A New Century Seat for the New Millennium

Century finally started listening to its customers! For quite some time, customers, as well as many certified car seat installation inspectors, have been complaining about the Century Breverra booster seat line. While the seat itself is adequate, the installation is a NIGHTMARE! The Breverra seat is almost impossible to get into the car tight enough. I own a Century Breverra Classic, and at a Car Seat Check Point two months ago, it took two certified inspectors (one was an instructor) over 45 minutes of sweaty, physical labor to get the seat in properly. And afterwards, they both were still shaking their heads in disbelief that a car seat could be so difficult to tighten.

A car seat, when properly installed, should not move more than one inch if you try to move it sideways or forward. That doesn't leave much room for error. And statistics say that at least 80% of all car seats are improperly installed.

In January 2000, Century introduced the Century Breverra Ascend Booster Seat. It is wonderful! This seat as all of the nice features: 5-point harness system with a front adjustor, nice cushioned padding, arm rests, and even a cup holder! The Century line is nice for taller kids, as the slots are higher in the back than many other boosters for those still using the 5-point harness system.

Installation is a breeze. It took me less than 5 minutes to get a good, tight fit. The seat won't budge in my 1995 Toyota Camry. I took my car down to have a certified installation technician double check the installation and she didn't have to change a thing! She was very impressed with the Ascend, and was going to buy one for her daughter!

We moved the Century Breverra Classic from my car to my husband's, and again, it took an hour for the technician to get the seat in properly. What a chore!

The 5-point harness system is to be used until the child reaches a weight of 40 pounds. At that time, the harness can be removed, and the seat converts to a shoulder belt positioning seat. It can be used this way until the child is 80 pounds. The cover is removable and washable.

My 4-year old, 34-pound daughter really likes her new car seat. The cup holder is a big selling point, and she feels like a "big kid" with it.

As of this writing (4-14-00), the Century Breverra Ascend is available at Toys R Us. I have not found it online anywhere, and searched babygear.com, babyuniverse.com, and ibaby.com. Target, WalMart, and KMart also do not carry it yet. I am sure this will change soon, but I would recommend calling around before you go shopping.

Update: As of 6/9/00, the Century Breverra Ascend is still not listed online at babygear.com, ibaby.com, or babyuniverse.com. It is listed at babycenter.com for $89.95, but is currently out of stock. Babycenter.com does have an email notification system to let you know when it will be available. It is also not listed on babystyle.com, toysrus.com, walmart.com or bluelight.com. As for retail stores, it is not available at: Walmart, Target, or KMart. It is still available at ToysRUs for $79.95.

This is a wonderful booster car seat. I highly recommend it.

**Additional Note: I discovered that in my 1995 Toyota Camry, since I had "locking" seat beats, the use of a locking clip was unnecessary. Check your owner's manual to verify your car's need for locking clips.