Are 3 in 1 buggies worth?

[Eole]

We are now on the hunt for the perfect buggy.
We are thinking of getting one where a car seat can be fitted. Are these worth it? (Like the nuna max)
It looked like quite fiddly to remove the carseat from its base so wondering if these are not one of these things where in the end the car seat is always left on the base in the car and we would always transfer DD out of the car seat into the buggy.

We have Nuna bugaboo. It’s easy to remove and we use it frequently on the pram.

I didn't get one because they shouldn't be in a car seat too long so by the time you've driven somewhere, they'd usually be past their limit by time you'd walked around wherever you were going if that makes sense! It probably depends on your driving habits. If you'd drive 5 minutes instead of walking 15 it might be important for you but I always walked so the lie flat pram was brilliant when both girls were newborns

Living rurally we have to drive for anything other than the very small village shop, not far but it's 60mph roads all round. So for us we were able to make use of putting the car seat straight on the frame for those pop to the shops, doctors etc and then use the proper pushchair when out for longer. If we'd lived in somewhere the amenities were in walking distance we probably wouldn't have used it as much.

I found it quite useful, especially between 4-7 months. DS was too old to lie flat in the carrycot, he’d be rolling around and wanting to see what was going on, but he was too small to go in the stroller bit comfortably. So the car seat on the pram was perfect (even if we weren’t going out in the car).

I got an icklebubba V3 came with everything for £400 and I absolutely love it. Such good quality and a bargain for everything it came with

I found it pretty useful, but not essential. We live in a flat so there is a bit of a walk between car and home and it was great for that when you have loads to carry. Also useful if you're doing things like dropping off older child and won't be out of the car very long - babies don't like being moved between different things they are strapped into.

That said, sometimes we forgot or couldn't find the adapters, so we just balanced the car seat on top of the actual buggy seat, which works absolutely fine over a short distance if you're aware/careful that it could tip off and keep hold of it.

If you're looking at the bigger brands like Nuna, it's worth knowing that a lot of the car seat brands use the same adapters these days. If you look at the adapters and they are kind of shaped like a U, and/or the description says they take Maxi Cosi, Cybex or Nuna car seats then they will also take Joie, Besafe, Avionaut and the most up to date Britax models (but not older Britax seats). Whether or not it's officially listed, they're cross compatible.

I would say, don't expect your travel system to be the only buggy you ever need until age 3 or so. A lot of them have smaller seats and fit nicely up to about age 2 but look cramped after that. Most people also get fed up of the bulk and having to fold it in two parts so additionally purchase a more lightweight stroller once their baby becomes a toddler. I would then use the lightweight one if they were going to be in and out or for short trips where we didn't need much stuff, and the bigger tanky one if they were going to spend more time in it or we needed a huge basket to carry loads of stuff, small one might also be good if you need space in the car.