Replacement car seat after an accident

[KatyMac]

Been offered a voucher for Halfords

We had a Cybex Sirona Gi i-size

Should we replace for the same model or is there a better car seat now, 2 years later?

@bertiebotts I understand you are a rear facing expert, help please!

I have a larger 2 yo (will.measure them after nursery) and prefer rear facing

If the car seat needs replacing, so does your seatbelt.

https://webre.co.uk/blog/replace-seatbelt

The Cybex Sirona is still a good model, but if 2yo is on the larger side it might not last long enough with 105cm limit. However it does have a 20kg weight limit which is good - some of the 105cm limit ones are up to 18kg only.

The only seat Halfords stock which has a larger RF limit (125cm/22kg) is Joie i-Prodigi. This is an online exclusive so you won't be able to try it in your car, but if you have had a Cybex Sirona in it, the Joie should be fine. However, it is £430 which is significantly more expensive than Cybex Sirona Gi, so the voucher might not cover the full value.

Halfords do stock the Sirona Gi - if you opt to go for the same one again, be careful to avoid the Sirona G, which is not the same seat, it's the modular version which goes onto a separate base and cannot be fitted without the base. So be careful and don't buy this accidentally, as you'll have to spend a further £130 on the base to fit it. The Sirona T Plus is the same story, but the base is £200

If you fancy having a bit of an argument you could possibly insist that you prefer to buy from wherever you originally got the Cybex seat from, due to wanting to have it fitted into the car by staff you trust etc (just ham this up a bit even if you don't think it's true) - the insurers often prefer to give Halford's vouchers, but if you can push for cash value instead, it means you can spend at a different retailer, perhaps one who stocks higher limit RF seats for less than £400. There are a couple around £200-300, and they have higher weight limits than the Joie seat as well.

If you can't top up the voucher and need a cheaper seat from Halfords but don't want to go for a 105cm limit one, the best one for a higher centile child is probably Joie Bold 123 (not i-Bold) because it will keep them harnessed up to 25kg, although not an ideal solution because it is a forward facing only seat.

Oh hang on, one more thing to add - the Sirona Gi seems to be £213 on their site. So if the Joie i-Prodigi is out of budget but you don't want to FF yet, you could buy Joie Bold (£150) to store for a couple of years plus Joie Stages (£50) or Halfords Impala R129 (£60) as both of these allow RF up to 18kg, so you'd at least get a bit more time rear facing before needing to move to the Joie Bold.

Stages is a bit roomier and bulkier, esp height wise it has a lot of space, and it could serve as a spare/second seat (in HBB mode) up to 25kg, but the older regulation so probably less side impact protection, and an older model. Solid seat though, beloved on MN, plenty of people have had this and been happy with it.

Impala is a bit of an unknown but does meet the newer safety standard. Completely outgrown at 105cm/18kg, whichever comes first.

The only downside really is the Impala and Stages are both seatbelt fitted, and cheaper seatbelt fitted RF seats like this tend to have the belt in the way of getting the child in and out, which is a bit annoying. They are also more reclined than isofix seats like the Sirona, so I would see if you can have a test fitting before you buy to check it will actually fit in your car.

Blimey,

Whoops posted too soon!

That is loads of info, thanks im a but frazzled so I may take a while to read it

Also we dont know if the car is written off so im worried about buying too soon

That's some excellent seat knowledge @BertieBotts !

Hope everyone is OK. It is stressful trying to go through all the hassle of the insurance etc. Fingers crossed the car is alright or repair/replacement not too complicated.

With isofix seats you're generally OK no matter what car. You'll only have a problem if there are storage boxes, but even that is often not a problem these days.

For seatbelt fitted, the Joie Stages can struggle in cars with shorter seatbelts, particularly Ford IIRC? But there is a short belt trick you can use to get it into those cars.

The car is 12yo and has high mileage, so a write off is possible but no airbags were deployed so fingers

I was the only one in the car and I saw it coming, so i took my foot off the brake and went with it so im ok (im pretty health cautious, so if I had any problems I would've got checked out)

It was a nightmare getting a seat to fit it - i had to cut the seams ofthe car seat! So im cautious until I know what happens

Im going to ask them for money rather than a voucher for Halfords

They have only offered a (very generous) voucher

It's about £30 less for cash so I think ill do that; so now its read all @BertieBotts recommendations and start googling

Oh great, so if you're getting cash I would probably look at Britax Safeway M2 as the cheapest one of the longer limit RF seats. You can get it for £199 currently. If you can find someone who stocks it near you, they should be able to help with installing. It doesn't need isofix, so no cutting required hopefully! But it does need to be tethered to the seat in front.

If you need the swivel - I remember this being a convo before but perhaps I misremembered? Avionaut Stardust is the cheapest option but it is still £349. But it will convert into a booster seat for up to 150cm, so at least you know it will last long term.

I do need the swivel, although how much longer ill be lifting i dont know! I can't imagine a child will get into rear facing independently without a swivel

I've been given a mini as a courtesy car my goodness like a space craft all holograms and touch screen? But the spare seat fits fine

Also replace all the seat belt on the car

OK that's good.

One thing is with the bigger seats non swivel like the Britax, the sides are lower so they are much easier for younger DC to climb in. It's a shame, I wish I could recommend you a Multi-Tech as they were brilliant, there was someone either on MN or one of the car seat FB pages who was disabled and swore by this because it was so flat, they used to sit the baby/toddler on and swivel the baby around - but they don't make them any more, sadly.

I measured at 24 m; 91cm and 15 kg so around 91 centile

OK that's great, thanks.

If you go for another Cybex the same as what you had before and DC stays on the same line, it's likely it will be outgrown in about 18 months' time (3.5 yrs)

Avionaut Stardust which is the 125cm limit RF seat with swivel and isofix - weight limit is a bit limited, so would only get you up to age 4 or so RF, then would need to be converted to high back booster. This may be OK for you though? Also DC may slow down when they go through a fussy stage mine did...

If you want RF and/or 5 point harness FF (unfortunately, it's one or the other) definitely longer than age 4, the limit you need is 125cm and at least 25kg. I can recommend these if necessary.

Looks like its a Avionaut Stardust, ill see if
my independent can get one in

Id like longer than 4 rear facing but im controlled to some extent by budget