R44 sales ceasing 2023. Should I buy non-isofix seats now?

[MrsD2021]

I’ve read that the sale of R44 car seats in the UK must cease on 1st September 2023. Does that mean that only isofix seats can be sold after next September? We’ve just put a deposit down on a second hand 7-seater car but it only has 2 isofix points. We only have 1 child at the moment but would like a further 2 if we’re lucky enough to fall pregnant again, so should we buy a couple of belted/tethered 25kg extended rear facing group 1 seats (ERF) & a couple of belted high back boosters (HBBs) now so we can use them in the future for the non-isofix chairs in our car? The two pop-up seats in the back can only be used for HBBs without isofix so I’m worrying these seats will end up being pointless if we can’t put children in the back.

I might’ve completely misunderstood the regulations but I can’t find much online about it. But surely manufacturers will have to come up with a non-isofix option because they can’t expect everyone to change their cars if they don’t have enough isofix points??

You can have isofix retro fitted in most cars, worth asking at a local garage. When DS was small DH has an older focus that didn't have isofix, it didn't cost much to have it installed

I wasn’t aware of this change so thank you for bringing it to my attention. We used ERF and still have a child in a tethered seat (age 6 but very small for age). I thought the isofix ERF only went to age 4 approx? So how will that work?

But yes I would purchase what you need now.

I'm sure you will have no problems buying non isofix HBBs secondhand in the future

I’ve done some research and found out that eventually there will be non-isofix (belted/tethered) seats that comply with the new regulations. These will be released under ‘phase 3’ of the new regulations but I’m not sure when that comes into effect.
For the car seats that are currently available that have already passed the Swedish plus tests (eg, the Axkid Minikid, Britax Max Way Plus) it will be up to the manufacturers to essentially re-submit these seats for approval under the new regulations. It’s likely they won’t need to change the design. I would imagine the price of these seats would go up though because they know they’ve got people over a barrel with limited choice.

The R44 regs are based on only weight, whereas the R-129 i-size regs are based on height. So theoretically if you had a tall child they might have to move out of an R129 seat and into a HBB earlier than they would otherwise have to under the R44 regs. They can stay in an R44 seat until they reach the weight limit or when they don’t fit in it anymore.

Phase 3 came out in 2018, so you can already buy some non-isofix seats approved to R129. For example Klippan Opti 129, Avionaut Sky. Besafe Stretch is coming out this year too. There are also seats like Maxi Cosi Emerald, Joie Spin i-Grow, Jané Groowy, Nuna Tres (they seem to be focusing on multi-stage seats which I find disappointing).

But this doesn't really matter to you as a consumer. It's still legal to use any seat you've already purchased even if it is from an older regulation. For example the current law allows you to use R44 seats from R44/03 which was superceded in about 2005 by R44/04, no seats approved to R44/03 have been made for 16 years yet you can still legally use them if you have one (ignoring for a moment the safety implications of old seats/fact that most manufacturers recommend a maximum use of 10 years!)

It would be illegal to use an older seat but R44/02 was superceded in the 1990s. So that's how old a seat would need to be before it was illegal. Hopefully if you had one that old you wouldn't touch it anyway. They look so dated and nothing like modern seats.

So if you want a minikid, max way etc just make sure you buy one before September of next year. It won't become illegal just because they stop approving those designs, it will be decades before R44 seats become illegal to use. I expect shops will be allowed to sell their existing stock as well. If the price goes up it will likely be because of the costs associated with re-testing and development of new models and because some of the older designs will be retired completely.

Some other points - you can't retrofit isofix in most cars, only a few Ford models that had it as an optional extra the original owner did not choose. There are "universal" isofix fittings sold online but these are grey imports (dodgy made in China) and they aren't safe. You can't approve an isofix fitting independent of a vehicle as it doesn't make sense which means they don't meet any kind of standard. Please do not use these. No garage would put them in anyway (or I hope not!)

The idea that i-size seats are no good for taller children is a bit of a myth, I know where it comes from, bloody Maxi Cosi and their 75cm infant seats, but it's nonsensical because unlike R44 with the set weight classes, there isn't a limit on what the height limit could be on i-size seats, so theoretically you could have an i-size seat harnessed up to 135cm or 140cm or whatever, it's just nobody has made one yet. And it's not like police are going around with a tape measure, there is nothing stopping you from just continuing to use a seat past the 125cm height limit or whatever it is if you feel that it is safe. Klippan even suggest this for the Opti 129 and I know Concord have said you can go over the 105cm on the Reverso Plus too. The older seats were restricted in the way of weight classes, which can introduce an arbitrary limit on the use of a seat - limiting it to 18kg OR 25kg with nothing in between (hence why the Axkid One would not have been possible under the older regulation).

I don't know why so far all seats have been produced with a 105cm/125cm limit (equivalent of the same size they designed for under 18kg/25kg rules) in the case of rear facing seats, it might be because the Swedish plus test has stated that the test can be entered by seats with a limit of 105cm or 125cm only.

High backed boosters can always be used without the isofix as well so unless you plan on having triplets I think you will be OK :)

All in all though, I am not sure why people are catastrophising this so much, except that the whole R129 roll out has been a bit of a bodge with misleading and comtradictory information all over the shop. It's normal for safety and product regulations to change over time and generally a good thing. The new ruling means that after September 2023 you will not be able to legally buy a forward facing seat for a baby under 15 months which I think is great!