To expect to be able to find an infant car seat that fits a Peugeot 306 estate?

[ZippysMum]

We've spent the whole afternoon at a massive car seat showroom trying to find a seat that fits without 'buckle crunch'. 'Buckle crunch' is when part of the buckle rests on the infant car seat and makes it unsafe. (I hadn't heard of it before today!).

Called Halfords and Peugeout and they both said it was very hard to find a seat to fit without 'buckle crunch' and suggested the Ricaro - but the buckle still touches the car seat, even with that one (though may be the least bad fit...)

We tried the Britax First Class, which, though Britax have approved it or the car, has the buckle firmly wedged against the body of the car seat. We tried 3 makes of infant carriers, and they all had the same problem - all due to the seatbelt tethers which allow the buckle bit to touch the seat (modern cars have the buckles 'flush' to the seats'.

Anyone else had this problem? Anyone got any wise advice??

Thanks in advance...

Thanks bookbird - we will try that tomorrow too.

Amazing what you can find out on Mumsnet

have you tried a Jane Strata? we had problems getting a seat to fit our older style megane for the same reason. We ended going to a local independent nursery shop and the Strata was the best fit. Incidentally its now coming up as the Which best buy for infant carriers.

Thanks, we are sorted now!

This time next year I will probably be back with the same problem but looking for a Group 1 seat!

The Britax First Class has an alternative belt routing but only in FF mode.

Buckle crunch is real - it's when the plastic of the buckle is touching the plastic part of the seat. Plastic by its nature is not supposed to withstand direct impact so if the plastic part of the seat hits the buckle in a crash it can shatter and release the seatbelt, meaning the seat would be loose in the car. If the buckle isn't touching the seat it should be fine.

Thanks Bertie,

The ONLY infant carrier that we could find that didn't have 'buckle crunch' in either DH's car or mine was the Ricaro Young Priori Plus, so that is what we have got in the end. After Mrs Wells warning to check on Ricaros, I spent quite a while online looking at their safety tests and, though I don't have access to the Which guide, I am satisfied with their safety rating. The seats are produced and tested in Germany, where they are crash tested at higher speeds than the UK, and it scored 'good' (not outstanding) on the crash tests on the German test system. We decided better to go with that, without the buckle crunch issue than a, 'outstanding' seat that could be flung loose in a crash due to the buckle breaking open.

Who would have thought it would be such a palaver! Many thanks again for all your advice and comments.

I think the warning against the Recaro was for the stage 1 (9 month+) seat I have certainly seen much worse seats being used - and you are correct, correct fitting is the most important thing.

Bookbird when fitting car seats its v important to make sure that no part of the belt has any twist in it. It an accident the tension could cause the belt to untwist and the seat would no longer be secure.