Joie tilt- anything better for travelling with?

[Spareincoming]

We’ve had a Joie Tilt for years as a
spare/take on holiday car seat as it’s lightweight and rear facing. And it’s been great.
But we need a replacement.
Is anyone aware of if there anything better on the market these days with the same lightweight and rear facing qualities for a 19 month old, 25th percentile toddler?

Long story short, my SIL has accidentally taken our spare car seat back home still fitted in her car. We’ve no way to get it back in time for our own holiday as she lives an awfully long way from us so popping round to get it isn’t possible, plus she goes away this morning!
She’s very apologetic and has already sent money for a replacement!

Hi OP,
I’d have a look at the Joie Stages which would be a great option for a low centile child. I don’t know if you’re aware but Joie released an update on the Tilt a little while ago to confirm that it is outgrown when the child’s head is above the shell of the seat. I guess your child would be ok, but just so that you are aware for your SIL.

@FamilyAreEverythingThanks for
that, I hadn’t realised there was newer Tilt, we’ve had ours maybe 6 years and it’s only been used sporadically - mainly due to it being the small shell and my DCs being tall, the 19 month old is an exception!
I’ll check out the Stages too!

No the seat is the same, it's just Joie released some kind of guidance which went around all the FB groups saying people shouldn't use it RF if the child's head is over the top, unless you have a large amount of clearance to the front seat anyway.

Halfords Impala looks similar in terms of weight, RF capacity and cost, but I have no idea how long it is in the shell, it might have a similar issue in terms of being short. If you can get to a store to check your DC in it, it might be worth a look?

Stages might be an option, or you have Graco Extend/Joie Steadi R129 - though again I would try to check this in person. I have seen a few MNers say this did not last them the advertised 105cm. I thought it was heavy when I looked at this in the shop but looking online it is only about 400g more than the Tilt.

Joie Every Stage R129/Graco Slimfit R129 is worth a look as that one is very tall and up to 21kg (but 105cm height limit also). It's a little more expensive but does last longer.

@BertieBotts thank you as always for your expertise - I am not too worried about its longevity, as we only use it as a spare for travelling or using in visiting vehicles - such as SILs car - whilst the DC are in Britax Dualfix because those seats are a heavy lump to transfer between vehicles!

We then go onto Britax Maxway Plus seats which are easily transferable and I know could be used instead of the Joie Tilt but seem a big leap from the snug fit of the Dualfix when DC are under 2.

You can use the Britax comfort insert to reduce the Maxway a bit for younger children - this is the one. https://www.britax-romer.co.uk/accessories/car-seat-accessories/comfort-insert/4406.html

I know it doesn't list Max-Way Plus as being compatible but that's because it's retired - it was compatible with it when it was a current model and they should confirm this via email (but it might take a few days to get a reply).

@BertieBotts Thanks ever so much for this, we have that insert somewhere from another seat.
As an aside, do you know if the comfort insert was compatible with the two way elite? I appreciate it’s an old seat, but
it fits very well in the farm Diahatsu in an emergency so suspect it will see one more round of service!

@BertieBotts
As an aside, do you know if the comfort insert was compatible with the two way elite? I appreciate it’s an old seat, but
it fits very well in the farm Diahatsu in an emergency so suspect it will see one more round of service!

That one I don't know. You could try contacting the In Car Safety Centre - they might know, as they were the distributor for that seat in the UK for a very long time.

@BertieBotts Thank you, I will do that.

OK; actually, I've found it listed as compatible on a couple of German ERF sites and then on several UK ones under the EU model name "Two-Way"

e.g. this one https://carseatninja.com/products/britax-comfort-insert

@BertieBotts You're a star, I couldn’t find that information and I’m usually pretty Google savvy!
I’ll just delete the email I’d started composing to in car safety centre! 😃

It's only because I remembered it had a different name in mainland Europe! And because I'm physically in Germany, my google results come up with local sites.

When they first designed that seat, it was sold in the UK as a forward facing only model called Elite, but sold in the Nordic countries as Two-Way. They marketed a seat similar to the First Class in the UK called Two-Way instead, which had a much shorter RF time. So when they allowed it to be imported into the UK as a Special Needs seat they changed the name for the UK market to call it Two Way Elite to avoid confusion.

You could always ask them if you wanted to; they might have an interesting answer :)

I shall email them purely out of interest and let you know the response!
A million years ago I sold car seats at a big national chain and we often got seats from Britax and Graco with slightly different names on the delivery notes, which caused mild havoc, shame I didn’t remember and thought could there be an “alternatives name?”

@BertieBotts The reply was along the lines of “we don’t deal with Britax anymore, but have stock of the comfort insert left so please buy it, we can’t tell you if it fits.”

Ah how unhelpful/annoying! :D