Advocate ClickTight models, many kids will probably hit the weight limit before the height limit RFing (I know DD1 did that in the 4Ever, which has similar limits).

carseatblog.com/29195/britax-marathon-boulevard-advocate-clicktight-preview-game-changers-for-installation-and-rear-facing-too/comment-page-1/

This is good info.  We have a Marathon and MH was asking why we shouldn't just get another one for our younger son.    

[fortnightlily]

I still don't fully understand how the Advocate and Boulevard work for older kids. The side-to-side headroom just seems so tight and vice-like?

[jewel]

Mar 3, 2015 16:29:23 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Ooh, thanks arch01! I might just have to order that tonight. I was ignoring TRU/BRU because I don't have any in my area and wasn't sure I could get it as cheap as Amazon or BBB w/coupon.

BRU will match prices. Not sure if you can do it online or over the phone, but in the store they matched the Amazon price on a Clicktight for me, which was 25% off at the time. It had to be ordered, and they delivered it to my house in a week or so.

[FoxInFiji]

Albee Baby has a bunch of Clicktight options in stock:
www.albeebaby.com/britax-clicktight-convertible-car-seats.html

We're planning to buy the Boulevard Clicktight (well three of them if it works out) in a few months. The Marathon would fit better in my car but our DD is tall so we're going to need the extra 2".

[fortnightlily]

Mar 3, 2015 23:11:08 GMT -5 jewel said:

Mar 3, 2015 16:29:23 GMT -5 fortnightlily said:

Ooh, thanks arch01! I might just have to order that tonight. I was ignoring TRU/BRU because I don't have any in my area and wasn't sure I could get it as cheap as Amazon or BBB w/coupon.

BRU will match prices. Not sure if you can do it online or over the phone, but in the store they matched the Amazon price on a Clicktight for me, which was 25% off at the time. It had to be ordered, and they delivered it to my house in a week or so.

Will they price match on their exclusive 'Ultracomfort' versions?  I guess there's only one way to find out!