Isofix support legs and Citroen Grand C4 SpaceTourer

[Bridgford]

Hello,

Does anyone have this car? I'm looking at buying a 2019 model but am struggling to understand what it is recommended/safe in terms of car seats.

The car has underfloor storage compartments, and I've seen contradictory things online with some sources saying a base's support leg should extend to the bottom of the storage box, others saying it can rest on top, and some saying the storage box should be filled and then the support leg rested on top.

I'm waiting for Citroen and Maxi-Cosi to come back to me, but in the meantime, any knowledge would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

Hi, I don't have this car. I have Renault scenic grand. Same situation with the leg. You can't use it with underfloor storage as it wouldn't offer the right support during an impact. However I was told that you can buy something to fill the storage space (I think this is permanent) I was able to fit my car seat in the middle of the row where there was no under floor storage. Is that an option?

Hi, thanks for replying. The Renault Grand Scenic is one of the other cars I've been looking at, actually.

We have a daughter (about to turn three years old) and are expecting twins very soon, hence our need to buy a 7-seater that can take 3 car seats along the middle row.

When you use the Maxi-Cosi website's compatibility tool against the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso (should be the same car as the Spacetourer, as they just renamed it), it says Isofix car seats with support legs can be used on all 3 middle-row seats, but with a note that reads:

"Important! The car seat support leg must be installed on the floor compartment lid."

So that seems to suggest it is fine to use the car seats on all 3 of the positions. But I've also read somewhere that the storage boxes were 'reinforced' in around 2016, so perhaps it's only models since then that this has been true of.

I'm hoping Citroen and/or Maxi-Cosi can shed some light on this as it's very confusing!

For anyone also looking for an answer on this, here's what I've found after plenty of online research and contacting Citroen (no response) and Maxi-Cosi (reply attached in screenshot)...

Here are some Twitter threads I found with tweets from Citroen to that effect. I've also found other anecdotal posts on Facebook, Reddit, etc from people (and one car seat company) told the same thing by Citroen:

twitter.com/CitroenUK/status/1026759187731296256
twitter.com/CitroenUK/status/912230057359413248
twitter.com/CitroenUK/status/970703673998430209

We have a 2017 version of this model and spent some time investigating this exact question after I saw it raised previously on here! I can't remember how we found out the answer, but the basic answer is, it's fine 🙂 (we now have 3 years of experience doing this too).

Hi,

We are in the same position as you were at the time of original post. 2.5 year old with twins on the way. Really like the Grand C4 Picasso but saw this issue with the leg support on the car seat base.
What did you do it in the end, did you get the Citroen or Renault and have you had any issues with that floor storage?
I watched a review video where the host compared 3 MPV's. They flagged the Citroen as needing a top tether as Citroen advises against usign a leg saying they were unsuitable. See review here at 4m 05s in . The video is 9 years old thought so probably for older models.

Thanks for all your previous information.

Yes, I think that video will be referring to older models.

Since 2013 there has been a shift in the child seat and auto manufacturing industries - previous to this, they basically weren't talking to each other. So you had the international standards, like the isofix and seatbelts etc that both were aware of but for example, there were features in newer cars like the back seats sloping for comfort/safety of adult passengers, which has an adverse effect on child seats as this makes them slope backwards too. The child seat manufacturers were not necessarily designing their products with these things taken into account. And you have silly things too like these storage boxes being included in "family" cars but that renders the back seats unsuitable for child seats with support leg!

So they got together and drew up a newer standard covering both more of the car interior plus the way car seats are certified, you might have heard of "i-size"? That is what has changed. Under i-size, cars are designing with child seats in mind and car seat manufacturers also have to stick to certain limits such as size maximums. It's meant to be easier for parents as it reduces confusion.

If you ever want to know what your own car's rules are for things like storage boxes, check the car manual under the child safety seats section. Ensure you have the proper manual for the right version (e.g. UK not USA).