In the November 2009 issue, Consumer Reports listed the Cosco Scenera as one of their Top Products. Does the Scenera qualify as a “top product?” It was introduced as a replacement to the Cosco Touriva back in 2005. It’s a convertible seat that’s basically tried and true: it has reliable belt paths that are easy to access, installs well in a wide variety of vehicles, and is a low-cost seat. This is a convertible (rear-facing and forward-facing) child restraint for kids 5-40 lbs. who are less than 43″ tall. Rear-facing the seat is rated from 5-35 lbs. Forward-facing, it can be used for children over 1 year old who weigh between 22-40 lbs. Keep in mind that even though the Scenera can be used for children over age 1 and 22 lbs., the American Academy of Pediatrics now highly recommends rear-facing to at least age 2.
The is a basic seat and some models may have a removable cupholder, infant head roll, toddler pillow, and harness strap covers.
Dorel is an umbrella company under which many other companies exist. Cosco, Safety 1st, Eddie Bauer, Maxi Cosi, Quinny, Alpha Elite, and Alpha Sport are all brands under the Dorel name.
Features and Advantages
5-point Harness: The harness is good quality and is nontwisting. The buckle tongues fit the width of the harness and allow the harness to slide freely through them. The harness is all one strap, though, so care must be taken that it doesn’t get twisted underneath the seat.
High Rear-Facing Weight Limit: Dorel has, for years, had the only convertible car seats with rear-facing weight limits to 35 lbs. Other manufacturers have caught up now, but the Scenera has had the high rear-facing weight limit for years when other seats didn’t. Rear-facing is the safest way for kids to travel; for many years, experts have recommended rear-facing for as long as possible and one study has shown that it’s five times safer for children under age 2 to ride that way. Even the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends rear-facing for children for as long as the convertible seat allows.
4 Harness Slots: There are four harness slot heights on the Scenera. For 
rear-facing, the straps should be in the nearest slots at or below the level of the child’s shoulders. All 4 slots can be used for a forward-facing child and the straps should be in the nearest slots at or above shoulder level. The lowest harness slot height is approximately 8″ and the top slot is about 15 ¼ ” when measured with the cover on. A child will outgrow this seat by height when the top of his ears are above the back of the restraint OR when the shoulders are above the top slots.
Adjusting the harness height is accomplished by removing the shoulder straps from the splitter plate in the back of the restraint and re-threading them through the desired slots. If the seat is installed rear-facing it is possible to re-thread the harness without uninstalling. However, if the seat if forward-facing you will have to uninstall it to move the harness straps to a different height.
Recline Adjustments: Recline for rear-facing is achieved by pushing up on the recline foot and flipping the it under the seat. Flip the foot back out into locked position for forward-facing. The seat may be installed in recline mode when forward-facing only if needed to improve installation on the vehicle seat.
Harness Adjuster and Use: To tighten the harness, pull on the harness adjuster strap on the front of the restraint. It is similar to the type found on many car seats and is somewhat stiff, requiring some muscle to tighten the harness. When rear-facing, it’s easier to pull slack from the harness from behind the seat first, then pull the harness adjuster strap from the front. The buckle clicks audibly when each buckle tongue is inserted. The giant chest clip has a pictogram showing proper placement on the child’s chest.
LATCH: The Scenera has one LATCH strap attached outside the shell. It must be threaded through either the rear- or forward-facing belt path, depending upon which direction the car seat will be installed. There is an adjuster on one side of these strap. The LATCH connectors are the clip-on style connectors. There are designated storage areas on the sides of the shell to store the LATCH connectors and the tether strap clips to the recline foot when not in use. The tether strap is to be used forward-facing only. While tethering a forward-facing child restraint with a harness is always recommended, a top tether is not required for this seat.
Note: Dorel does allow the use of LATCH in the center seating position of the back seat if the vehicle manufacturer allows borrowing of the inside lower LATCH anchors designated for the outboard seating positions.
Crotch Strap Adjustment: There are 3 crotch strap slots located approximately 4.5″, 5.5″, and 6.5″ from the back of the seat with the cover in place. Crotch strap may be adjusted without uninstalling the seat if you have small hands.
Padding, Comfort and Appearance: The Scenera has many covers available, depending upon the retailer. The cover on the restraint I tested is an institutional cover and is a light tan with a linen-like pattern to it; it feels like corduroy. The instruction manual doesn’t specifically say to hand wash or machine wash the cover, so I infer from their instructions that handwashing is what should happen if the cover gets grungy. The harness straps and chest clip are black.
Infant Head Support: An infant head roll support, toddler pillow, and harness covers are shown in the manual, so I imagine they are available on some seats, sold perhaps at Babies R Us instead of Wal-Mart.
6 Year Expiration: The Scenera has a 6 year expiration and the “Do Not Use Past” date is stamped on the back of the seat. Cosco specifies in the manual not to use the seat if it has been in a crash.
Airplane Certification: The Scenera is FAA-approved for use in aircraft. The restraint is quite narrow at 17.5″ at its widest point, so it fits easily on an airplane seat. It also is a very lightweight restraint weighing just 8.7 lbs.-one of the lightest on the market. Because of its narrowness, light weight, and nice price, it makes a nice travel seat.
Value: The Cosco Scenera is definitely a car seat where you’ll get your money’s worth. It’s regular price is usually around $49 and it’s often on sale for $10 less. It doesn’t have the bells and whistles of other, more expensive seats, but it installs well and protects children-that’s what we ask for in a child restraint.
Construction: The Scenera is made in the USA, but the cover is made in Mexico. The recline foot flexed forward as I was installing the restraint forward-facing. It ultimately held up, but I’m no stereotypical 200 lbs. firefighter crushing a car seat into submission on a vehicle seat.
Disadvantages
Lack of Energy Absorbing Foam: There’s no EPS/EPP foam. Dorel typically uses EPP foam (see www.CarSeatSite.com/FAQ.htm for more information on the difference between the two foam types) in their car seats and this price point is too low for them to include the energy absorbing foam.
Installation Issues: While the Scenera installed nicely in my ’05 Toyota Sienna, it can be troublesome to install in other vehicles, especially those with deep slopes to the back seat. The underside of the Scenera is scooped out, which makes using even a pyramid of noodles awkward when rear-facing. I’m puzzled why the engineers designed the seat this way, but, on the other hand, it does make it very easy to change the crotch strap position.
Sharpness of shell: Dorel seats in general are sharp. When you install a Dorel seat, you’re almost assured of scratching some portion of the skin off your hand. The bottom of the seat also has sharp edges under the front edge, though there won’t be much weight placed there. A single layer of a thin (think cheap!) towel may protect your upholstery from damage.
Conclusion
Installing the Scenera rear-facing wasn’t difficult, using either LATCH or the vehicle seat belt. When using LATCH, the LATCH buckle should be positioned behind the front lip of the seat so that the strap can be properly tightened. I did find installation with the seat belt to be slightly easier, though. I had to use noodles to get a proper 45° angle for a newborn, but I found that a pyramid shape didn’t work in my van since the top noodle didn’t even touch the restraint; I laid the noodles out straight–3 in a row.
Installing the restraint forward-facing was unremarkable. I did like that I could grasp the seat belt or LATCH belt under the cover and pull either tight from the front of the car seat–some seats you have to feed your hand through the back of the seat and through the belt path, in effect hugging the car seat, which diminishes your leverage.
As I mentioned before, the Cosco Scenera is a tried and true convertible seat. It’s a great low price car seat for folks who need a safe way to transport their child and offers a nice, high rear-facing weight limit. It also makes a wonderful travel seat for parents traveling by airplane who don’t want to lug a heavier convertible car seat through an airport. If Dorel could add some energy absorbing foam without changing the price much, a tried and true seat could really take off.
The webpage for the Scenera – http://www.coscojuvenile.com/usa/eng/Products/For-Travel/Car-Seats/Convertible-Car-Seats/
For more information on child passenger safety, please visit:
airline travel is the best but the high cost of air travel makes it a not so great option::,
The Scenera now rear-faces to 40 lbs! Look for new labels on the carseat and packaging to make sure you’re getting the new rf weight limit.
Hi Britt. Yep, it has everything to do with your being in Canada. For a time, Canadian safety standards only allowed maximum rear-facing weight limits of 30 lbs. Today, you may go into a store and find a Scenera with a label of 35 lbs. rf. It’s important, however, to follow the weight limit that’s listed on your sticker since that’s how it was tested. I’m sure a Canadian in the know will pop along and correct me if I’m wrong on the weight limit ;).
I am confused. I have this seat; and yet, on the side there is a sticker that says I can rear-face my daughter in it only to 30lbs … not 35. Is it because I’m in Canada? I want to keep my 15 month old daughter rear-facing as long as possible. She is on the cusp of 30lbs now. I just might have to get her the My Ride 65 by Graco yet.
(In fact, that same Scenera is now at a 30 degree angle in my friend’s car, where her Radian would not fit rear-facing, in order to allow her 1 year old to continue to rear-face. It should expire right around the time he outgrows it rear-facing– at around 3. What a good little seat it’s been!)
I completely agree, Kat. Our first Scenera was a spare for Grandma’s car for our eldest. When we had a second child and my husband lost his job just as she outgrew her infant seat at 3 months, it moved to our car as her primary seat. It rear-faced her until she was 2 years old! (She outgrew it by weight, not height.) Not bad for such a cheap little seat– she was kept safely rear-facing for a very long time by this little workhorse. 🙂
I think this is one of those seats that you have to love because of what it is… not all the things you wish it could be.
Do we all wish we could add features or make it easier to install/use? OH HECK YES!
But since they improved the Touriva (yes, I thought this was a big improvement) by adding the 4th set of slots, I was able to find room to love it (and this was before their girly patterns).
It’s lightweight, cheaper than any other convertible seat, has a tall shell, high rearfacing limit, and it is a tried and true seat that you can rest easy using.
I do still hope, as the rest of you do, that we will see EPS/EPP foam lining it soon, but even without that, I don’t hesitate to recommend it to those who have a tight budget, those who need something light and easy for traveling, or just a super inexpensive spare seat.
Heck, I used mine starting as a spare, but it moved to main seat when I found out my picky princess who hated almost all seats except the old evenflo triumph and her britax marathon (aka… seats with lots of padding) loved this basic seat, which let me give her Britax Marathon to her brother who needed to still be harnessed on a budget that wasn’t yet ready to accomodate another Britax Purchase (oh, how I love that now other companies have made harnessing past 40lbs more doable)
Anyway… great review… great little seat
Thanks for the advice- I actually couldn’t find a date anywhere in the pamplet. It was one of those little book style pamplets, I do think it was just recently put out, because they just ended up in our department. Hopefully I can find out what department is in charge of it and pass on some better information.
Thanks Again!
Rachel, the 18 lbs. for rear-facing recommendation comes from when 18 lbs. was the maximum weight limit for infant seats :O. My ds will be 10 yrs old at the end of this year and his infant seat went to 22 lbs.–I certainly don’t remember any 18 lbs. infant seats, so that’s very old advice.
Kecia and KQ gave you some great places to start to look for information. SafetyBeltSafe USA’s web site is http://www.carseat.org .
Thanks for clearing up the available accessories, Christine. I’ve never seen harness covers, etc., available for it, but since they were pictured in the manual . . .
Rachel – check that pamplet for a date. Often these publications are dated somewhere in a bottom corner. I’m concerned that the pamplet is just really, really old and dangerously outdated. There is a decent (and recent) free publication available from USAA: http://www.usaaedfoundation.com/pdf/544.pdf
There is a tab at the top of the home page to “order publications”. http://www.usaaedfoundation.org
Hope that helps!
Rachel: I frequently come across wrong information being handed out. I usually ask to speak to whoever is in charge of the handouts’ content, explain why it is wrong, and provide some of Safety Belt Safe’s printable information sheets in case they want to use them as the basis of their replacements– a lot of times if someone has “done the work” for them they are more willing to use that to replace their handouts than if they have to alter things or start from scratch. 🙂 SBS has an updated “best practices” sheet that recommends rear-facing as long as possible, boostering as long as needed, etc. and includes the information that there are infant seats that go to 35 lbs. and convertibles to 45 now. 🙂
Kecia: Maybe not. But the seat I have comes close enough for me — I have not yet found a car I can’t install it in. Even random “Friend of a friend” cars that we end up with for a one-time trip.
I called Dorel to ask if I could buy infant padding and harness covers for the scenera since they were pictures in the manual. Dorel told me there are none available for the scenera. The pictures in the manual are pages shared with other dorel car seats. They aren’t actually pictures of the scenera, nor do they indicate parts available for the seat. What is available on the parts list is all you can get.
Hi- I have a question for someone, not related to this post at all, but I couldn’t really find any contact info for anyne (sorry if I overlooked it!). I work at a local hospital and clinic that keeps handing out information for patients (which I am also) w/ wrong info on car seat safety. The most recent is a pamplet about taking care of your children, and it states that babies under 18lbs should be rearfacing. Obviously I know this is wrong, and they could have easily found out this info had they checked into it. What I’m wondering is when would this have been correct? My son is 4years old and I know it’s been 20lbs and 1 year since he was born. I am trying to find out what department puts these out (or orders them) but I’m just wanting a little more info first. Have any of you ever encountered this kind of wrong info? The hospital is fairly large in our community and I know the info I have also been given at well baby check up hasn’t been what I have learned to be correct.
Thanks
Compared to the seats that CPS programs used to have before the Scenera existed – it’s a dream! Even though it’s very bare bones I am so thankful for this particular seat. Granted, it isn’t compatible or easy-peasy to install in every vehicle (no one carseat is) but in general I have less incompatibility issues with the Scenera than I do with some of the other seats that we use in our program. I do wish that Dorel would have designed the Scenera with the same enclosed forward-facing beltpath design that the Touriva had but in most cases the open beltpath isn’t an issue. However, it is an issue with aircraft seatbelts which is the only reason why I’m not a big fan of this seat for airline travel with forward-facing kids.
Great review! We distribute Sceneras for rear-facing kids at our seat checks and while it’s not my favorite seat, it certainly does the trick! And thanks for giving Dorel their due for having a 35-lb. rear-facing limit before anyone else did. 🙂
I also note that the Scenera’s top slots and shell were raised slightly some time in the last few years. I had an older model, and got a newer model. My daughter had already outgrown the older model both rear- and forward-facing (head had less than 1 inch above it rear-facing, shoulders were above the top slots) but has about 3/4 inch to grow either way in the new model.
The lack of EPS foam is why I hesitate to use it forward-facing. But as a rear-facing convertible, it’s great for parents who can’t afford much. I have found that the LATCH tightening is easier in some cars than others– it’s a pain in the rear in my Corolla (but still less than using the locking clip, which I have to with seatbelt because otherwise it tips horribly) but when we were putting it in my friend’s Suzuki Grand Vitara, it went in in 20 seconds flat with LATCH– like the LATCH was designed for that car!
Great review! And I love that new iphone app too! Very creative and yet very effective!
I found the seat too hard to install rear-facing in my Pontiac Grand Am (which doesn’t have LATCH) and so passed it on to other owners. I even took it to a tech to teach me how and after I saw how hard it was for her, I was reassured that the seat is truly a nail biter to install in my car. I need a seat I can install myself if I have to uninstall it, so I passed it on to another owner.
I agree; the lack of EPS is my biggest reservation. I don’t love the sharp edges or the angle issues, but I’ve learned to work around them.
ps, love that iphone angle app!