Can anyone help me choose a car seat?

[KongKickeroo]

Pretty please My DS is almost 10 months old, 50th centile all round, and is currently in a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix. I am thinking of getting an ERF seat for the next stage but am a bit bewildered by the options and going around in circles.

We have a newish Ford Focus without Isofix (no second car atm so car seat will probably stay put). We are oop north so nowhere near the In Car Safety Centre which I've heard is the best, though happy to buy remotely if the seat is easy ish to install.

I am considering:

• Besafe Izi ERF seat - though not sure which one? (Plus or Combi)
• Britax 2-way elite
• Joie stages
• Recaro Polaric
• something else?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts!

I would really recommend Winstanley's Pramworld in Wigan, massive range of products and fab service! The staff are very knowledgeable.

I'm a member of Which?

They have only tested the Izi Combi X3. "Rearward facing, the Izi Combi X3 protects well, scoring 4 stars in both front and side crash tests. These drop down to an acceptable 3 stars each when it's installed forward-facing using the adult seatbelt"

Overall rating:

"The Izi Combi X3 has no major weaknesses in protection or ease of use, but it is a big and heavy seat which won't suit everybody's needs or all cars"

They also say the seat weighs 16kgs, so not well-suited to moving from car to car. They reckon a tall 3 year old would struggle for leg room.

Hope this helps!

If you have a feel in the back of the focus you'll find the Isofix fittings are there, they're just not exposed.

You have to push quite hard to feel them though. You can buy kits off the internet for about £20 to do it yourself, It's a template and you just stanley knife through the upholstery and pop the plastic covers on that come with the kit. Just google ford Isofix kit. Much cheaper than taking it to Ford to get it retrofitted.

We've got an 04 cmax and we assumed it had Isofix, and were shocked when it wasn't there but a bit of googling sorted it for us. We haven't actually bought the kit, just knifed 2 holes where we could feel the Isofix and the car seat covers the mess (scruffy buggers we are).

We have the klippan kiss, It's great.

Oops, should have said you might find they're already there! Don't want you hacking at your upholstery for nothing! If they're not there you can buy the kit from Ford for £16 and if you're a bit handy it takes about 15 minutes to install.

ooh thanks so much everyone!

HappyAs that's great to hear about the Swedish Plus tests, I had heard they are the most stringent. I spoke to ICSC who were really helpful and recommended either the 2-way elite or the BeSafe Izi Combi, as long as we don't mind sacrificing space in the front passenger for the BeSafe.

LovelyBit thanks for the recommendation, we are not at all far from Wigan so will see if we can plan a trip to see some seats in person.

AliceMum thanks so much for the Which information, that's reassuring. I had heard they are quite down on ERF seats but from what they've written there the safety of the BeSafe isn't in question, which is the most important thing for us. I think we are going to go for that one.

BornOfFrustration it's funny you have posted that as I realised today I could get the Ford Isofix kit and fit it myself, so have ordered it. I have found the pre-drilled holes - they seem to be more accessible in our car, I only need to lift the seat up - somewhat disappointing as I would have loved to see DH's face as I slashed through the upholstery with a Stanley but never mind

We bought the britax maxway for ds when he outgrew the maxi cosi at 18mo (he's a titch!). Got it online from the Swedish company car seat.se (I think) but that was last year so maybe they won't sell online now? It is fiddly to fit, but we've only done it once so I'm sure practice makes perfect! It's in our peugeot 308 and the front passenger seat does have to be quite far forwards to fit the maxway, which because of the very sloped windscreen does mean the passenger is quite close to the glass... Not sure if there are safety implications in that!

Ds loves it though and at 2.4 looks nice and snug in it. Did consider the besafe combi but thought the maxway offered a better recline. Buying the besafe infant carrier for dc2 though and definitely rate their safety record.