CDN Price: $399.99
Weight Range: 5 to 70 lbs (RF to 45lbs)
The Good – Longer rear-facing and higher maximum weight limit than most of its competitors (highest on the market); Can be used with Lower LATCH tethers for 4 lbs longer than most other convertible car seats; Side Impact Protection with 10 different settings to ensure best fit; Energy and Shock Absorbing foam; Contoured back steel plate; Multiple recline positions; Well Padded shoulder straps and newborn infant insert; small seat that fits most vehicles.
The Bad – It is expensive.
The Bottom Line – If you can afford its hefty price tag, the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat is an excellent premium product that will certainly give you peace of mind when travelling around with your precious baby onboard. It has every conceivable comfort and safety feature fitted and gets absolutely fantastic reviews from the many parents that have bought it for their babies. I particularly like the extended rear facing aspect and the combination of SIP, SAFE, EPS and steel frame.
Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat – Overview
The Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat is suitable for children weighing between 5 and 70 lbs (provided that they are not more than 49 inches tall). It can be used rear facing up to 45 lbs.
This is the highest rear facing weight limit of any convertible car seat on the market – an important safety feature since the American Academy of Pediatrics advises that rear facing is much safer than forwards facing. The AAP recommend rear facing until at least 2 years of age and preferably longer. This seat ought to be usable rear facing for about 4 years or so.
This seat can be installed in your vehicle either using the adult seat belt or LATCH connectors. LATCH is by far the easiest method of installation and this can have an effect on safety too since research suggests that as many as 75% of belt-fitted seats are installed incorrectly!
Watch the Peg Perego Manufacturer Video
Watch This Great BabyGizmo Review Video
Color Options
The Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat is many colors, including:
Find Full Range of Color Options here.
Peace of Mind
There are a number of great safety features on the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat that that would make me very happy to carry my child around in one. It is now well established that rear facing is at least 5 times safer than forwards facing, and the Peg Perego extends this option by 5 lbs more than most of its competitors. It can also be used with the lower LATCH tethers for 4 lbs more.
Despite its extended use, it is one of the smaller seats and will fit comfortably into most vehicles.
I repeat .. this is the longest extended rear facing convertible car seat on the market!
Other premium seats come with side impact protection and I am not going to claim that the Peg Perego’s is better. However, I do like the combination of the EPS, SAFE and contoured steel back plate features on this seat. There are no objective tests by any independent organisation to prove that this is safer than any other seat, but I would certainly feel very reassured as a parent by these features.
February 2014 LATCH Guidelines
Peg Perego now advises that the LATCH lower tethers should only be used on this model until the child weighs more than 44 lbs. You can still continue to use the seat until the child weighs 70 lbs, but only if you re-install the seat using the adult seat belt instead. You should still use the top tethers as they are not affected by the law change.
One of the good things about this seat is that, because it is quite light (21 lbs), it can be used with the LATCH lower tethers for longer than many of its competitors like the Britax G4 series, Chicco Nextfit, and Recaro Ride Series.
Read more about this law change here.
Value for Money
This seat will cost you in the region of $329.99.
That makes it the most expensive car seat on the US market today. It is about $25 more expensive than the Britax Advocate G4 and about $50 more expensive than the Chicco Nextfit 65.
This is an excellent premium convertible car seat that comes with every comfort and safety feature that you could ever wish for. It can also be used in rear-facing mode for 5 lbs longer than most of its competitors and it’s overall weight limit is also 5 lbs more (including the Advocate and Nextfit). I’m sure you won’t be disappointed with this seat, but you will have to decide for yourself whether or not the extended use and great features are worth the extra money.
Where to Buy the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat
Buy the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat.
Buy the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat in Canada.
Safety Information
After purchasing any child car seat, you should always read the User Manual thoroughly before using it. It is also advisable to visit your local Fire Department or NHTSA Child Car Seat Inspection Centre to ensure that the seat is definitely suitable for your child’s specific requirements and that you have installed it correctly. These services are usually provided free of charge.
You can find your nearest NHTSA Centre here.
Do You Need More Help?
Click here if you remain undecided and want to read some more user reviews of the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat.
If you need any further advice or assistance whatsoever, please feel free to contact me and I will do my very best to help.
If you have any other feedback about my “Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat Review”, please just leave a comment in the box below or send an email to kristian@kidsafetyfirst.com
I have recently bought the Peg Prego Convertible for my 10 month old. This is not only an aesethically good looking car seat, is is a very comfortable convertible for your little one.
We tested a few others prior to settle on the Peg Prego and we ended up choosing this particular seat because of the comfort for the child, the features and the safety, and the fact that in Canada there are additional safety requirements and this has a “stablizing” bar in event of an accident whereas most other car seats have straps that are required to come over top of the car seat and latch in .
Although a little more expensive than some of the car seats out there, you do get what you pay for in terms of quality and compared to other convertibles we tested (w/ child in) this was the only obvious choice.
We have the Liquorice and it looks great.
Thank you for feedback on the Peg Perego Convertible car seat. I am delighted to hear that you and your daughter are loving the seat. The manufacturer has certainly managed to combine great looks with great safety features without compromising on child comfort. Yes, it is expensive but you definitely get what you pay for and it will last longer than most of its competitors due to the fact that it can be used up to 70 lbs instead of 65 lbs.
Yeah, the weight allowance although a small difference is a big selling feature of this. I am currently rear facing (21lbs) but about to do the switch.
We are still very happy with the car seat and would recommend it to anyone moving from an infant to a convertible (budget permitting obviously).
Thank you for providing more feedback on this seat. I have yet to hear from any parent that has regretted their decision to buy it for their child.
I note that you intend to switch to forwards facing at about 21 lbs. I just wanted to make sure that you were fully aware of the research on this before making a final decision, since I know that many first time parents assume that you are supposed to switch as soon as your child reaches the weight at which is deemed “ok” to do so.
The American Academy of Paediatrics recommends that children remain rear-facing until they are at least 2 years of age and preferably until they exceed the seat’s height or weight limits for rear-facing (45 lbs or 49 inches for the Peg Perego). I have provided more information about this research here >> http://kidsafetyfirst.com/the-best-rear-facing-convertible-car-seats-2014 and here >> http://kidsafetyfirst.com/extended-rear-facing-car-seats-in-the-uk-2014-models
If you are already aware of this issue, then I apologise for preaching at you, but I just wanted to make sure that you had all of the necessary information to enable you to make an informed decision.
In addition to all the great features Peg Perego Primo Viaggio seat has a BIG plus as rear facing tether connector.
I’ve tested this car seat for about 10 days with my son and there are truly not a lot to say about disadvantages. I will admit that installing rear facing using lap-shoulder seat belt is a little difficult (I ended up using a locking clip). Other than that and maybe $$$ it is a good choice!
Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts on the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio car seat.
I agree that the rear-facing tether option is a very nice added bonus to what is an excellent seat.
The extended rear-facing (45 lbs) is reassuring, although it no longer boasts the joint highest RF weight limit since the release of the Diono Rainier and Diono Pacifica seats (50 lbs). Of course, most kids will outgrow the height limits before reaching 50 lbs anyway, but those seats are also interesting options to consider.
Do you know what the seated height limits are for the Peg convertible? I’m trying to compare against the Britax Boulevard.
Peg Perego do not seem to advertise a “seated shoulder height” limit.
The only comparison I can find is as between their highest FF harness slot positions. These measurements are as follows:
Peg Perego – 17 inches
Boulevard G4 – 16.75 inches
Boulevard ClickTight – 18.65 inches
Whilst I am unable to say that these statistics can be accurately translated into relative seated shoulder height limits, I hope that that are of some use to you. Although Peg Perego don’t advertise a “seated shoulder height” limit, they might be able to provide more information if you were to contact them by email (via their webite).
Good Luck.
My question is my daughter is 80 lbs, do you think this car seat is suitable for her if not do you have a bigger size? Thank you.
…Judy.
Judy,
The maximum weight limit on the Peg Perego Convertible Car Seat in 70 lbs, so it would NOT be suitable for your daughter. I don’t know how tall your daughter is but please bear in mind that car seats come with maximum height limits as well as maximum weight limits.
Instead of a convertible car seat, you will need a High Backed Booster Seat or a 5-Point Harness 2 Booster Seat.
You can read my latest post about 5 Point Harness to Booster Seats here.
There are a number of High Backed Booster Seats on the market, but the Graco models are very popular. You can find them here.
I hope that this helps.
We recently purchased the Peg Perego convertible seat and the shoulder pads seemed so long I couldn’t get the chest clip up to his chest. Do you know if they are supposed to bend behind the shoulder maybe? I’m thinking it was user error as I haven’t read anything about this in any reviews.
Thanks! Holly
Holly,
I haven’t heard anyone raising this issue before and I wouldn’t want to give advice without being able to see with my own eyes exactly what the perceived problem is. This sounds like a question that you probably ought to direct towards the manufacturer.
I would advise you to take a photo of the shoulder pad positioning on your baby and send it to Peg Perego via their website contact page here (with an explanation of your concerns) >> http://pegperegousa.com/customer-service/contact-information/
I hope that you manage to get a satisfactory answer from them manufacturer.
We have been using this car seat for our now 2 year old for about 5 months. We LOVE it! It’s safe, it’s stylish, it’s easy to use. Our daughter loves looking out the window and the wedge shaped cushion (for smaller children) allows her to do that. She is still rear-facing and only 24 pounds, so we intend to keep her facing that way for quite a while.
We recently flew with the car seat. We purchased a tether off amason.com that turns a rolling suitcase into a “stroller” using the latch clips. It was easy to transport to the checkin desk this way and not too heavy at all. (We did check the car seat with our luggage – so I can’t comment on if it fits in a plane seat). Reinstallation was really easy with the latch system when we arrived at our destination. We have NO regrets!