Our comprehensive review of the Britax Boulevard ClickTight is now posted here: https://carseatblog.com/30080/britax-boulevard-clighttight-convertible-review-sometimes-things-just-click/
With the announcement of the ClickTight Installation System in the 2015 models of the Marathon, Boulevard, and Advocate convertible carseats, Britax has indeed introduced a Game Changer into the convertible carseat market. Gone are the days of huffing and puffing and yanking on seat belts and LATCH straps to get carseats installed tightly. As technicians in the field, we know a loose install is one of the top 2 mistakes we’re going to see in a vehicle when it comes to a checkup event. ClickTight was a big deal with the Frontier 90 and is just as big of a deal for any carseat rated above 40 pounds or so, due to new federal standards limiting the use of the LATCH system.
Do these convertibles hold the cure for all possible misuse? Of course not. There may be some incompatibilities and the price may put it out of reach for many families but we can’t make advances in child passenger safety without advances in technology and those advances often come with a hefty price tag – at least initially. For that price tag, you also get increased height limits and a 10-year expiration date, so there is some value added!
Kecia, our lucky reporter in the field, got to touch and feel and see these cool new seats. We will have a full review coming in September.
*UPDATE – our comprehensive Britax Boulevard CT Review is now posted here.
For now, she took a ton of pictures for us and a video and reports that baby Jack fits beautifully in the new Marathon without the lower body insert (see pics). With the lower body insert, the bottom harness slot measures about 6.5″.
These pics below show the preemie doll using the lower body insert. The Britax convertibles are rated from 5 lbs. to 40 lbs. rear-facing, so our 4 lb. Huggable Images preemie doll is too small to fit in any of them, but Kecia wanted to get an idea of harness slot fit.
Installation:
Comparisons
The Marathon CT is going to be a smaller seat for Britax while the Boulevard CT and Advocate CT have a growth spurt (see photos below). The difference between the Boulevard CT and Advocate CT are the side impact cushions, now called MAX. You can see the height difference between the MACT and BVCT below. To recap the big news from our earlier article, the Boulevard and Advocate ClickTight models have considerably taller height limits. At the maximum height setting, the usable rear-facing height limit will be about 28″ (Editor’s note: This is 1″ below the top of the reference point on the head restraint “shell” just below the red adjustment lever that is 29″ tall based on a representative production model we measured later) because the head restraint is now structurally reinforced. The top forward-facing seated shoulder height increases to almost 19″. The Marathon ClickTight has more modest increases over the G4 version. It also has a reionforced head restraint, but it doesn’t adjust as high. Please keep in mind that all of these measurements are estimates from a late prototype and may vary slightly for production models!
Canadians will enjoy the arrival of their ClickTight convertibles sometime around mid-to-late November. Canadian models will ship with an anti-rebound bar to satisfy the Canadian anti-rebound standards.
An anti-rebound bar for the U.S. convertibles with ClickTight will be available as an accessory (for purchase separately) sometime in early 2015. Anti-rebound bars for the current U.S. G4 convertible models will be available for purchase (again, being sold as an “accessory”) even sooner – probably by mid November. This is GREAT news and we’re very excited that Britax has decided to make the anti-rebound bar available to American consumers
New Fashions
We have some pics of new fashions being offered on the seats. We’ll follow up with more comparisons from KIM coming up in a week and a half and at the ABC Show as well.
Advocate in “Limelight”
Frontier 90 in “Kaleidoscope”
Miscellaneous Pictures
Kecia says, “Overall, the new Britax CT convertibles exceeded all expectations I had. The attention that was clearly paid to even the smallest details is really impressive. There is a lot to love in this new CT lineup and I think consumers are going to be very, very happy.”
Order Britax ClickTight convertibles at Amazon.com
Order Britax ClickTight convertibles at Albee Baby
I purchased the Britax Boulevard Clicktight and while I have previously purchased Britax in the past for my oldest daughter and have never experienced a problem, I am beyond frustrated with the clicktight. The clicktight nob is stuck – It will not open so I cannot release the seatbelt. I don’t know what to – I have pulled at the car seat trying to get it to open but nothing. At this point all I can do is tear the seat belt but obviously that is not an option. I plan to return this product and M done buying Britax – this is ridiculous !!
Hi Brenda. Sorry to hear about the ClickTight button. That’s really frustrating! Definitely contact Britax tomorrow and I’d even file a NHTSA complaint: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/online.cfm .
Have you tried putting downward pressure on the Boulevard while turning the ClickTight button? Sometimes the pressure of a too-tight seat belt can cause it to not want to open.
We are having he same problem with the broken ClickTight. The latch simply becomes stuck, and has done so since we first took it out of the box an hour ago…right before we are about to leave for a LONG planned trip. NOT RECOMMENDED.
Yet another clicktight broken complaint. I am so frustrated. My husband and I can not get the clicktight to open and the seat belt is stuck inside! Only have had it 5 months! Clearly something is wrong with this part if it’s a continued problem from multiple users! For what it cost I certainly expected more from such a trusted brand. Now what?!
Hi Jenn, I’m sorry you’re having issues. At least the seat is still under warranty. I’m assuming you’ve contacted Britax already. What did they say? Were you able to troubleshoot the problem?
I just installed ours today in my truck back facing with the latch – but was having issues getting the click tight to open after it was installed. I finally got it to open by pressing down on the seat of the car seat while turning the lever.
Chris – are you using the seatbelt or the LATCH strap? Using LATCH is a pain with this seat because it was designed for easy seatbelt installations. You might want to switch to using the seatbelt instead. It’s just as secure and easier when you need to remove the seat. Unbuckle the seatbelt first to relieve the tension and that makes opening the CT panel really quick and easy. HTH!
Jenn,
My clicktight broke as well.. I purchased min November 2014 and it is stuck and we had to get it open so that we could transport my son back home. We ended up taking pliers to open it up, now the carseat is damaged. Hopefully Britax will work this one through the warranty. This is so frustrating as well.
@Jessica, there’s no “safest” between LATCH and the seat belt; it’s whatever yields the best installation. Britax essentially designed ClickTight to eliminate the need for LATCH, in part because of weight limits attached to LATCH. So, long-windedness later, lol, use the seat belt. It’s way, way easier than digging the LATCH strap out and getting just the right tension on it so the CT panel will close.
Which installation for a child under 40lbs is considered the safest with the clicktight – seat belt or latch?
Hi Jessica – regardless of the child’s weight we recommend a seatbelt installation. HTH!
Does anyone know a secret way to get the clicktight to open if there is no slack in the seat belt?? Ours is stuck…got stuck in a half open position on the dial and then clicked again when all of the slack was out of the seat belt. Short of cut the seat belt, which we can’t do, I don’t know what to do as the car seat is now laying on it’s side and totally stuck. Britax isn’t open until Monday! So far I’m definitely not a fan of this seat. 🙁
@Jenny – so the seatbelt is unbuckled but the clicktight compartment won’t open and the seatbelt is stuck inside? Is that what’s going on? Can you take a please picture and start a thread on the forum so we can better understand the issue and try to help yoy troubleshoot the problem. http://www.car-seat.org/forumdisplay.php?f=2
Mine is that way too. Stuck dial that isn’t properly aligned.
The clicktight dial will not turn, so it is impossible to open. In addition, it does not line up perfectly with the hole, which leads me to believe that either it was damaged in manufacturing or shipping. I tried to enquire with Britax if they knew of a reason for my problem but still haven’t gotten a reply. I’m leaning toward a Graco now, but need to wait till the return is processed.
That’s so disappointing!
I was so excited to get my Britax Boulevard ClickTight today….but the click tight doesn’t work….VERY disappointed! As a single parent, the loss of the hour and a half trying to make it work & knowing it may be difficult to return (more time wasted) is even more frustrating. Thinking Graco may be a better choice. 🙁
Elizabeth, how is the ClickTight broken?
Thanks so much CPSDarren! Without latch, it’s often a bit difficult to get the base of the seat we have now installed, and I hadn’t realized that 4Ever doesn’t have a lockoff device. THANKS!!