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Parenting

Maxi Cosi Car Seat in Ford Focus....help!

14 replies

hkz · 10/02/2009 11:24

I bought a maxi -cosi stage 1 seat and can't seem to get it to fit securely in the back of my Ford Focus 2007 estate.

I have followed the instructions and double checked them on the website. The seat just does not feel secure enough and moves around slightly.

The seat belts are long enough, they just don't seem to 'lock' tightly enough.

I keep the seat in the car and don't use it at any other times so do not want to buy an expensive base for it apart from as a last resort.

I bought the seat online, so can't get them to fit it for me.

Has anyone got any tips of how to overcome this? Is there a knack to it?

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nickytwotimes · 10/02/2009 11:26

HAve you moved the headrest out the way? it stops the seat sitting right back.

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Tangle · 10/02/2009 12:24

A good car seat retailer should be happy to check the fit for you, or some councils have well trained staff (Essex is particularly good). I'd definitely find someone to check it if you're not happy.

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hkz · 10/02/2009 13:40

Will get it checked, am in East London, so there should be someone round here who provides that service.

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ayla99 · 10/02/2009 15:59

www.childcarseats.org.uk/advice/index.htm

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NAB09 · 10/02/2009 16:01

Some seats don't fit in certain cars.

If a base is what is needed to have the seat fitting safely surely that should be your first resort?

Halfords will check the fit of seats and advise you.

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traceybath · 10/02/2009 16:04

What i did and i've got a standard ford focus and a maxi cosi was to put it behind the passenger seat and then push the passenger seat back so the seat was well and truly wedged in.

To be honest i've never felt that stage 1 seats felt as secure as forward facing ones and thats despite having them properly fitted when i bought them.

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hkz · 10/02/2009 17:15

ayla- thanks, that's a great link, hadn't found that when I'd searched before

nab- the seat is compatible with my car and should fit securely without the need for a base,(as advertised) so would like to explore this first. TBH I wouldn't have bought the car seat if it was advertised as needing a base as this takes up more room (there is already a toddler car seat in the back and quite often a dog!)and is an added cost. Have a local Halfords so will give them a try.

Tracey- I hadn't thought of that, though seem to vaguely remember doing that with DC1...that may well be the answer.

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nannyL · 10/02/2009 18:32

which maxi cosi seat?

my friend has a priori and a tobi fixed in very very tightly in her focus.

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hkz · 10/02/2009 19:26

the cabrio baby seat...

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EyeballsintheSky · 10/02/2009 19:31

I had a 2001 Focus and the Cabrio and it was great, but the seat belt was quite short and so she felt very solidly strapped in. I know from using the seat in DH's car with longer seatbelts that it felt very insecure to me and I was glad when we changed up to the next stage. Don't know what you can do about it though. What about the Easybase or whatever it's called?

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Tangle · 10/02/2009 19:54

Please be careful of using front seats to wedge child seats into the back - if the child seat has not been designed to be fitted in this way then, in a crash situation, it may result in the seat experiencing stresses it was not designed for and that may cause it to function below expectation.

The Essex In-Car Safety Team really are extremely good and will give you as much assistance over the phone as they can - they're very well informed and may well be able to tell you whether the Cabrio actually fits in a Focus well (not all seats that are "compatible" with all cars actually fit in them securely) without the base and whether using the front seat to secure it is a good or bad idea.

Hope you can get it sorted

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nannyL · 10/02/2009 20:43

have you tried using the cabrio base?

dont personally know anyone whonuses a cabrio in a focus but i know a few cabrio + base users in otehr cars and it seems very very tight

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isabellasmum · 13/02/2009 01:04

We used to have a focus estate 2004 and the cabrio fit well with the base but was never happy with the fit without it. I tried a couple of times when the base was in other car but it always had more movement that what it should. With the base it was rigid.

Once we went to a forward facing seat (tobi) this fit really tight.

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hkz · 13/02/2009 17:37

Thanks for all the replies. Iwent to halfords in the end and their seat fitter checked it for me. He said it was fine...there was side to side movement, but no back to front movement iyswim. Anyway imo they should be rigid so am going to invest in easy fix base...anyone got a second hand one they want to sell?