The rear facing tether on my sister's seat works like an additional lashing point and pulls the car seat down and against the belt - overall, making for a very "taut" and secure installation. The tether gets attached & detatched everytime you remove the baby carrier portion. I agree about the front facing seats and the tether, but I think, if I were to do it again, I'd get the r/f seat with a tether rather than without. I was always worried with my own kids that the baby carrier rocked no matter how much I tightened the belt against the base piece.

The grunting and cursing part I can relate to! I usually sit on the seat while my wife buckles it in. I dread the days when we need to switch cars.

Also, I too found that I needed the dreaded H clip (hate that F^*(*ing thing) because the child seat-safe seat belt male ends just didn't do the job.

Here's a trick though - take a permanent marker and mark on both belts where the clip is once you have it adjusted. Then when you are switching cars or taking the seats out for big loads, the clips can go back fairly easily.

BN