Joie Elevate 1/2/3 Car Seat

[surreyisik]

Hi all, does anyone know anything about Joie Elevate 1/2/3 Car Seat? We don't drive so bought it for 10 month old DS just for taxi journeys, the seat itself being relatively light. I can't find any information about their performance in independent crash tests either so considering returning it. Any experience / advice appreciated, thank you

I find this seat incredibly flimsy, and it doesn't rear face at all which is unfortunate for a 10 month old. It often gets what is called forward anchorage - to explain what this is, when a car seat is fitted with seatbelt, the lap belt must be able to anchor the seat firmly in place, and this is achieved by creating tension by routing the belt through the seat and pulling tight. Because the position of the belt anchors vary in cars, most belt fitted car seats have a routing that takes the belt around the seat quite far forwards. With the Joie Elevate, the belt path is very far back in the seat and doesn't have any over-under-over design to compensate (which is what other 123 seats usually do) with the result that, unless the seatbelt points are almost buried in the seat, the belt will just be loose without any tension, which means the seat won't fit securely.

A good option for taxis for a 10mo would be Joie Tilt / Graco Extend and rear face it, since this is the safest option, even when you're looking at basic seats without many safety features.

If you prefer to forward face ASAP then I would look at Britax First Class or Joie Steadi 129, because these are not a huge amount heavier but have a bit more protection for FF. They both have a rear facing option - the First Class is allowed to be used FF from 9kg, but may be used rear facing until 13kg (which I would recommend) and the Joie Steadi has to be rear facing until a minimum of 15 months, but you can use it rear facing longer if you prefer.

Sorry, to answer your original question - it hasn't been through any independent testing, and Joie haven't brought out a new version for R129 which makes me think they are likely retiring it (but that's a total guess/speculation.)

Thank you so much, I have decided to return it. I will look at the other ones you have mentioned, really helpful! :)