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Kinderkraft car seat

6 replies

Threnody · 23/03/2021 12:32

Has anyone used the Kinderkraft Comfort Up group 123 car seat? Any good?

OP posts:
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BertieBotts · 23/03/2021 19:51

Hi OP

I haven't used it but I can give you some general information about this seat and type of seat if that is of any help?

Forevernamechange12333333 · 23/03/2021 19:56

We do, the only draw back I would say is that it’s seatbelt not isofix so now DS is 5 he wants a seatbelt over him, but once you use the seatbelt it’s basically a booster as you lose the back etc. Apart from that we’ve no complaints, used it since he was 2 yrs old (albeit as our spare in the car we don’t use a huge amount ])

BertieBotts · 23/03/2021 20:06

Forever it's possible to use it in the high backed mode with just the adult seatbelt, this would be safer for your 5yo than just the backless version. In addition he needs to be at least 22kg to use it in the backless mode. (High back is allowed from 15kg.) There should be a button on the back of the headrest to adjust it to a comfortable position for him.

Threnody · 23/03/2021 20:19

@BertieBotts sure, information would be great, thanks.

@Forevernamechange12333333 we don't use isofix anyway, so that's fine for us. We have to fit three seats across the back, so it's a bit limiting.

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 23/03/2021 21:46

OK, so the first thing I would say is that there are two types of car seat company - those who make, design, research and produce their own seats from the ground up and market them under their own name, vs those who mass-produce generic seats not to sell directly to the public, but to sell to other businesses who put their own branding and logos on the seats and then market and sell them, all the same seat underneath but sold under different names for different markets.

The companies that make their own seats tend to put a lot of time and energy into development and as a consequence their seats tend to perform well and have high safety values.

The companies that produce business to business of course still need to adhere to the same basic safety regulations, but because of costs they do not tend to go much further than the basic requirements. Sometimes more premium models might have the higher end safety features in them. It's rare that these kinds of seats get picked up for independent testing (such as by Which?) but they do not usually do very well when they are. The more basic models in particular can do very poorly. It can also be difficult to identify a seat if it's tested under one name but sold under many others, especially as the tests are done in a central lab in Europe, so you often get the German or Italian version of these generic seats.

Kinderkraft is an example of a rebrander - they buy these generic seats and put their own fabrics and logos on and they market them like that. To be perfectly honest, this is a very flimsy model and I would be reluctant to recommend it. It may work OK as a high backed booster, where the job of the seat is purely to route the belt safely around the child, but I'm not sure I would want to use it in the harnessed mode, personally.

Also, if it is for a child who is just coming out of the infant carrier I would not normally recommend any 123 seat for them anyway, as they tend not to protect them as well as a singular Group 1 seat or even better, a rear facing seat.

But I realise this can be tricky if you're on a tight budget as well as tight space wise. Which other seats have you already got and what are the ages/weights of the children you need to accommodate?

BertieBotts · 23/03/2021 21:52

I can't be 100% sure because the only way you can tell is by comparing the shape of the seat in promo photos usually, but I believe Kinderkraft Comfort Up is probably the same seat shell underneath as Tiggo Bebehut, which was tested as part of a selection of these generic type seats. The crash test is on youtube so I'll link that as well as adding photos of both seats so you can compare the shape and see what you think (in any case, they are both very similar in construction.)

The reason it can behave like this in the crash test but still be legally sold is that it will have passed the legal testing which is performed at 30mph on a static sled bench - this testing (by the same company Which? get their test results from) is done at 40mph in a mock up of an actual car, and is supposed to be more representative of real life crashes.

Kinderkraft car seat
Kinderkraft car seat
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