To not want to get a 'worse but bigger car' for the sake of DD2 not having an isofix base?

[Sausagechipsandbean]

I have a 2012 Seat Ibiza. It's been reliable for us and has just past it's MOT. We own it outright. It's not any great shakes but it's perfectly acceptable.
I am pregnant, due in October and we have a DD who is 2. Money is tight but luckily we have everything we need for baby practically already as we kept everything of DDs and know this little one is a girl too. We have a Maxi Cosi car seat for DD and an isofix base which she's always had; we still have the newborn car seat she was in until she was about 9 months before we moved her to the next size up (pebble). The problem is the isofix itself; because of the way the leg sits it pushes the passenger seat forward pretty much as far as it will go. Neither DH or I would be able to drive if the driver's seat was pushed that far forward so my suggestion to DH was we buy DD a new car seat that can go behind the driver's seat without an isofix (the Pebble can't be strapped in without the isofix) and new baby has the current set up with the isofix.
DH wants to try and sell the car and buy a bigger car so we can buy a new isofix for baby and have both children with an isofix. My car is not worth much; it's good for us but realistically it's maybe worth £1500 if that so to buy a bigger can from what we can see currently we would have to get an older car with higher mileage to accommodate this.
Is it really so bad to take DD who will be 2 years 7 months when baby is here out of an isofix. Surely millions of children use car seats without an isofix and are perfectly safe. And for the sake of keeping a car that at least we know is good enough for what we need now is surely better than getting a 'worse' car just to accommodate the child seat?

Surely the benefit of a bigger car - aside from the isofix issue - is that it’ll be more comfortable for longer journeys and also more space for luggage? We have a newborn and a 2 year old and upgraded car size when we knew newborn was on the way. Yes, we could have got the two car seats in the Fiesta (no isofix) but we’d have never got the double buggy, a travelcot, and enough stuff for a weekend away into the boot… gone are the days where we could go away for the weekend with one overnight bag 😁

Re Isofix, I think strap in car seats are perfectly safe but when looking at replacing the car I was really reassured by the presence of Isofix. It doesn’t sound very comfy for the passenger to be pushed all the way forward anyway? But I guess it depends how often you do long journeys.

You can get non isofix extended rear facing seats, BeSafe is a good brand.

But I agree with pp who said you might find you want a bigger car anyway, we go camping and couldn't do without our big estate car now!

A bigger car that’s £1500 will not be worth it at all, it’ll be old, high mileage and I can bet will be having lots of issues. Except if you’ll be adding more money to buy something worthwhile. At least you know the history of your Small car and you can rely on it.
I personally will buy a normal car seat without an Isofix for dd1 to seat behind you and use the isofix at the passenger side for the baby.

Yes he's being ridiculous. My kids dont have isofix seats because although my car has it, our van doesn't and we need to be able to swap between. Just research belted car seats properly and choose one you're happy with.

We have a cuggl car seat which has isofix built in and no base. You can use it with or without the isofix which means it's easily swapped about with friends and grandparents cars if needed. Cheaper than a new car!

I think isofix bases are safer so I would do the same

“If we look at all data, crash test, real life usage, and habits, Isofix is far safer than installing a car seat with seat belt. With Isofix, virtually no mistakes are made, something which can not be said about seat belt installs”

You will need a bigger car with 2 children. You won’t fit a pram plus luggage into an ibiza nor would you get a pram + bike / scooter I imagine.

There are lots of car seats that have the isofix (the arms that slide between the seat and the back and clip on to the little ring thingys) that don’t have the big bases with a leg. Have you looked at those?

I wouldn't compromise on mechanical safety just to have an isofix, no. That's not to say all > 10 year old cars are unsafe, but for the money you are talking you are going to have limited choice which basically pushes you into the more risky motors. I know some people get absolutely bargains and run them for years but there is no guarantee and more people have bought a £1.5k car which has run into more expense than haven't. Keep the car you have, nobody needs a bigger car for 2 children either. The strange thing for having a huge car for 2 kids and a 7 swather for 3 isn't necessary. A small family car is adequate, you just have to compromise on the fitting of your care seat and the size of your pram.

A car seat fitted with isofix isn't necessarily safer than one fitted securely and correctly with a seatbelt, isofix is just an easier, fail safe way of fitting a car seat correctly. If you are confident that you can fit a belted seat correctly it will be just as safe.

The car has plenty of boot space so I'm not worried about having enough space for weekends away which are honestly extremely rare events anyway and will be for the foreseeable future. Yes, it is uncomfortable for us at the moment compared to if we had more leg room but it's not bothersome enough that I think it's worth downgrading the car altogether and the majority of the time, if we're all going somewhere together DH drives so I'm the one in the passenger seat so it's not really DHs problem that the passenger seat is uncomfortable.

I'd change the car based on space. I had a fiesta I ADORED but got rid when ds2 was 5 weeks old and ds1 was 2yrs 4 months because it was a nightmare trying to squeeze everything in. There are scooters, bikes, balls, more shopping bags etc that have to go somewhere. I used to have to shove them in the footwell as I'd run out of space. I now have a zafira I loathe tbh but I don't even blink when I have to put buggy and shopping in.

Isofix doesn’t necessarily make the install safer, it’s just an easier method and therefore less room for human error, which could make a seat unsafe.

i absolutely wouldn’t change a car just for isofix. You might find you want a larger car down the line but I’d just be buying a decent belted seat for your 2 year old (I’m a fan of Joie seats myself!)

@tooearlyortoolate thank you, I didn't know car seats like that were an option, I'll have a Google. That may be the compromise we need.

I was actually advised by someone at a car seat company to use the base for the first seat and then just get one with a built-in base for the next stage as it's just as safe and better value for money.

I wouldn't change your car for the isofix but surely it's not just the isofix that causes the problem, it's the bulk of having a RF car seat behind the driver? Once DD2 is out of her infant carrier aren't you going to have to change your car anyway? Or will you switch DD1 to FF at that point?

Also got a a zafira, hate the look of the thing but with twins and a dog it has been a godsend. We had a Peugeot 307 before and it just didnt work with double buggy, two isofix seats, dog, shopping...

https://www.halfords.com/baby-and-child/car-seats/toddler-car-seats/joie-for-halfords-transfix-i-size-group-2%2F3-car-seat-457262.html?gl=11f64tvovoupMQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI54-GjvfK-QIVJ4BQBh2BwydEAAYASAAEgJKhPDD_BwE

We have this one. It's isofix but no base with the leg. I like it because it looks very slimline. I'm sure there's lots of others like this.

As far as I know isofix is only considered safer because it's fairly foolproof so it's less likely to be used incorrectly. Belted seats are just as safe once they're installed correctly. I am very keen on car seat safety and had my kids in extended rear facing seats up until age 4 - neither had isofix, yet they're the gold standard in car seat safety.

We would switch DD to forward facing in my view. I know the longer you can keep them in rear facing the better but she's well over the 15 month minimum mark and my concern is that buying a worse car is more likely to put me in a position where I'm alone on the side of a busy road with two very small children and a broken down car which is far less safe for both of them. I know there's no guarantee this won't happen anyway with my car or any car really but I really am loathe to downgrade my car for the sake of keeping DD in an isofix and seat when there are other perfectly safe options available that mean we can keep the car we know is good for the money we have.

If you have a reliable 10 year old car, I would hang onto it. Any other car of similar value is likely to come with faults, possibly expensive and dangerous ones.

Isofix car seats are great for convenience but strap in seats are also very safe if you install them correctly (and you get very good at that!).

We had isofix for ours and It was only the baby one that had the leg.

this is the one we used from 9 months. Appreciate guidance has changed from when mine were younger and rear facing is advised for longer but to give you an idea of what’s available.

www.britax-romer.co.uk/car-seats/toddler/evolva-1-2-3-sl-sict/1361.html

Not all isofix seats have the leg or the base - isofix is the metal hook things that the seat or base clip into. It would be much cheaper to look at alternative seats.

You can get extended rear facing seats that take up less space than isofix ones and if installed correctly are just as safe as isofix. Axkid minikid or britax maxway plus are two I've heard about that are Swedish plus tested so are extremely safe.