Evenflo Titan - Difficulty Tightening Straps

We have two Evenflo Titan carseats and I struggled with the straps initially as well. However, I forced myself to sit down and read the pamphlet and toyed with the straps (without my child in the seat) and have now mastered them.
The fact that you have to adjust the straps from both the bottom and the top is a bit cumbersom. And if you adjust the top then you have to readjust the chest buckle. I think I must pull the straps out from the bottom at least once a week and then have to adjust the top and chest buckle all over again. However, it was well rated by Consumer Reports (2006) and, overall, we're pretty happy with them. Now if only I could afford a mini van!!
Best wishes.

Ok I have literally owned over 10 carseats and my daughter is only 5. I am picky picky picky... At age 3 I finally decided to shell out the big bucks and got a Britax Marathon LOVE IT ! It's the ONLY carseat I have ever ever ever gotten a tight fit and the straps don't twist all up and get funky. I can get the carseat so tight that is will not budge. I've tried this in several cars. Now I babysit a little girl with a Graco carseat and her's slides all over my car no matter what I do while my daughter's seat doesn't budge. I have tried it with both the regular seat belt and the latch both work great. Britax has very easy latch where with like one push of a button it releases and so forth, or you can use the seat belt and there is built in lock off's that really work great. Britax is worth the money. I'm a single mom and money is tight this is the most exspensive baby/kid product I've ever boughten I had to wait for a tax return to do so. I am usually ok with hand me downs and stuff but I'd shell the money out again if I had to. It's also like the highest safety ratings out there. I would skip the Britax Roundabout if possible and go straight for the Britax Marathon it's slightly more exspensive but will last you so much more. The Marathon is one of very few carseats that will harness a 65lb. child which I feel in my opinion is safer than a booster seat.

We also got the Evenflo Titan first and I hated hated hated it! It soooo not worth the money savings if you can afford the Britax. I returned the Evenflo and bought a Britax within 2 days. Its very easy to put in and out of the car and the straps tighten very easily. I would strongly recommend the Britax if you have the opportunity to return the Evenflo. Good luck!

Like many of the previous responses we too have tried other brands of Evenflo carseats which much disappoint and difficulty. Luckily we also purchased a Britax Roundabout for our main car and can't say enough great things about it. It not only tightens correctly everytime but is the only carseat we've installed that fits very securely (you can't move it an inch in any direction). Although the cost may seem prohibitive, there are several websites online that sell it below Target/Babyrus cost with no shipping. We found ours on www.travelingtikes.com for 219.00. It is worth every dollar spent knowing we have a great car seat that is easy to install and use on a daily basis. I HIGHLY recommend it!

I also have the Titan and it is a strugle to tighten or loosen when it's rear-facing. I'm hoping it will get better when we turn it around next month. The only way that I've found that works to tighten the straps is to pull them from the back tight (actually reach behind the seat, grab both straps and pull them tight), and hold them while you pull up on the strap in the front. You sometimes have to do this several times as for some reason the little metal thing keeps catching. Good luck - we also have the Graco Comfort Sport and I have trouble with that one too. Maybe I should have purchased the Britax...:)

I really like my Britax Marathon. I'm getting another two Britax seats so my youngest can have the Marathon. I find it hard to get the straps tight with winter jackets but otherwise we've liked out seats for two years now.

Not sure if every place offers this, but I know at Babies R US you can take the display out to your car and try it out. We did this with our Britax Decathalon and glad we did because it gave us a chance to make sure it fit good in the car and we could fiddle with the belts, etc. I would read the manual and play around with it.
We spent the money for the Britax because we travel and wanted out kids to be comfortable and they are great seats.
Don't give up on it, give it a try and see how it goes, if you don't feel comfortable with it, it might be time to check into some other seats. Good luck!

I don't have any experience with the Evenflo seat, but we have a Britax Marathon and we LOVE it!! I happened to find one on clearance at Target when they were switching over their baby line last year so I got a great deal. After using it I would be willing to fork out the big bucks for one at full price. The LATCH system is really easy to use, and it also buckles in tight with the seat belt. We used ours both rearfacing and foward facing and had no problems. I never have a problem with tightening the straps or with straps twisting around. It also seems to be much more comfortable for baby. I personally love my Britax and love the fact that we will be able to use it in place of a booster once he is bigger.

You may just have to fiddle with it. Make sure your baby isn't wearing a fluffy jacket or bunting while you put him int othe seat because you won't geta good tight fit, and the jacket will compress in an accident and compromise his safety.

Like others, we have had a couple carseats that are just a pain in the rear, but after fiddling with them we got used to them, but they still seem so difficult to work. You just have to learn your specific carseat and get used to it.

I have a Britax Marathon and I love it. The heavy straps dont twist, they tighten easily, and the higher harness weight is great! You can get a Marathon right now at www.albeebaby.com for $209 and free shipping.