Mothercare Journey - car seat dilemma

[Papergirl1968]

Pregnant DD likes the Mothercare Journey. There are a couple of people recommending it on another thread, and it has good reviews on the Mothercare website.
But I see the car seat that comes with it can only be used with a seatbelt, not an isofix base. I’d really prefer a car seat with an isofix base.
A friend has offered us her Maxi Cosi Pebble Plus car seat, which hasn’t been in any accidents. We’d just need to get a new base as they're still using theirs. We wouldn’t be able to use the Pebble Plus with the Journey as the Journey isn’t compatible with any other seats, but that doesn’t bother us greatly as we (dd and I) don’t really want to use a car seat on the pram chassis.
So if we go for the Journey, would you have the friend’s Pebble Plus and keep the car seat which comes with the Journey as a spare?
Dd is 17 and doesn’t drive (nor likely to, at least not in the next couple of years), and there’s no dad on the scene, so baby is likely to only travel in my car or maybe very occasionally by taxi.

[Paie]

I have the Mothercare journey!
Good value, nearly identical to the britax b agile I had previously.
I rarely use it with the car seat, but it's good to have.
Don't buy it through Mothercare though- it's £100 cheaper on Amazon!

[Paie]

Sorry didn't really answer your question- which I think was whether or not to have a spare car seat? Go for it! If you find you don't use it it'll be easier to sell on as new :)

[Papergirl1968]

Is that the three or four wheeler, Paie?
I think we’re going for the four wheeler in black. They only have it in red and blue on amazon and it looks more expensive. One of the options seems to be buy at the same price as Mothercare but without the liner. It’s all very confusing!

[JosellaPlayton]

What wrong with using the seatbelt to secure the car seat? They’re really not difficult to fit and if you plan on taking the seat in/out of your car and also to use it in taxis then it’s a lot easier than having to also move an isofix base. We had a fancy lie flat isofix-only car seat and ended up also buying a basic maxi cost that could be fitted with the seatbelt for taxis, GP’s cars, holidays etc. So if she’s set on the journey then I’d just used the included seat and not waste your money on the base for the pebble.

[Papergirl1968]

I did wonder if I was overthinking it and should just stick to the one which comes with the Journey.
It’s just that my niece has had twins and I like the way her car seats click into the bases. There seems potential for getting it wrong when using seat belts...
I ought to say here, that my dds are adopted so I didn’t have them as babies and therefore don’t have much experience at all when it comes to car seats, pushchairs etc!

[Angharad07]

I’ve just bought the pebble plus with the isofix base. It was £179 for the base so even if you’re getting the seat free it’s still expensive! However, I’d personally take the pebble off your friend anyway since you don’t have to use it with the base and it’s really simple to use with the belt. You could then sell on your mothercare car seat to make cash for extra things. To be honest, I don’t think the car seat will matter much If it’s only for light use, I wouldn’t bother buying the base if you’re not going to use it much- though the pebble base can be used for the next size seat too (age 1-4).

[JosellaPlayton]

I’ve just realised we had the Pebble as our second seat. It’s ridiculously easy to fit with the belt and the Journey will probably be the same as all infant carriers are very similar in shape. Check YouTube for some install videos to see what you’re up against. But whatever seat you decide on, IMO isofix is pointless if you don’t plan on using the travel system feature- the main advantage is that you can dock the seat on/off quickly when transferring to the pram.

[Papergirl1968]

Hmm, lots to think about. I’ll definitely check out the videos.
I guess I’m wondering if the Journey car seat, which is £300 ish for the travel system, is as good as the Maxi Cosi one which is about £170-£200 on it’s own.
But then again, the Journey one meets safety standards so should be fine.
I should have posted this in car seats not pushchairs!

[Paie]

I bought the four wheeler in black from Amazon, only a few months ago! Maybe just out of stock atm??

[Paie]

O, and the car seat that comes with is nearly identical to any other car seat, to put it in the car you literally just clip the seatbelt over with the chest bit going in a blue clip on the back of the car seat. Takes seconds! Compared to my toddlers car seat which takes about 10 minutes 🙈

[Papergirl1968]

Ahh, will keep an eye out on amazon then - baby’s not due till April!