Beyond Rear-Facing: Review of Cosco Finale 2-in-1

In our family, we have four kids under age four. We’ve added a carseat to our collection every year since 2015. On one occasion, we picked up a new seat for our 10-month-old and then adjusted the straps on the infant carrier to pick up his little 4-pound sister from the hospital that afternoon. Foster care is full of adventures! We currently have three Evenflo SureRide/Titan65 convertible seats that go from 5-65 lbs, and one Evenflo infant carrier that has been used for all of our babies and expires later this year. We’ll probably give it a proper burial and share a few fond memories of traveling across several states to introduce new babies to our extended family, and cleaning out ungodly amounts of spit up in a Wendy’s parking lot.

I’m planning to pass down one of the convertible seats to the baby when she’s about 6 months old, so several months ago I started researching what seat to buy next. Since our older two littles are forward facing, I didn’t want to buy another SureRide; I prefer a less bulky combination seat (forward facing harness to booster). In addition to our primary kid-vehicle, a 2004 Toyota Sienna, we wanted to buy a couple of seats for my husband’s recently purchased ’04 Ford F-150, so that he can transport a couple of kids occasionally. Knowing that all child restraint seats have to meet the same safety standards, I knew that I was really shopping (and paying) for the features. So I made a list of the top 3 features I wanted in our new seats.

1. Harness to Booster – I want to keep my kids in a 5-pt harness as long as possible. This meant I was looking for the largest height and weight limits available. 
2. Narrow Footprint – We need to install seats next to each other, so we don’t have room for overhang.
3. Affordable – Buying multiple seats, I want to keep our costs down as low as possible, and minimize future seat purchases.

After reading lots of reviews on various car seat blogs and price checking across several sites, I settled on the Cosco Finale 2- in-1.  It hits all of my desired features, with the most appealing being the price tag. It’s the only one of its kind to retail for under $50. When I purchased them from Walmart.com, the styles I chose were $38 each! There are lots of color/pattern options for this seat. I went with one Mickey and one Minnie from the Disney Baby line, and the kids were really excited about them! With free 2-day shipping from Walmart, we had the seats ready to go the same week my husband bought his truck, without even making a trip to the store. I just love online shopping!

Unboxing 

Once I opened the box, I only had to unwrap the lower anchor belt and thread it through the belt path. I had each child sit in the seat so I could set the harness straps at the right height. Once I had the straps adjusted, the seats were ready to install. 

Installing

I chose to use the LATCH system to install both seats since both kiddos are under 50 lbs. It was very easy to install the seats in the back of the truck. I didn’t have any issues with getting the seats tight enough. 

As you can see, there’s still plenty of room for a third seat.

Booster Mode

Although it will probably be awhile before we use the seats in booster mode, I wanted to test it out for this review. The manual gives instructions on how to remove and store the harness inside the seat when it’s used in booster mode. This is a great feature so that you don’t lose the harness when it’s not in use.

Lifting the seat cover reveals the slots on either side of the seat for the webbing and chest clip, and the buckle is removed and reinstalled upside down.

Cosco Finale in harness mode (left) and booster mode (right).

I moved the seat to the van this time, for a change of pace. The seat is very lightweight, which would make it easy to move from one vehicle to another, or take on a flight. My 3-year-old meets the minimum height for the booster so I tried him in it, even though I anticipate he’ll be in the harness for quite a while longer. My first impression of the booster was that it was a little hard for me to buckle the seatbelt, and I know my son couldn’t do it independently, but, again, he’s young. Since we’ve never had a booster seat, I don’t know how that compares to other boosters on the market.  

The belt guide at the shoulder helps with belt positioning, if needed.

I thought the belt positioning fit better (not on his neck) when I did not use the belt guide. I’m sure that depends on the size of the child. I also thought it was hard to get the slack out of the belt once it was buckled, perhaps because the lap and shoulder portions of the belt both have to go under the armrest closet to the buckle. When I switch him to the booster, I’ll have to play around with it a bit more. The harness seemed very easy to use, but it’s also a setup I’m familiar with and have been doing almost daily for several years. When the time comes, if the booster mode seems too cumbersome, we can pass these seats down for our youngest two to use with the harnesses and we can buy booster-only seats for the older two. Booster-only seats are considerably cheaper than convertible or combination seats!

Summary

For the price point, the Cosco Finale 2-in-1 combination seat can’t be beat. There are many pleasing covers to choose from, and it’s a snap to install right out of the box. Being lightweight and slim it’s ideal for situations where you need to install multiple seats, or have to move them between vehicles often. When you’re in the market for a carseat to last through your child’s preschool and early elementary years, check out the Cosco Finale!