The Britax Marathon ClickTight Convertible Car Seat is my new absolute favorite convertible car seat! We LOVE LOVE LOVE this seat! It’s solid, comfortable, easy to adjust and SO easy to install!

Kids can be severely injured or die if they or their car seat isn’t correctly installed, and some cars seat can be hard to install! I find myself checking and double checking the car seat, then adjusting and readjusting the harness so it fits right on my children. And when baby E is crying while Micah is fidgeting and fighting because he wants to ride his motorcycle not mommy’s car, I don’t want to take any extra time, but I need to know my kids are safe and secure.

To new parents or non-parents: before I had kids I thought the car seat went in the car and never moved, so who cared how hard it was to install if I only do it once right?!? I was SO wrong! The car seats switch vehicles (either between ours or to a church vehicle), switch spots in the vehicle, come out so adults or objects can ride, and get adjusted as the kids grow.

Britax Marathon ClickTight Car Seat Review

With the Britax Marathon ClickTight there is absolutely no difficulty and no excuse! The ClickTight installation is super easy and the harness is easy to put on, take off, or adjust. AND, get this, it’s easy to tighten and release! We’ve reviewed the Britax Marathon before, and loved it, and the addition of the ClickTight feature makes it fantastic!

The Britax Marathon ClickTight Convertible Car Seat is easy and smooth to loosen and tighten. It’s easy to get the harness clipped and snug on baby E or Micah, and just as easy to release them.

Seriously, why are some car seats hard to tighten? Am I right moms? You are at a funny angle putting baby in, especially if it’s in the middle seat, you are working all the angles possible to reach the harness and clip both spots while using your third hand to hold baby and your fourth hand to keep that pacifier in so she doesn’t scream in your ear. And your foot to keep the door from blowing closed on you. Finally you are ready to tighten it and Ooofda, nothing. It won’t tighten. Readjust your arms, pop your shoulders and hips out of place so you can pull it with more force, and “yes!” it moved an inch! Now just 3 more tugs! You consider never loosening it again, but then it’s so hard to get baby in and out!

Ok, I’m exaggerating a little, but no one wants a car seat that’s hard to tighten or loosen, because then it’s hard to get baby in or out and too often I’ve seen people leave baby loose (and unsafe) because they didn’t take the time or energy to tighten the harness. That’s why I’m thrilled with how easy it is to tighten this seat! Even in the rear-facing position. I did change out the shoulder pads for our giraffe ones, but only because Em likes to chew on the giraffe ears, nothing against the Britax pads.

Plus, something I realized the other day: if Micah’s harness isn’t tightened enough, he can actually reach his own release and make himself looser (he’s in a Diono seat, which I also LOVE and will be posting about Diono in the near future, but it’s harder to tighten), which leads me to another perk of the Britax Marathon ClickTight Convertible Car Seat: the release is inside a little plastic tunnel so I have to put my finger in from the front, Micah can’t reach into it while sitting in the seat, and he can’t loosen Emersyn while sitting in the seat next to her because his fingers aren’t long enough or at the right angle. But it’s easy for my adult fingers to get in and lightly hold the button down.

Now my favorite feature: the ClickTight system is spectacular! Since 3 out of 4 car seats are installed incorrectly, this idea is totally awesome and I’ll bet we see something similar become standard in the coming years. Just poke your finger into the icon to tip it up, spin it a quarter turn, and the whole top of the seat lifts up for easy access to the inside. Then thread the belt through forward-facing or rear-facing slots, buckle, and firmly close it down until the little icon clicks back into place. SOLID! It does take a little force to close it fully, but not much. Then it also takes a little finger strength to re-open (turn) the little icon-latch, but again not more than I would expect and it’s totally doable.

The ability to open the seat on the Britax Marathon ClickTight Convertible Car Seat also makes it super easy to adjust the crotch strap!

The height also adjusts really easily on the Britax Marathon ClickTight, just squeeze and pull up or push down.

As with all Britax products that we’ve reviewed, the Britax Marathon ClickTight is built solid and comfortable, I know that if one of the crazy Bullhead drivers would hit our car, my kids are as safe as possible.

Another perk, the LATCH system and extra straps easily tuck into closable cubbies on the back, so I don’t have to worry about ugly straps getting tangled or in the way.

The Bad?

The tilt lever is easy to reach and operate outside of the car, almost impossible inside the car. Not a big deal, the slick (read: LOVE IT!) guide on the side helps me know what angle to set it at before I buckle it in. And every car seat I’ve reviewed is the same – the tilt angle has to be adjusted before installation.

The seat is also a little heavier than other car seats. But I can tolerate a little added weight in exchange for the complete ease of installation. It can be rear- or forward-facing, unfortunately it can’t triple as a booster seat. Most can’t, the only one we’ve had that does is the Diono seat.

Finally, it does take up a good amount of space front-to-back when rear-facing. A little less than a Diono seat, a little more than an infant seat. In my Grand Am, this bothers any tall men I give rides to, but they still fit comfortably enough for short rides and I fit comfortably for long rides, and that’s all that matters for us.

Check out the Britax Marathon Clicktight online or check out Britax on Facebook and Twitter for more information! And read back to my other Britax reviews for more of their great products: the Britax Advocate car seat, Britax Marathon car seat, and BOB stroller!

Britax sent me a Marathon ClickTight car seat to review for this post. Opinions are 100% my own.