Reviews for Sunshine Kids Radian 80 convertible car seat

(Continuation of first impressions continued). Well, it has been ten months and we still love our Radian. We have had no problems with it, other than the difficulty tightening/loosening the straps in the forward facing position. We pull the strap from the back of the seat and all works out fine. Small glitch for such a great seat. If we ever need another car seat, the Radian will be tops on our list.

I purchased these seats because we needed to fit 3 convertible seats in the backrow of a trailblazer. IT WORKS and this was our only choice (that I found)and I did a lot of research. I have one foward facing (britax marathon) and 2 rear facing (radian 80). The seats do not fit well rear facing because they are too long but it is manageable. I have the rear facing seats in the middle and behind the passenger.... Because the seats fold, I think the straps get "lost" easier....I have to dig to get the straps out often. It is annoying, but like I said we didn't have much choice. I am very pleased with the safety of the seats. They are very secure and are tight (one seat is used with latch, the other with the seatbelt, both have the top teather attached). My babies are too small to use the headrest so when they fall asleep their heads really fall to the side. (they seem to be comortable, but it bothers me!). We have not gone on a long car trip in them yet. I am pleased with the purchase, but I would have liked to puchase another britax marathon. We really like the marathon, but we needed something to fit 3 across. The marathon britax is 2 1/2 inches wider than the radian. My complaints are minimal and the ones I do have are minor. The safety is #1. They are very secure and are made well. My babies will grow and soon be tall enough to use the headrest. Soon I will be able to turn them around. The straps can be properly positioned with a little care before you put the child in the seat.

We went to the Radian 80 from Britax Boulevard when we had our third child. The Boulevard seats are HUGE, but we absolutely LOVED those seats. Our minivan has been adapted because my husband is a wheelchair user, and we needed to get three seats across the back row. We were able to fit three Radian 80 seats across the rear seat of a Chrysler Town & Country (extended wheelbase) although it was a tight fit because the rear seat of the van fit over the rear wheelbase which is the narrowest portion of the rear of the vehicle. We really like these seats. They were relatively easy to install although if you are installing them with the shoulder belts and not LATCH, it's a bit tricky because the area that you thread the belt through is tight. Smaller hands work best here. We like that our twins who are four and a half can get themselves out of their seats. This makes getting through the carpool lane of their school easier. (They know that they are NEVER to work on their straps until the car has to a complete stop and I say, "The car is in PARK.") However, the strap clips are difficult enough to unclip that our two-year-old cannot get out of the seat himself. There are two major downsides to these seats as I see it. 1) The straps get tangled easily. I wish these seats had the rubber strap guides along the top of each strap above the crotch clip (I didn't know what else to call this clip!) like the Britax does. These guides REALLY DO help keep the straps from tangling, especially after your child gets taller and there's more strap length to tangle. Also, the guides on the Radian 80 that bring the straps into the waist are too loose. Because of this, the straps frequently get turned around in the guide and you have to reverse the orientation of the straps to keep them from twisting. 2) Be careful about the fabric you select. We got the Super Cool fabric for the boys because every dealer we searched did not have Manhattan in stock. Almost all small children wear shoes with Velcro closures. The Velcro absolutely ruins the Super Cool fabric. The texture of the Super Cool is rough and catches and attaches itself to the Velcro. The boys' seats look as though we've attacked them with sandpaper or worse. This fabric may not show dirt and wear and tear because of the color but this fabric is a beast to clean if you have a major clean-up to handle. Our daughter picked out the Princess fabric for herself, and although I personally hate pink, I'm so glad I bought her the seat with the Princess fabric because I've found the fabric to hold up to repeated climbing in and out by a child whose shoes have velcro straps. The fabric has been easier to clean as well. However, since we MUST have three across the back row, Sunshine Kids is our only choice. Apart from the two things I've mentiond, we're quite happy with them and feel that our children are very safe in them. And, of course, that's the most important thing! (By the way, I would have mentioned the crotch buckle strap is too short, but I read a Elite Carseats' response to a different review and will be ordering the exstended center buckle strap for my boys! Buying from Elite Carseats has been such a great process. We believe that they offer the most extensive consumer information of any site that we've used to purchase baby/child products.)

We were rear-end by a semi truck two weeks ago. We had our almost six-year-old in a Radian 80. Our two-year-old was in an Evenflo Triumph Advance with the "convenient" sliding harness tabs. My older son didn't have a scratch on him. My toddler however sustained a pulled muscle in his neck (moderate whiplash)and multiple large bruises on his thighs/shoulders which even took off some skin through his jeans. All because of the harness that was loosened and slipped down with the force of the collision. We are normally uptight about their seats not budging and having their harnesses snug, so this just convinced me that we needed another Radian. My older son has always loved his and hasn't had any problems and can get out of the seat by himself. He did however appreciate the longer buckle strap when we finally replaced it. I am more convinced now than ever that having our kids in five-point harnesses AND having their seats installed properly is the best protection we can provide our boys. We haven't tried this seat rear-facing, but I think it would work in our 4-Runner, at least in the center position. As a forward facing seat, it is extremely easy to install on our firmer, Toyota seats. And still, my husband is the ONLY person I trust to install it with his 210 lbs and perfectionist personality. I personally don't think that investing in my kids' safety takes 2nd place to convenience. You want a car seat that will provide your kids the best protection. That means it is probably best practice to NOT plan on switching it between vehicles on a daily basis and complaining about the weight! I personally liked traveling with it because the weight was in a smaller "space" as the Radian folds and wasn't awkward at all. I ordered two RadianXT models within a couple hours of our accident (had just gotten one about a month ago for our trip to Moab to keep our older son from trying to lean over in his booster in our Wrangler)Both boys absolutely love them and aren't bothered by the larger side wings. Sitting lower in the back seat also gives the older kids more room between them and the back of the front seat. Bottom line: Don't make my mistake and go for the convenience of a store-bought seat. The return shipping insurance makes this so easy to try.

I like how compact this seat is and that it doesn't take up a lot of room in the backseat. It is a bit heavy to carry, but it folds up and you can carry it with a strap --which is really nice while traveling. I like the longer leg bed of the seat (from bottom to back of knees). We have the Britax Boulevard also, but I wish I had known about the Radian 80 beforehand. I would have got one for both girls since it goes from birth to 80 lbs!

I really don't have anything else to compare it to except for my infant carseat. I like how compact this seat is and that it doesn't take up a lot of room in the backseat. It is a bit heavy to carry but at least it folds and you can carry it--which is really nice when travelling. IT did get stuck on the airplane seat (embarassing) and I ended up being late for my connecting flight because of it... Also I would have gotten different fabric, the manhatten (?) (the one with the little holes) gets picked from my daughters shoes, so it doesn't look as nice. Would be great if you could switch out the covers...

Comments from The Staff:

Thank you so much for your review. I wanted to drop a quick note and let you know that Sunshine Kids does offer replacement covers. Please check out their accessory page for details.

Thanks,
Michelle
EliteCarSeats.com

I have twin 7 month old girls and a 2 yr old, so we needed to fit 3 of these in the backseat of a mid-size car, and we did it with this car seat! They look great, have all the safety features you want and saved us from another car payment! I just don't know why this carseat isn't more mainstream... then more moms wouldn't need the gas-hog mini-vans! I love this seat, the twins were just switched to it this weekend and they were so happy to have a new seat allowing them to look around more. The only complaint people have made on this was the buckle between the legs, but there's an attachment/additional strap for bigger kids, so problem solved! LOVE THIS SEAT. I bought 3 and am buying one more today for my other vehicle.

I love this car seat. My son is 8 months old and a big kid in everyway especially in the shoulders. The seat is rear facing due to his age and it is great. His head does not fall forward or even to the side when he sleeps like 2 of the others I tried first. You do have to have a lot of room from the back seat forward to fit the seat but I put it in the middle and it was fine. I also had a huge problem with my particular car, Toyota Landcruiser, because the back seats are deep so other car seats put him so upright in rear facing and this one does not. this seat was also simple to install. YOu do have to read the manual but it does not take long. I hope you enjoy.