All the car seats look the same when covered in smeared banana and cheerios! The difference between the seat in my wife's car (let's her eat in the car) versus my truck (only on long trips) is dramatic. All the car seats are pretty good today unless you're buying the cheapest ones.
My daughter moves her convertible booster seat from side to side before we start driving. If we have a bunch of people, she will put it in the middle so that grownups have the bigger seats on the sides, and she gets to be the center of attention.