Been given a Maxi-Cosi Cabrio (not cabriofix) but car seat belts too short!

[sleeplessbunny]

My SIL has kindly donated her pushchair/pram and carseat from DN, which match as a travel system, but when I tried fitting the carseat it seems the seatbelts in the rear of our car are just too short to fit it. I can just about get the end to plug in, but it pushes the seat to an awkward angle and it just doesn't seem right IYSWIM. I have friends who have been unable to fit carseats in our car because the belts are too short so this is not a huge surprise. The car has isofix, so ideally I'd like to use that.

I think the carseat is a Cabrio, not a Cabriofix. It was bought in 2005 so it's quite old now but I am fully confident of its history so I'm OK with that. I see that Maxi-Cosi sell an easyfix base, but I'm not sure if it will fit, does anyone know? The pictures of the Cabriofix on the internet look exactly the same as the carseat I have.

Ideally I would like to keep the same carseat as it will fit the pushchair. And they are ££££ new.

seat belt extender

Would it work if you bought one of these?

no, I already have one, it's no use as the buckle ends up being too high up so the lap belt kind of twists rather than going straight across the car seat. Shame.

Aren't car seats supposed tobe chucked after 5 years anyhow cos the plastic degrades. I wouldn't be trusting one that old I'm afraid - maybe check with maxi cosi

Don't car seats have a 5 year expiry date? Sure I read that somewhere.
Sorry I'm not being very helpful am I?

Xpost!

really? oh, well that might be the end of it then. Best start saving...

Just to make you aware .. John Lewis have what u think is an error on their website at the moment the cabriofix is online for £66.66 !! I picked mine up yesterday :) meant to be £135 so surely an error on their system but worked for me !

Also inc is free delivery

Re the car seat expiry issue, I emailed Britax in 2012 to see if I was ok using my Britax First Class seat for DD2 - it was bought in 2005 for DS. They said it was perfectly fine and safe, their car seats are not made from a plastic that will degrade over time. I'm still using the seat now as a spare, DD2 is now in a Britax Multi Tech ERF seat day-to-day.

Of course a car seat should be replaced if it's been in an accident, even if there is no sign of damage. But I had no problem using a Cabriofix that a friend lent me (in general I'm against 'travel systems' but had to admit defeat in the end with baby no.3 - the Cabriofix fitted on my Mothercare pram chassis and sometimes it was just easier to have the option of leaving DD2 in her seat and pushing her in that).

Seat belt extenders are likely to fail with the forces of an accident. Avoid!

Maxi Cosi infant seats have a 5y life span so it's at least 3y expired. A new seat is needed.