Graco My Ride 65 LX Review

 

If you’ve been shopping around for convertible car seats, you’ve probably noticed that the rear-facing weight limits have been trending upward. For the most part, the maximum weight limit has been about 35 pounds.

Well, Graco has upped the rear-facing limit to 40 pounds in its new model, the My Ride 65.

You really should check this car seat out. It’s affordable, and it has a lot of great features like a head support pillow, an infant body support cushion, and harness strap covers.

Best of all, it can carry kids who weigh 5 pounds up to 65 pounds, and who are up to 49 inches tall. That means you might never need to buy another car seat! Sounds great, right?

In this review, we’ll take a look at the outstanding features of the Graco MyRide 65 LX. We’ll cover some of the not so great points, too. By the end, you should be able to make an informed decision about whether this is the right convertible car seat for you.

If you’re in a hurry and just want to know how much it costs, you can find the current price at Amazon by clicking here:

Features and Benefits

Free Flowing Harness

The Graco My Ride 65 comes with a good quality no-twist harness. The design of the buckle allows the straps to glide through them without twitching or catching. Less aggravation for you!

Optimal Side Impact Protection

This car seat has extra deep side wings lined with EPS foam to protect your child if you’re in a side impact collision.

Graco put this seat through rigorous testing, too. It meets or exceeds US safety standards, so you can know that your child will stay safely strapped in if you’re in a wreck.

That’s reassuring!

Maximum Weight Capacity for Maximum Use

The Graco My Ride 65  is the first American car seat to offer a maximum rear-facing weight of 40 pounds.

We all know that rear-facing seats are the safest for very little children. But now experts say that children should be rear-facing as long as possible. The American Academy of Pediatrics agrees.

Research has shown that riding in the rear-facing position is 5 times safer for children under the age of 2. With its tall shell and high rear-facing weight limit, the Graco My Ride 65 can hold most kids until they’re 2 to 3 years old.

The maximum weight limit for front-facing is 65 pounds. But most kids will outgrow the seat by height before they hit 65 pounds.

Adjustable Harness Height

This car seat has 5 harness height slots to choose from.

The bottom 4 slots are for when it’s rear-facing. In that case, the straps need to be in the slot nearest to or just below the child’s shoulder level.

When it’s in the forward-facing position, you’ll use one of the top 4 slots. This time, you’ll want the straps to be in the slot nearest to or just above the child’s shoulder level.

With the infant pad in place, the lowest harness slot is at about 8” high. Without the infant pad, it’s at about 8.5”.

The top slot is about 17” high when the cover is on.

Once a child grows taller than 49″, that means that he’s outgrown this car seat. Another indication is if the tops of his ears are above the back of the car seat or if his shoulders reach above the top slots.

Removable and Washable Cup Holders

Parents and kids love the two built-in cup holders.

Kids love them because their drinks and snacks are within reach. Moms and dads love how that keeps their kids content – at least for a little while!

And, you can take them out to clean them. That’s convenient!

Adjustable Harness Heights

At some point, you’re going to have to adjust the height of the shoulder straps. It’s not hard to do, but it’s a little bit of a bother.

You have to take the straps off the splitter plate in the back of the seat and pull them through to the front. Then you feed them back through the new slots and hook them back up to the splitter plate.

If the car seat is front-facing, you’ll have to take it out of your car in order to do this. But if it’s in the rear-facing position, you can leave it in place since you’ll be able to reach the splitter.

Three Harness Strap Lengths

The straps have different lengths to pick from, depending on which slots you’re using. Graco made them this way so they can accommodate a variety of sizes of kids.

You’ll use the shortest (top) loops when the harness is in the lowest slots. The middle loops are for when the harness is in the second or third slot from the bottom. And the longest (bottom) loops are for when the harness is in the top two slots.

Recline Positions

There are feet on the bottom of the seat to adjust the recline position. There’s also a level indicator to help you see when you have the angle just right.

When the seat is in the rear-facing position, tuck the feet sideways under the seat’s base. For forward-facing, just flip them back into the locked position.

There is no incline adjustment for the forward-facing position, but the seat does come with a deep, natural recline to make your child feel comfortable.

Harness Buckle

All you need to do to tighten the harness is pull the harness adjustment strap at the bottom front of the car seat. Like on a lot of other car seats, this harness adjustment strap is stiff and hard to tighten.

It’s a bother, but don’t neglect to do this. Your child’s safety depends on it!

You’ll hear an audible click when you insert each buckle tongue. That’s how you’ll know that it’s bucked up tight.

Getting the chest clip just right can be a little tricky, but you should always time the time to do it. Safety first!

LATCH

My Ride 65 has color-coded flexible straps which can be attached to the lower anchors in newer vehicles. One is threaded through the rear-facing belt path and the other is threaded through the front-facing belt path.

The straps are adjustable, and the LATCH connectors are clip-on style. There’s a handy storage compartment on the seat to hold the connectors and tether strap when you’re not using them.

The tether strap is only used when the seat is front-facing. And this seat doesn’t require a top tether.

A Word of Caution!

Graco says that you should not use the LATCH system to install car seats for children who weigh more than 48 pounds. Instead, use the car seat belt. Seat belt installations are just as safe as LATCH if you do it right.

It’s a good idea to check your car’s owner manual for more information. Some vehicles have a weight limit of less than 40 pounds for the lower LATCH anchors. If that’s the case, you should go by the lower number.

Also, Graco advises against using LATCH in the center seating position if the lower anchors are less than 11″ apart.

Comfort and Looks

The cover for this seat comes in different color combinations. It has a good amount of padding on the bottom and back, but there isn’t much along the sides.

You’ll be happy to know that the cover is easy to remove and easy to clean. You can wipe it with a damp sponge, or just throw it in the washing machine.

The head support pillow and strap covers are optional. You should remove them when your child reaches 40 pounds.

And speaking of the strap covers – we’re glad to see that Graco has printed the car seat weight limits on the front of one of the harness covers. What a good idea! We hope all car seat manufacturers will start doing that!

Expiration Date

Did you know that car seats come with expiration dates?

Well, they do. That’s because they wear out after a while, which means that they can’t offer as much protection.

The My Ride 65 has a 6 year expiration. It has the “Do Not Use Past” date clearly stamped on the back or bottom of the seat.

So, it’s best not to hand down the car seat to multiple children if the seat is more than 6 years old.

Also, you shouldn’t continue using a car seat if it’s been in an accident. It could be damaged in a way that would endanger your child, but you might not be able to tell by looking at it.

Reasonably Priced

The Graco My Ride 65 isn’t the most expensive convertible car seat out there, but it’s not the cheapest, either. You’ll find it priced at a little over $100. That’s not bad at all when you consider that you can keep your child in it for 5 to 6 years. That works out to only about $20 a year.

Seems like a pretty good investment!

Warranty

Graco offers a 1-year limited warranty on this car seat.

Disadvantages

  • The My Ride 65 weighs in at about 15 pounds. Now, that’s not the heaviest car seat on the market, but it’s not exactly lightweight, either. If you’re thinking of flying with it, you’re not going to have an easy time carrying it through the airport.
  • The cup holders make the seat a little bit wide. That might cause problems if you have another carseat or kids in seatbelts in the backseat of your car.
  • Sometimes the natural recline of the car seat can make front-facing installation difficult. It might not be an issue in your vehicle, though.
  • The path for the seat belt installation is narrow. That makes it hard for people with large hands to install the car seat using a seat belt.
  • The crotch strap isn’t very long and there’s no way to adjust it. So it can be tight and uncomfortable for older kids.
  • Some people say that the seat cover doesn’t fit securely over the edges. It would be better if there were some kind of elastic to hold it in place. That’s not so much of a problem if you leave it in the car all the time. But if you have to handle it much, it could cause a lot of aggravation.
  • The recline feet seem flimsy, and it feels like you might break them when you’re tucking them under the seat.

Conclusion

If you need a dependable, safe, and affordable convertible car seat, you should definitely consider the Graco My Ride 65 LX.

It’s a breeze to install in the car. And once you have it in, it’s going to make a secure and stable seat for your little one.

It has great safety features like the EPS foam head protection and adjustable harness.

We really like the removable dual cup holders and the easy-off machine washable cover, too. Anything that makes life easier for mom and dad is big plus!

The best thing about this car seat is that your child can be rear-facing in it all the way up to 40 pounds. And then you can get even more use out of it in the front-facing position. You will get your money’s worth out of this car seat!

There are different online retailers that sell the Graco My Ride 65. We prefer Amazon because they usually have the best prices and free shipping.

You can head over to Amazon now to check out the reviews and to get a great price on the My Ride 65.

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