Britax Evolva 123

When my daughter was 2 she was in this car seat when grandma's car actually rolled. She was totally fine and not a scratch on her! (or grandma) scary moments! The seat did it's job! We have three Britax car seats for various cars, we have another that the catch is really awful on having had it a couple of years and I hate it. The newest is a Britax King Plus and the catch is a new design and is so so much better. I am considering contacting Britax about the bad catch car seat, they are expensive seats, the King Plus is spot on though.

We bought one, took it home, in the drive just getting my son out of the car and he showed me that he could release the clip himself. Two thumbs straight down - bang he was out. We have had a Mamas and Papas for almost three years and never a problem. Investigation shows that the "guard" over the clip is better shaped on the M&P - less room for two small thumbs to get in. Sounds like Britax has been doing the wrong tests. As I say, dangerous. Do not buy. All other details irrelevant.

Have had the evolva for 2 years we already had one clip replaced around a year ago by the seller because it stopped holding the harness (were told to wash it but it was actually visibly coming apart so useless advice) the same thing is happening again and this time the clip actually released the harness while we were travelling on a national speed limit dual carriageway. Absolutely terrifying, cannot believe how many people are having the same issue and how britax are ignoring the issue completely. Do not buy this seat the clip is not safe and the manufacturer doesn't care.

I have 5 car seats and 4 are Britax. Two are 123 plus evolva. I have had them for over a year now and I was very happy with them. But recently the clips started to make a shallow sound and not really click into the clip on the first or second go! once I clipped my daughter in and the clip came out on its own. I have asked the manufacturer and they said to wash it so as to clean it out. which I have done. I don't see any improvement, I am terrified to use these seats on account that the clip does not give me a confident feel of security for my children. I am disappointed with the choice as I searched 6 months to get the best. Other than this I love the seat!

I bought this for my son when he turned 9 months at the time we didnt drive and it was morelogicalto buy a seat that would last until he no longer needed a car seat than seperate ones, he has always been comfortable in it from being very smallto now (2.5 years)while it is bulky it is also easy to fit,you just thread the seat belt round the sides and through the back. I mainly bought this seat as it was a Britax and they are meant to go in all cars and have the highest safty rating. I have found it has gone easily in all the cars i have used it in new and old and have used it in taxis as wellas cars of familyand friends,i recently bought a new car this year and it has been straped in and has stayed that way.

as i have an older step-daughter whos mother refused to allow us to use her car seat when i collected her myselffor the first time i changed this on so it was the right fit for a 9 year old,it was very easy to addapt between the harness and the high backed booster,and she was very comfortable in it until we got to the shop and bought her a pinkone of her own that is!

I cant think of a bad thing to say about it!

I read the reviews on several sites and went for this but wish I hadn't. It is tricky to fit and there is very little give in the harness. When my average height and weight 3 yr old wears a winter coat it is a real struggle to close the harness. And the cup holders are completely useless. They are too shallow so when you go around a corner the cup falls out every time. On the plus side, it seems to be a comfy seat, my daughter has not complained.

We brought the pink Evolva and as a previous poster has said, it does get dirty quite quickly as it is very pale. But my younger dd looks very comfortable in this seat and it erpforms wekk when she oftern falls aslepp in the car- she doesn't luch forward like in her pther booster seat in our other car

FOLLOW UP
Britax found no problems witht he seat and have sent it away for further tests! They are very helpful and sympathetic so great customer service. I will keep u updated xx

I was in a Major Car Accident on Monday 31 May, amongst the chaos i could not find my 3yr old, panic stations! he was on the floor, legs trapped under the drivers seat,The harness/buckles on the Britax Evolova 123 (that was 6 weeks old) had opened on impact and threw my son out of the seat! Thankfully we all got out in 1 pce, a few cuts and bruises but thankfully that was all! I contacted Britax the following morning who collected the seat for tests etc.. I have not heard back as of yet but will keep you updated, please please make sure you thoroughly do your homework on car seats, i thought i had but its back to the drawing board for me now! Serious thing was, when i told the paramedics what had happened, before he had a look in the car, he asked was it a BRITAX? Why would he ask that? Has he had previously bad experiences in these cases? I wish now i had followed it up but was in shock and my head was all over the place. As i said i will keep you all posted when i have heard back from BRITAX.
Would also like to hear if anyone has had a similar experience with Britax.

I think this seat is terrible sorry. Its too big and limits passenger space but I do have two of them. They are bulky Cumbersome and difficult to get tight enough in so they don't sway.. they move about so much when there is not a child in them that we have taken to strapping them even when they are empty. I bought it for my 4 year old (then 3) and 2 year old (then 1). The one year old was so lost in the seat we had to buy an insert and I find even when the seat is tilted back their heads still loll forward!

This is clearly a very safe seat, and I am very happy with it, my nearly-3 year old daughter is very comfortable and doesn't seem to mind that she can't see out of the window quite as well as in her old bulky seat which has been passed to little sister.

My only warning to others is that it is NOT easy to install in my opinion, it involves a lot of pushing with the knee while feeding the seatbelt back to make sure its tight - takes me a good 10 minutes. This is fine if you are keeping it in the same car all the time, but if like us you are planning on swapping it between vehicles then its a pain and I am now considering buying a second easier to install seat for the second vehicle.

My daughter is 19 months and we've just got this car seat for her after lots of researching.
Found it very easy to install, looks she's very comfy and feels secure.
Just a bit heavy if you need to transport it between cars!

My daughter was 10 months when i bought this(very tall for her age),no problems sleeping, the head thing keeps her head up, not lolling around her chest like many other car seats.She is the youngest of 5 and the best car seat I've had, and lasts a long time too!(11) Just don't buy it in pink or its in the wash every week!

Excellent seat, my daughter manages to go sleep quickly which is a good sign she finds it comfortable. Looks stylish and I found it easy to fit once I had looked at the instructions.
Highly recommend this seat.

I found this seat to be perfect for my 22 month old. It is solid and safe and once fitted has no movement whatsoever. My DD falls asleep very quickly so it is a good sign that she finds it comfortable. It is stylish.

I really like this seat. We got it when our son was 1 year old and it has made a huge difference to his comfort on long car journeys. It doesn't recline far but it is perfectly adequate to stop the head lolling forward if the headrest is adjusted right. It's a nice breathable fabric too - many other seats have plasticky covers which are sweaty for hot little ones.

I'm definitely glad we had it test-installed before buying it - it was a bit of a faff - but as we don't need to move it around it's perfect.

I would investigate other seats if we needed to move it a lot!

Love this seat! Very well padded, with washable covers. only problem is that the side wings are very deep so DD gets very hot in it!

We purchased this seat for our 2 year old and he fits into it perfectly, when he is asleep it supports his head and the harness stops him from escaping.
The seat fitted into our Renault Senic in the recline position due to the car seat style and also fits an Escort and Metro.

This seat is great! We initially bought it because our then 11 month old daughter was in a hip spica cast (like plaster shorts) for over three months, with her legs sticking out to the sides. I was keen on getting a "normal" seat which we could use afterwards, and also the special ones are very, very expensive!

We bought the Evlova 123 because it has wide, flat base without built up sides - perfect for our DDs legs sticking out! Anyway, this seat has been brilliant - we have had it for a year now. DD falls asleep in the car most journeys, so seems to be comfortable. We found it easy to install (in a 5 door Punto)in both reclined and upright modes - there is a DVD with the seat to show you how to install etc, as well as the book.

It has a nice wide base, the headrest moves up as the child grows, and (in the Ultra version) the sides also can be moved out slightly to make more room. I can see we will be using this seat for many years to come, which makes it excellent value for money.

On top of all that, it has had very good safety reviews, which is after all the point of having a car seat in the first place!

It doesn't recline very far, and it's not very portable (but once it's in place we rarely have to move it) but that's me nitpicking and trying to say something bad about it!

My husband came home with this and initially I wasn't best pleased. I thought the seat was far too bulky and felt that my son, who was four at the time, didn't need such a large seat, felt he would have been better with an ordinary hi backed booster. However my son is now five and is still very comfortable in his Evolva, he can fall asleep on a long journey as his head is supported and most importantly I have become aware of how highly this seat scores in safety tests, for once my husband was right but don't tell him I said this!

The downside of this seat is that it is bulky, we have used the seat in a Peugeot 406 and BMW 3 series with our other son on a booster cushion, in the 406 you could at a squeeze get a passenger in between the two seats and with a bit of juggling another booster in the middle but in the BMW it just can't be done but that is probably more the fault of the car than the seat.

We didn't have any problems with fitting the seat however have never used it for a baby, instead always using it in it's older child mode.

Overall we've found it a good buy, although dd was already 4 when we got it (petite and still needed the harness for safety). Wouldn't really recommend it for a baby as the "recline" is fixed once the seat is installed and may not even work in all cars due to the amount of seatbelt slack required. Not easy to install initially compared to most other stage 1 seats we have used, so not one to get if you need to move it often. It becomes easier with practice and fits firmly once there. Probably easier to use as a Stage 2/3 highback booster when you don't have to worry about threading the adult belt through the back rest.

This innovative seat lasts from nine months to 11 years : "although it seems expensive, you only have to pay out once and it grows with your child - literally!" "Solid but comfy" it's "easier to install for a four year old than for a baby" but "not too bad once you get the knack". You have to decide in advance whether it's going to be reclined or upright but it's "super-adjustability size-wise" means it should "compensate for all shapes and sizes" plus "it's ultra padded at the sides which makes it feel very safe" and "it looks funky too".

Dont buy it. spend a bit more and get alot more for your

I bought this a week ago - I wish I hadn't. I bought this from a company on line, and I had a nightmare trying to fit the thing. My seatbelt is way too short for the upright position and won't even go near when I recline it. I haven't used it now and the company says that They cannot offer a refund because it isn't faulty - but I cannot use it. The inner harness has no give in it. My son is 2.5yrs old with a winter coat on and it probably won't last him another 6 months. So my advice, don't buy it. My friend got one at the same time, and is equally as dissatisfied with it!

Trying to fit it into my five door Punto did cause some rather colourful language, but once installed I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending this car seat. My son loves his 'big boy seat' and even on long journeys he is comfortable enough to fall asleep and sleep soundly. I love the way you can adjust the head rest to grow with your child but not lose anything in comfort. It may seem a bit expensive compared to others but what price the safety of your child in your car?

We found this seat to be a good buy as it goes from 9 months to 11 years. Cannot comment on comfort as our 8 month old not able to tell us but he seems reasonably happy and he has falled asleep in it enough times so must be okay! The only snag is it does not fit the centre part of our rear seat (we have a Renault Laguna Hatchback 2004 model) so causes problems on long family journeys!

My honest opinion would be to stay clear of this one. Its not to great at being installed and my child was uncomfortable in trying to get to sleep, once she was asleep her little head kept falling forward as the chair doesn't recline very far back (you have to decide before installing it if you want it upright or reclined, I chose recline but, as I said it doesn't recline that far.). Also she was very restricted trying to put hand to mouth as the padded sides are in the way. I know safety comes first but our little ones need to be comfortable too!!

I've been impressed with this car seat. It seems very comfy and has lovely head rests. It's not quite as easy to install as others I've done but it's not too bad. You get used to it.

This is the first 'upright' car seat and it has been great! The baby is happy and comfortable (and very relieved to be out of the rear facing seat, which he had just about grown out of). whether it will last until he is 11 remains to be seen, but a good start so far.

I wouldn't necessarily want to put a small child in it. We got ours (an 'ultra') because our daughter had outgrown her stage 2 seat and still needed the 5 point harness. If I had normal size children instead of hulking great lumps, I'd go for a stage 2 followed by a stage 3. But it does the job just fine for us.