Stage 1-2-3 car seats - any recommendations?

[newlark]

Dd is 3 and needs a new car seat as her younger brother is growing out of his stage 0 car seat. We don't want another stage 1 seat that she'll be out of within a year but she is not even close to 15kg for a stage 2 seat. Does anyone have any views on the relative merits of the few that are available? The Britax evolva 1-2-3 looks a likely option - anyone know how it does in safety tests? We have a ford focus so not masses of space...

Also interested in the practicalities including fitting, how easy it is to get the child in and out etc. Other ones we are looking at are the recaro young sport and the safety 1st trisafe.

we had the evolva 1-2-3 ultra,it was a fab seat,quite tricky to fit the first few times,but VERY secure,i would def get another one,dont think the seatbelts in a focus would be long enough to go around it though?

havent had that recaro,but had a different model,they have a 2 yr guarantee,but their customer seervice was shocking when our £200 seat broke,we had 2 different things replaced within the first yr,

Thanks for the response - I've just checked the britax website and it says it will fit in a focus - might well be tight though - we can only just get the seatbelt found ds's stage 0 seat (also Britax).

I'd be interested in thoughts from anyone on the Safety 1st seat - I saw it in John Lewis and they generally only stock reputable makes but I can't find many reviews or other stockists.

We got the Britax 1-2-3 for DD for the same reason. It's absolutely fine, not as easy to fit as eg the Maxi Cosi stage 1 or 2 (can't remember their names) but not impossibly difficult. Very secure and sturdy looking

I'd say you'd be fine with your Focus - you don't need anywhere as near as much seat belt as you do for a stage 0 seat.

my britax evolva JUST fitted in my mgzr(i had to lean on the seat to get the belt clipped in) but my maxi-cosi cabrio fitted in no probs,

in my mums focus (51plate) i can only get the seatbelt round the cabrio if i put it round the seat first then clip the belt in as its not long enough,so the evolva def wouldnt fit in it,
just because of the way the belt wraps around the seat it uses more than you would think!