Graco 4Ever DLX Car Seat Review: Full Honest Review

Safety and Sturdiness: 9/10

With its steel-reinforced frame and energy-absorbing EPS foam, the Graco 4Ever DLX car seat provides top-notch side-impact protection. The wide base is sturdy and holds the seat in place, when installed properly it shouldn’t tip or wiggle too much.

When installing rear-facing or forward-facing, the Graco 4Ever DLX car seat can be installed with the lap belt or with the LATCH system. Graco’s EZ Tight LATCH connectors are made for children up to 45 lbs and are the more premium push-on type (as opposed to Britax One4Life hook option).

Forward-facing and rear-facing installation utilizes the included 5-point harness with the chest clip level with your child’s armpits. The shoulder height of the harness straps should be at or BELOW shoulders for rear-facing, and at or ABOVE shoulders for forward-facing. When installing forward facing, it is recommended to use the top tether and seat belt lock-off.

When installed forward-facing, the Graco 4Ever DLX car seat can also be used as a booster seat, using a lap-shoulder seat belt configuration instead of the 5-point harness. You cannot use a lap-only seat belt, and when in backless booster mode there is no option to use the LATCH system.

Graco goes beyond Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 213 and other safety requirements for crashworthiness, flammability, extreme weather conditions, and other important safety features. The Graco 4Ever DLX car seat is ProtectPlus Engineered and designed with safety in mind for a variety of collisions including frontal, rear, side, and rollover.

The Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat is FAA-approved and can be used on airplanes, except in booster mode (booster seats are not typically allowed on planes). However, keep in mind it is quite heavy and we wouldn’t like to be lugging it around.

Ease of Use: 9/10

The Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Baby Car Seat has an InRight LATCH system which makes installation a breeze. The LATCH anchors are the push-on type, and the top tether is more of a hook type.

If you prefer installing with the seat belt instead, there is an integrated seat belt lock off system for forward-facing mode, and fishing the seat belt through may require raising the seat height. But I love that nothing fancy is needed to adjust the harness or seat height with the no-rethread adjustable harness.

Depending on which mode it is in, the Graco 4Ever DLX convertible car seat has a color-coded system to help with installation. Rear-facing is blue, forward-facing is orange, and booster is green. Each mode has different recommendations, paths, and limits. There is even a color-coded bubble level indicator (only on one side) to help achieve the recommended incline level.

For a proper fit, I love the convenient 10-position adjustable headrest and harness that doesn’t require any rethreading. Simply squeeze the button at the top of the seat and pull to the proper height! There are also 2 crotch positions and 6 recline positions with a recline angle indicator for optimum safety and fit.

The Graco 4Ever DLX Car Seat easily reclines with a one hand recline pull lever in the front of the seat, near your child’s legs. It’s not the most convenient in rear-facing mode and the recline bubble indicator is only on one side. But the trickiest part of the Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Seat is transforming it to booster mode and back.

When transforming the Graco 4Ever DLX car seat to booster mode, I love that it has storage slots for the harness and crotch buckle, that way I never misplace them. Transforming to booster mode was much easier than going from booster mode back to car seat mode. Sliding the back part into the seat part and properly aligning it was a little tricky. I recommend positioning it so you can clearly see, in order to line the bars up with the holes.

The other tricky part was trying to clean the non-removable cup holders. The Graco 4Ever DLX cupholders are not dishwasher safe, but can be wiped down with mild soap and water. The five-point harness and buckles can also be wiped down with mild soap and warm water. But luckily the car seat cover is machine washable!

To clean the Graco 4Ever DLX car seat cover you first need to remove it from the connected Velcro and buttons. I use regular detergent then hang to dry, as recommended by Graco. The hardest part is then reattaching the seat and trying to make sure you reinstall the elastic loops properly.

Durability and Quality: 9/10

Graco is known for its high-quality materials, and the Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Car Seat lives up to that reputation. With its steel-reinforced frame, high quality fabrics, and sturdy buckles and harness I am impressed with how nice it is, and how well it has been holding up.

Comfort: 9/10

The Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Baby Car Seat includes a removable infant insert and two removable velcro shoulder pads. The infant insert is two separate pieces: one for head support and one for body support.

The Graco 4Ever DLX car seat doesn’t include any padding on the crotch buckle, and overall doesn’t have as much padding as the Britax One4Life car seat. The crotch buckle does have 2 different positions, with the correct position being the one that is closest to your child’s body without being underneath them.

The harness height and headrest are adjustable, with 10 different positions, and there are 6 different recline positions. Everything can easily be configured, allowing for optimum comfort even on longer road trips.

The fabric itself is not the softest we tested, so if you are hoping for a softer material we recommend the Graco 4Ever DLX Snuglock, which is silkier. It is also 2.5 inches slimmer than the Graco 4Ever DLX at 19 inches wide and has a seat belt lock-off for both rear-facing and forward-facing.

Weight and Bulkiness: 10/10

While the Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Baby Car Seat is our favorite convertible car seat, we understand that at nearly 25 lbs, this isn’t a car seat you’ll want to frequently transfer between vehicles. Like most convertible car seats, it is heavy and bulky, and built to hold children up to 120 lbs. However, it is lighter in weight than its convertible car seat competitors.

It also is large in size, and about 28 inches front-to-back when rear-facing. Plus, it has one of the largest widths at 21.5 inches.

Flexibility: 10/10

The whole reason I chose this seat was for its ability to adapt from rear-facing infant to forward-facing toddler, then later to high-back and backless booster. It truly grows with your child. The 4-in-1 configuration of the Graco 4Ever DLX 4-in-1 Convertible Car Seat and its ability to last for 10 years and up to 120 lbs is impressive!

The Graco 4Ever DLX car seat cannot be used with a stroller, but I wasn’t planning on moving it around.

Design: 9/10

While not the sleekest style, the Graco 4Ever DLX has a modern design that looks nice in my car. I love how it is built for easy adjustability and can be transformed and used for a long time. However, I personally don’t love how the back of the seat looks, since it exposes the straps and insides.

The back also has a storage slot to store your instruction manual, but it really is only accessible while the seat is rear-facing or uninstalled. I love the ability to store the crotch buckle and harness (with shoulder pads and chest clip) when using the seat in booster mode. The compartment snugly fits the buckles and they stay in place when the door is closed.

I love that the cover is machine-washable and that the other parts can be wiped down with mild soap and water, but would have preferred the two cup holders to be removable and dishwasher safe.

Price: 9/10

At around $300, the Graco 4Ever DLX car seat is an investment but one well worth the cost if you plan to use it for many years, especially with the 10 year expiration. Plus, you can often find it on sale!

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