Cheap but safe car seat?

[BrawneLamia]

I've got proper rear facing seats in my car, but I'm looking for a cheap, basic seat for the grandparents car. It would be used on fairly rare occasions, and probably just around town rather than on any motorways. So I don't want to spend hundreds. But I'm a bit scared that the cheap ones might not be safe.

It would mainly be used for my four year old (during school holidays and so on), but if it would also be suitable for my two year old that would be a bonus. I guess a high backed booster is the way to go?

Thanks

[llangennith]

All child seats sold in the UK have to meet certain safety standards so even the cheapest is safe.

[BrawneLamia]

I have have seen a couple of articles online where car seats on the market have failed which safety tests.

[dramallamakarma]

We have a britax evolva in GPs car, can be used with a harness or just seat belt for older children.

[BillywigSting]

Pretty much anything by britax is decent

[Wellandtrulyoutnumbered]

Look at Joie. Cheaper but robustly tested.

[Wellandtrulyoutnumbered]

The two year old must be harnessed.

[BrawneLamia]

Thanks all will look at those suggestions

[moggle]

Do they have any other grandchildren that would use the car? I managed to persuade my parents to buy a Joie i-anchor for their car 18m ago, as they look after my DD (now almost 3) once a fortnight and my niece (almost 2) the intervening week. They love that it is isofix and thank god I don't have to fiddle about with it every time!

Having said that - I'm looking for a cheap car seat to put in friends' and relatives cars as we're expecting twins and have had lots of generous offers of childcare, playdates etc. Our seat is a Minikid so not easy to move.

I've seen the Britax evolva is £85 on uber kid, the Joie Elevate is a similar 1-2-3 seat for about £60. I might look out for other options around black friday; I definitely am not going to go for supermarket brand seats.
However I think if we go for a 1-2-3 seat we will probably end up paying a bit more and getting an Isofix one as it will eventually be used as our main car seat for her too once she is too big for her RF seat or we decide to turn her (and it will be easily shifted to GP's or other cars). Would that be an option for you, will your kids always be driven to their house / picked up by car?

[BertieBotts]

Joie Elevate. £60 and does everything you need, from 9 months to 12 years. Harness + booster.

I disagree with some PP saying that any car seat is safe. There are some cheap brands I wouldn't touch with a bargepole.

Joie is an excellent budget brand. Britax used to sell some very good basic cheap seats, but Joie have even overtaken them in price now.

[moggle]

Thanks Bertie!! I had made a list of the seat belted 1-2-3 options and was waiting for a free hour (ha!!) to watch the installation videos and work out which was easiest. Elevate certainly looks a doddle! And sooo cheap, £50 in some places.

[BertieBotts]

They do some extraordinary things now! I know that makes me sound like an old gimmer but really, the Joie seats are astonishing. I particularly like the harness adjustment in the Elevate - I think that's fab, so easy for grandparents. That's what car seats need, ease of use, it's no point getting a fancy one if it's so hard to use that nobody can get it right.

[BrawneLamia]

Thanks all, joie elevate sounds like a good idea

[Salva]

Yes to the joie ones, the straps on all of mine (I have 3 different versions) are linked to the height of the headrest. A godsend as the kids grow and grandparents aren’t going to know to tethered them. And easier to quickly adjust for different sized children.

[Salva]

Rethread*

[snubhub]

Just been through this whole process myself - minefield!

I ended up with this one - www.babyandtoddlercarseats.co.uk/2017/09/28/bebe-style-convertiblle-combination-car-and-booster-seat/ - pretty pleased with it!

Best of luck with your search!

[BertieBotts]

Is that your review site?