Review on Diono Radian 3RXT SafePlus, 4-In-1 Convertible Car Seat, Rear And Forward Facing, SafePlus Engineering, 3 Stage Infant Protection, 10 Years 1 Car Seat, Slim Fit 3 Across, Black Jet by Randy Washington

This is the third Diono seat we own and the fourth car seat we own (I am the father of 3 young children; the other seat is a Graco). I trust that this product would protect my child in a crash, and that's certainly the most important aspect of a car seat. But, we have three issues with this seat: 1. Hard to install. 2. Difficult to loosen the straps. 3. Uncomfortable for my children. 1. Hard to Install: I routinely switch all of our seats between two cars four times per year to accommodate our school and vacation schedules. This car seat, like many, is a serious pain the backside to install and it's only safe if installed correctly. 2. Difficult to loosen: In the front is a small lever that you must lift to release the straps and make them loose enough to release the child. On our other two Diono seats, this lever is about 1/2 inch wide and lifts easily. On this model, the lever is only about 1/8 inch wide and hurts the fingers to release it. 3. It's uncomfortable for my child. The top holes for the shoulder straps are too close together and pinch the neck of the child. My other two Diono seats do not have this issue. To explain, the shoulder straps connect at the crotch with buckles, and then pass over the shoulders, through holes in the seat, and pass through to the pull strap in the front at the bottom. This is a common design with car seats that allows them to be easily tightened by pulling on the strap. On this model of Diono seat, the holes at the top where the straps pass through are too close together. When the straps are tightened, even slightly, they severely pinch the neck. Unlike the other three seats I own, my children immediately commented that their neck hurt. I could visibly see that the strap was digging into their neck on either side, pressing firmly on the carotid artery. It was so extreme that my wife and I were concerned it might restrict blood flow. We had no choice but to use the seat on this first short drive of about 15 minutes. When we arrived and unbuckled the seat, the child had an embossed red mark on either side of the neck. I stuffed some cloth around the neck on the way home and eventually purchased some extra padding for the straps. It's not ideal, but it will work for our circumstance. I cannot recommend this car seat to anyone. If the holes were spaced further apart, even as little as a half inch (a quarter inch on each side) it may alleviate this issue. But the holes are part of the structure of the seat and cannot (or should not) be altered. The other two Diono seats we own aren't any easier to install, but they are certainly more comfortable for the kids. If this is the type of experience that Diono will provide in future designs, I won't be recommending them.