Halfords says there are no seats to fit our car. Help!

[stegasaurus]

We have a 1999 Ford Fiesta. Today we went to Halfords to see if there were any group 1 seats in the sale for DD. She is 8 months so hasn't grown out of the Maxicosi Cabriofix yet, but we didn't want to miss a potential bargain! The man, who assists in choosing and demonstrating car seats, tried a few in our car and explained to DH that none of them fit properly. I know our car is old, but basically he said we need a new car and we can't really afford that. Is he likely to be right? Should we try another retailer? I think the problem is that our seatbelts are not long enough. That was definitely the problem when buying a first seat, and the maxicosi was the only one that fit properly then (according to the same man we spoke to today)

We had a van that only had a lap belt in the middle. We had a Britax Eclipse which can be fitted with short seats belts or lap belts.

Thanks NewBike. Will look into that.

Also, I looked on the Britax fit finder website, and one of the seats they recommend for our car is one of the ones the Halfords man said didn't fit when he tried it in our car. Is the man likely to be wrong even if he is the store's 'expert' in child seats? If so, where can we go where they actually know what they are talking about to buy one?

Try and independant nursery store that sells car seats. Whereabout do you live?

We have a Britax Eclipse too. We inherited it off SIL who used it in her Ford Focus, maybe a 52 reg?
It fits in my Picasso even though the seatbelts are short. If anything, you need less 'length' than for a Group 0 seat as it only threads through the back, and doesn't go right round.
Sounds off that a so called expert told you this - as if many of us could just go out and buy a new car?!

South Birmingham

He's talking bollocks. I know folk driving tax exempt classic cars with properly fitted car seats!

Phone up the 'in car safety' people in Milton Keynes. They are really helpful on this sort of thing.

Halfords are rubbish. I wouldn't trust their experts to change a bulb. Go somewhere else. See if you can find an independent retailer.

We have a R reg fiesta and my son is in a britax first class, he is forward facing though, not tried it rear facing :)

Did he try the Britax First class? There are 2 routings for the belt in forward facing mode.

I'd agree with the advice to find an independent retailer.

Also, have you considered extended rear facing seats? (Just as an aside)

Wow, thanks for all the replies. To be fair to Mr Halfords, that may not have been entirely the reason they all didn't fit. I wasn't really listening as I was outside the car with DD and he was inside the car demonstrating to DH.
We really want extended rear facing but assumed they would be even less likely to fit the car.
I have just discovered the in car safety centre from browsing other threads in this section. I will try and get DH to call them tomorrow (he can do it as I don't drive and don't know anything about the car if they ask questions)

I find Mothercare best for car seat fitting... round here anyway! I had a 1995 reg Golf and the only one that fitted that properly was a Britax Renaissance which they don't do anymore... But Mothercare had their own version? My friend who used to be a car seat fitter for Mothercare has an R reg Fiesta with a Britax Evolva... they are stage 123 car seats so save some money in the long term too... Can't believe he suggested a new car!!

If you are looking to get an erf seat then ask the 'in car safety' people if they have ever fitted the 'Britax 2 way elite' in your madel/age of car before. It has alternative routing for short belts so may well fit. They are realy helpfull and their knowledge about seats is AMAZING. Im sure they will know what you should do.

Kiddy Comfort Pro.

Fabulous seats. None of the problems with escaping that other seats seem to have, the safest forward facing seat.

We got ours from Olivers. Brilliant service. Had them 18 months and they are still fantastic.

a smiler one here, though ours only goes up to 4 yrs

similar

Mybootsaremuddy I liked the look of the Britax 2way elite after seeing it linked in another thread on here. Will definitely get DH to ask them about it. Now I wish we lived near MK so we could go to the in car safety centre and talk to them

Where abouts do you live? There are quite a few people on here with the 2way elite and other erf seats. If you live near one of them im sure they wouldnt mind you trying it to see if it fits(ive seen them offer before). The 2way is what we are hoping to get for DS2 but he isnt heavy enough yet so we havent got it yet otherwise if you were near me id let u try it out.

i think he's talking bollocks too. my car is a '98 clio and have never had any problems getting car seats to fit.

I had similar wrong information given to me by Halfords staff when I was looking for seats for my 4x4, go somewhere else.

"Thats my baby" in Swindon have a good range including erf. if they are any nearer?

DH spoke to the in car safety centre who said that the TWE will fit in our car though it will apparently be complicated to fit. Thanks for all your help finding all this info.

I have short seatbelts, there's seats on kiddicare that fit