Have you bought a Kiddy (German one) car seat online? If so how was it?

[SaffronCake]

I want to buy a Kiddy Guardian Pro (because of Which?) for my daughter who has just passed the 9kg mark. I need to soon because I am expecting a new baby and I will need daughters old MaxiCosi for the little one.

I looked for stockists in my area and found there were NONE. I would have to go hundreds of miles, with both our cars, to try them for fit.

The trouble is at least one of our cars is a total pig for fitting car seats into, as we discoverd not that long ago. So I need to see that the seat does go.

I noticed Kiddicare.com sell them, but I can't find details on their site to tell me for sure if I could return this if it didn't fit. The FAQ section just suggests people go to Peterborough to try them out... I live in Cornwall!

Does anyone know of an online stockist for the Kiddy Guardian Pro (or Kiddy Guardian Pro 2) who will take back a seat which doesn't fit our cars?

Or alternatively does anyone know how I can find out if the car seat would fit our specific cars without physically trying it?

If at all possible I really really want the Kiddy Guardian but we just can't take 2 cars to London to check it out.

Nn the reviews at Which? Antonia Gross from Kiddy in Germany says the company will refund any parent who has a problem with thier child escaping from a Kiddy seat. This was the official Kiddy response after a number of parents highlighted escape problems in thier reviews. She should be contacted by telephone or email in the first instance and the refund would be issued through the retailler. Her phone is 00 49 92 81 70 80 50 (direct line) her email is [email protected] (you do not need to speak German).

I do Bertie, it has to be used in 2 cars.

That's good, a very impressive policy :) I like the way they will refund you the cost of the seat if you have an accident, as well. You just have to send the police report (I'm assuming serious accidents only). I also like the way you can use it in cars which have rearward-facing seats, because it's been crash tested that way as well.

A few months back Which had a car seat safety web chat. I questioned their comments and testing re rear facing which appeared to me to be safer. They replied that it is also about the structure of the car. A child in a rear facing seat is entirely reliant on the seat to protect it, as they are at the car's weakest point. A child in a forward facing seat has the benefit of the stronger point in the car's frame above them. There was another point about pre impact braking which is very common and would mean that a child in a rear facing seat is more vulnerable as it is thrown forward into the the harness at point of impact. (in a forward facer they are thrown back into the seat for point of impact and on a Kiddy then back over the impact shield.)

Aside from all of the above we also needed to swap between cars and went for the Guardian Pro. It has been brilliant for lively DS (18 months now) and he has never attempted to escape. . I hope you can find one.

BertieBotts in order to get a police report you simply have to be injured (including a bit of neckache that might be whiplash) or to believe (even if you're not entirely convinced) that any principle of the highway code has been breached. Most accidents will be able to generate a police report, very few (perhaps carpark shunts) would entirely avoid the need.

bearhunter Thank you, this is also worth considering. So, since one of our cars is Swedish (the Saab) and has a full Swedish spec roll cage and strengthening to the back, presumably in line with the Swedish policy of using rearfacing seats, then the Britax Multitech might be better in the Saab (if it fits) and the Kiddy better in my not-very-enhanced Citroen?

Oh God, I think my head might melt.

My DS discovered he could push the cushion forward (no matter how tight I pulled the belt) and then wriggled his way upwards until eventually he was standing up in the seat, so it was completely wrong^ for us. I'm expecting a refund from Kiddy any day now.

I'm pg again and I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I have two DC's who need to be in Group 1 seats. The way my RF seat is fitted means that it has to be on the passenger side as it is anchored on the front seat so that can't be moved. DH and I are different heights so we move the drivers seat forward and backwards all the time. And the Britax I bought was the only one that would fit into my car (Ford Focus). Like I said I think the principle behind the Kiddy is great, and it's fantastic to move between cars, but I wouldn't risk it again after the experience I had with DS.

Right I have bloody given up. We've got a MaxiCosi Tobi... You're all probably deeply disappointed with me now aren't you, I'm sorry. Here's what happened...

None of the Kiddy's fitted the Saab, which is absurd, it's a family car not a Porsche! But they didn't. This was on account not of the shaped seats but on account of the seatbelts being too short. Then a Britax was tried, it wont go into the seat. But, eventually (at another shop) we found one Britax FF and 2 MaxiCosi FF seats that DO fit the Saab. So far so good, at least something fits...

Now this is the bit where I want to cry. You know that easy Citroen I've got? No you don't, because I haven't, it was all an error. The seatbelt anchors in my Citroen are so long they are apparently like a van. That ruled out two of the carseats, leaving only a MaxiCosi Tobi that would fit both cars.

That's it. That's our options. A MaxiCosi Tobi or replace our cars. What with though? Anything we can afford is no more likely to fit any given seat and we're thousands off the buying price for anything young enough to have IsoFix. I wanted to cry by this point. It's never easy raising a family on a minimal budget but does it have to be this bloody hard? Is being willing to go to £275 on a carseat meaningless? Apparently yes, if you can't go to several thousand for the car to go with it.

So we've got a Tobi.

It gets worse. You know that Cabriofix that I said fits both our cars? Yeah well it doesn't. On mine there's a bad case of buckle crunch, rendering it unsafe. This isn't an issue with DD, she's just big enough to go in the Tobi so she has at least SOMETHING secure to ride home in, but I'm having a new baby in 2 months. There actually aren't any group 0 seats that are on sale that will safely fit my Xsara's seatbelts. None.

Does it have to be so bloody hard? Really?

I've now got to see if the car can be modified, to shorten the seat belts, or if I have to buy a "new" car. I am desperate to avoid having to buy a new car though, my car, although very clean, maintained and mechanically sound, is worth virtually nothing; meaning any car I can buy for it's value will be at high risk of being a secret deathtrap.

I'll ring Citroen in the morning, perhaps a shorter seatbelt anchor from the older Saxo's could go in.

Perhaps it's just pregnancy hormones but I just want to cry now.

((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

I had the same with my citroen. short belts and buckle crunch,
Britax first class....alternative routing worked.

Where did you go for fitting?

What about a base for the cabrio fix?

Did you look at the Maxi Cosi Mobi? It sits really far back from the chair so the stalks can be really long. This photo is from the other side to the buckle but does it look like there's enough room for your stalks?

I feel like the Graco Junior Baby may work if anything does. Or the Bebecar Easymaxi actually. I really feel for you having so much trouble while heavily pregnant.

What you need a britax babysure- the one marketed before the babysafe. Thats what I had when my citroen had short belts/ long buckles.

It also fitted two ways.

graco junior baby didnt work short belts.

Im hoping you havent been to the shop I recommended yet. He will sort you out! I was crying heavily pregnant a few years back with the same problem!

I wasn't thinking about the short belts, oops.

Just looked on britax fit finder.......I can see your problem.

What group 0s have they tried in your car?

Aww thank you so much for being so nice, I really thought you'd all be disgusted with me.

The other MaxiCosi the Saab would take was suitable from birth to 4 years. Probably an Opal but I had to check that on the website because I forgot what she said. My daughter loved it.

The Britax First Class (can't remember if it was Plus or Si) was the other one the Saab would take, again suitable from birth to 4 years.

I haven't been to the shop you said about sleepevader, I went to Halfords Truro on the way home from Hayle. To be fair, I did expect terrible advice and was primed to look for it but the girl who dealt with us was very on the ball. She even told me a few things I didn't know. One of them was that in a fire or where there are sparks even an airbag which has been turned off and locked with a key can deploy, so never trust a switched off airbag.

The shop at Hayle sadly told us to ignore Saab's safety warnings on the strength of an email which was actually about a Ford. That was when we knew we wouldn't be buying anything there ever.

Seriously go to the shop I recommended. He will sort you out an infant carrier. Pain to park admittely but give him a call and he can tell you where to park to for car seat fitting. He can also advise you on stock too. I bet if you tell him your is a citroen xsara x year he will tell you what your problems are without you telling him!

If he recommends a maxi cosi base and its too expensive an option (unlikely because I think you will get buckle crunch) they are on offer with amazon at the moment and I have got mothercare to price match it. Im taking it in store for a fitting check

Halfords Truro are where the car fitting trainer is located so probably a safer bet than the others.

Interesting info about the airbag. Will remember that.

Also remember halfords have really limited stock ranges....there are lots of brands out there that still can be tried. x

They haven't tried any in the car, they really didn't need to, even I could see my practically-plaitable seatbelt anchors just weren't gonna work with anything but a specific buckle-crunch design- there are none in group 0 though. Or at least there were none in Halfords, or even that they had ever heard of, and they phoned the safety trainer bloke to see if he had either. They say they have to sometimes tell people they have an impossible car, probably trying to break it to me gently.

I will be trying the specialist shop you said about before I even think about selling my car though. And I'm calling Citroen in the morning about shortening these anchors. They're on long floppy bits of belt not stalks iykwim, so there may be hope? If I can shorten even one I can still use the CabrioFix again on that side

We use with the CabrioFix with an EasyFix base already, although it turns out it's been unsafe all the time I've had it in my car, with or without the base. I never had it fitted, it was my sisters. We did get Halfords to fit an identical MaxiCosi set up to the Saab back then but I didn't think to get it fitted in the Citroen as I think I'd read somewhere that the Citroen was Ok... So we had my sisters.

I had a very old Citroen with exactly as you described. Short belts and buckles on long floppy bits of belt. The britax babysure fitted.

The new babysafe may fit too according to the britax site although tricky as you may have to tilt the seat as you have short belts.

The fit finder on britax have recongised the buckle crunch and short belts on other seats but not said about buckle crunch on the babysafe.......glimmer of hope?!

Hopefully, I'll tell it to that independant shop when I go in. Which babysafe did you mean, there are 3 things called that on the Britax website?

www.britax.co.uk/car-seats/car-seats

The babysafe would be either of the carrier ones.

If you look at the fit finder you will see you can tap in make/model/year of your car.

I guessed 1998 as it was oldest they listed.

You then click on product and then seat in car. It gives installation notes.

Worse case scenario...ask man in shop if he can see if britax have any stock of the old babysure that they do get on a sale or return basis.

He also told me they were bringing out a budget version of babysafe very similar to old babysure. New seasons stock out soon

This was what I used to have

di1-4.shoppingshadow.com/images/pi/77/3d/ba/24681635-260x260-0-0_Britax+BabySure.jpg

Looks just like a standard carrier but it fitted even with the buckle crunch and short belts.

Recently sold it to a lady with the travel system otherwise you could have it and get shop to check it, sorry

I checked the fit finder, it does say that either kind of the baby safe plus seats would fit and the first class plus would fit, but we ruled out the first class plus because of the buckle.

I'm gonna sound really nerdy now... The Xsara did have a model that ran from 1998-2000 (the one on the fit finder) but it also had a slightly different model that ran from 2000-2004, that's the one I've got. My one is not listed on the fit finder at all.

Did the fitter use the alternative routing on the first class ie through the metal bit at the back or thread it through the main body of the car seat?

You dont sound nerdy at all....but I bet you have the same hatred for citroens buckles as I do after my incident when heavily pregnant.

Through the bit on the back. She pulled it forward, threaded it through and then closed the seat onto it, if that makes sense?

This video explains it.

Ahhhh, I don't know now I watch the video. If the shop you recommended does these I will have him check this too.