Britax Parkway Review

I purchased the Britax Brownstone Parkway in April of 2007.  I drive a Yukon XL, so my Britax Marathon car seats fit fine.  When our oldest daughter got a car, we had to purchase booster seats, as the Marathons were way too wide for 3 of them to fit in the back of her Infiniti G35.  With 1 Marathon in the middle, we could place 2 Parkways to fit on either side of the Marathon, although it was a tight fit.  After about a month, the elastics on the head rest portion of the booster came off, so when we put their seat belts on, the fabric was loose and would no longer cover the styrofoam. Without the fabric protecting the styrofoam, when we would latch the seatbelt, the seatbelt would catch on the styrofoam and break it off.  So, the styrofoam was glued back together, but it would eventually break off again because of the poor quality of design, which was the lack of fabric.  All Britax would need to do is use more fabric, which shouldn't make the cost of the carseats go up. In fact, they have shipped out new styrofoam for us, but it has cracked on us again and again and again.  We are now getting new boosters as my daughter's car was rear-ended.  I am not sure if I will get another Parkway if they have not corrected this design flaw.  I am looking at the Graco, which many of my friends own, and there is ample fabric covering the headrest portion, so I should not have the experience that I had with the Parkway.  For $100.00, I should not have to replace or glue the styrofoam headrest as many times as I have.  So, it may be a hassle, but open the box before you go home and check to see if there is ample fabric on the head rest, or you will have the same frustrating experience as us.