Maxi-Cosi Priori Convertible Car Seat, Phantom
- Rear Facing: 5-35 Pounds
- Front Facing: 22-40 Pounds
- 4-position independent recline system
- 5-Point harness with up-front harness adjustment
- Removable, washable car seat pad
Product Description
This car seat can be ordered in 5 different colors- Phantom, Chili Pepper, Frisbie, Pumpkin, and Citro Rush. Please indicate color desired.... More >>
We LOVE this car seat. We bought the infant seat and loved that one as well. This chair fits in United’s small seats on flights, as well as our older Euro cars. We live in Europe and had a lot of seats to choose from, US and European. This seat is far and away the best buy and wonderful quality. Our son gets to see out the windows of the car, he is comfortable for our long flights back to the states. The padding on the seat is very comfortable. The one glitch is that it does not work with most carseat travel systems for getting through the airport. I often have to travel without my husband. So I bought a small travel folding luggage cart, like people use for other carry on luggage and strapped it on. That worked so well, when we landed after an 11 hour flight, my son was still asleep. I put the chair on the cart, secured the straps and wheeled him off the plane and through customs. Good thing as the stroller I gate checked did not arrive, yet again. We are now buying a second one for my husbands car, after looking again at all the options we could not be happier!
We originally purchased the Britax Marathon but sadly it was way to big to rear face in our compact car. After going back and for the between weather to buy the Priori or another smaller Britax we decided to go with the Priori because of it’s fun colors and I guess just to try something new. Now I am pretty much wishing we had gone with the Britax.
The Priori is nice and has the latch system which is wonderful but the safety harness twists easily, the crotch pad is tiny and just gets in the way, the buckle is not always easy to latch and getting the cover off to wash is a real pain… I pretty much had to take the whole darn thing apart.
On the upside it is a great size for compact cars, the color variety is fun and it has a cup holder to set the sippy cup in. All and all though I wish we had just gone with the smaller Britax (Roundabout or Diplomat).
I absolutly love this car seat. My son seems very comfortable and I love how easily it reclines, as we take many a trip… and he falls asleep, we just recline it and his little head doesn’t fall forward! I love the material, so soft and everything easily washes right off. Easy to buckle him in it and as for “Hard to install” I have 2 boys now who have gone through car seats (many) and I’ve never ever came across a car seat that wasn’t “Hard to install!” They’re all hard to get in that first time.. but this one was just fine, and very safe! I can’t tell you how much i love it, and it looks so cute in our red truck!
I’ve gotten so many compliments on it and I sent in a picture in the photo section! All-in-all obviously I think it’s a great buy and worth every penny!
I did A LOT of research before buying the Maxi Cosi Priori for our 11 month old son. His previous car seat was also a Maxi Cosi (Cabriofix) that we purchased from Europe mainly because of the safety factor of having the isofix system that it latched into, but also because of the convenience of how it popped out of the car and clicked into his Quinny Buzz stroller with no problem. We absolutely loved it!
As far as the Priori goes, we were considering it or the Britax Boulevard. The Priori is a little smaller than the B.B.(which we like for travel purposed in airports..as well as the fact that it was more likely to be compatible with rental cars in Europe when traveling abroad),and seemed to have more protective foam near where our child’s head would be. We were also drawn to the reclining option that the Priori offers (although our son still sits in it in a rear-facing position so we can’t take advantage of the reclining option until we turn him around).
The only complaints that I have are the difficulty of taking off the cover to wash (we had a diaper leak the first week that we had the car seat) and the buckle (you have to push really hard on the button to release the two metal buckles…definately not easy or something you could do with one hand like his Cabriofix was).
We bought the Maxi Cosi Cabrio for our first baby and we loved it, though our son outgrew it pretty fast. For our second baby, we decided to get the Priori because we wanted to keep him rear facing comfortably for as long as possible, and we also knew we’d need another forward-facing car seat (our first child is still using his). Here are the pros and cons:
PROS
1. Aesthetics. The colors choices are great and we loved the pumpkin. It looks sort of maroon in the pictures, but it’s a cherry red with cantaloupe accents.
2. Fabric. The fabric is very durable and washes nicely. We also like the softness of the accent fabric. It’s kind of suede-like, which is nice when our son falls asleep and rests his face against it.
3. Size. Fits perfectly in our Honda CR-V, rear-facing and forward-facing.
4. Comfort. Plush enough for long car rides. The recline options are great.
5. Easy to Install. I know other customers have complained about confusing instructions, but I didn’t find them hard at all. It’s pretty straight-forward and only took me about 10 minutes. I used the LATCH system, rear-facing.
CONS
1. Not Attachable to a Stroller. We have the Quinny Zapp that we used with our Cabrio, and with a sleeping infant, it is really great to be able to just attach the carseat to the stroller without having to transfer them. You can’t do that with this one, obviously.
2. Price. I just have to say this about all car seats. I think it’s such a racket how much we are charged for baby safety equipment. $200 for everything! Eek.