Grandparents want to use old mamas and papas group 1 carseat - should I object?!

[teaandchocolate]

My dd is nearly 1 and she's still in her maxi cosi cabriofix as it fits and I haven't yet decided what group 1 seat to get (I am concerned about cost and size of rearfacing seats so haven't yet decided). My mum looks after her each week and today wanted to take her out in a mamas and papas fuori strada seat that my SIL has given her. It is probably at least 4 years old and no longer being produced and I can't find any reviews on its safety. I am worried about whether it is safe enough (not worried about it having been in a crash or anything like that). Am thinking of just asking her to use the cabriofix and belt in it as it is probably safer than the M&P ff seat? But am I being over the top? Should I just let her use the old seat? What about when she grows out of the maxi cosi?!?

[Debs75]

Is your maxi cosi supposed to be fitted with a seat belt? If yes then I would use that. i don't like used car seats as you never know if they are still structurally safe. a harsh braking can put pressure on the frame. and depending on how it was stored can weaken the plastics.
Can you afford a stage 1 seat you can swap between cars, RF ae great but they are a pain to move

[teaandchocolate]

Yes the maxi cosi can be fitted with a seatbelt so that is probably the best short term option. I have recently been thinking that a stage 1 seat that we can move is probably best bet as seems stupid to spend a fortune on a rf seat only for dd to go in a cheap ff seat when she's with my mum once/twice a week. Can you recommend a good ff seat that is easy to move?!? Never realised car seats would be such a mine field!!

[aswellasyou]

The Kiddy range are a very good buy. They're safer than harnessed forward facing seats. The Cybex Pallas and Jane Monte Carlo also have impact shields but they're heavier and more bulky I believe. The Kiddy seats are easy to move and some of them can be used until a car seat is no longer needed so aren't as expensive as they may first seem.
You could go to a Volvo dealer and ask to try out their version of the Britax MultiTech-I think they call it something like 'Convertible'. It's only £130 so not too expensive considering it can be used up to 25kg.

[teaandchocolate]

Great thank you so much for the tips. I actually was keen on the Kiddy seats but tried her in one in a shop and she seemed to hate it although was only for a few minutes. I also wasn't sure about the Volvo seat as it didn't get great reviews on Which but it did seem like a good option as so reasonably priced. Will look into those others that you mention, thanks so much. I guess the hunt continues...although seen on an old thread that lots of people keep their children in the group 0 seats for quite a while longer so definitely going to do that as dd has got quite a bit of headroom still.

[aswellasyou]

The Which reviews shouldn't be taken on face value in my opinion. I may be getting some things wrong here but... They test the seat on 40 different things including ease of removing the cover, whether the cover can be washed, how easy it is to move, how long it takes to fit (the first time you do it), etc. Then if any category gets less than 40%, it's automaticallly awarded a 'don't buy'. Most belted extended rear facing seats aren't that simple to install the first time because the routing of the seat belt can be really confusing. It took me about 45 minutes to fit my BeSafe seat the first time because it's an unusual fitting and a random woman kept talking to me so I had to keep checking the instructions. It now takes me 3 or 4 minutes because I know what I'm doing.
My point is, the overall percentage isn't a reflection on how safe the seat is at all so I'd either ignore the score or take out a trial subscription to read the reviews properly. Which went down in my estimation massively when I discovered their testing methods.
However, if your daughter still fits the seat well, you won't need to look for a while anyway.