is the safety cc409hmo car seat worth it over a britax?

replacing a car seat because a kid keeps getting sick in it is not how i wanted to spend a weekend. we had a Graco TriRide before and it was impossible to clean properly, so it went in the dumpster and i ended up with the Safety car seat everyone calls the grow and go, model CC409HMO. its the convertible one, rear facing then front facing then booster, rated to a hundred pounds.

install was easier than the Chicco NextFit i borrowed off my sister for a week. latch or seatbelt both work, the belt path is obvious, and getting it tight on the bench seat took about ten minutes of fumbling the first time and two minutes every time since. straps adjust from the front, which sounds minor until youve tried it in a parking lot in the cold.

the polyester cover comes off and goes in the wash, and thats genuinely the whole reason this thing is still here. thirteen pounds means shifting it between vehicles is annoying but doable alone, ive done it one handed with a coffee in the other, badly.

comfort and bulk are where id slow someone down. it is wide, and anyone trying for three across in a small car will hate it. padding is fine and my kid sleeps in it on long drives, but ive sat in the back next to it and its not the plush thing a Britax Pavilion is, its adequately padded plastic that passes the same federal tests.

it lands at a fraction of what the Britax cost us and thats the real argument. you arent buying a nicer seat, youre buying an equally legal one for a lot less and putting the difference somewhere useful. the reviews calling it the best seat theyve ever owned are a bit much, mine is the cheapest good enough seat ive owned, which is a diferent claim.

does anyone else keep the outgrown seat in storage for a year just in case?