Which car seat?

[sparkymummy]

Hiya, wondering if anyone can help. Last year when buying DS first car seat we found a link to the Which Report where they tested all the car seats on the market and rated them. I can't find the link anymore, and wondered if anyone had it. Have googled for it but when it picked up the Which site it said I had to subscribe to Which online

Have you looked at the MN reviews?

the June 2006 one is available for download from here but they're issuing a new one next month if you can hang fire till then.

Thanks MrsBadger, thats the one I had before, I went onto that site earlier but couldn't find it!! Thank you!

I have access to Which I can post the best buys if it helps. Do you want any particular one or size, or shall I just copy it all on here?

ooh Kezza, have you got the June 07 carseat issue yet? Just the Best Buys and Don't Buys for each group would be fatanbulous.

Sure, the latest report is May 07, here are the best buys. Its long so will do the dont buys next.

BEST BUYS:

Maxi Cosi Cabriofix (with Easyfix base)
Price: £200
Score: 75%
A seat designed for newborns up to about a year (13kg), this has a separate heavy base, designed to be left in the car, and the removable seat which clicks into the base and can be used as a baby carrier outside the car. It can use Isofix mounts (with a support leg) or the three-point seat belt to locate the base in the car. The support leg needs a flat, solid floor, so it won?t suit all cars - always refer to the manufacturer?s guidelines before buying.

It?s easy to install with clear instructions and there are colour coded safety indicators to show it?s properly engaged in the base. Crash stability is excellent and it protects children well in front and side crashes.

Britax Cosy Tot Isofix
Price: £165
Score: 74%
The Best Buy Britax Cosy Tot Isofix was the first seat for newborns to use Isofix mounting system. It?s designed for babies from birth to about a year (13kg) in rearward or forward facing modes and it uses a support leg onto the car floor rather than a strap for the third mounting point. The support leg needs a flat, solid floor, so it won?t suit all cars - always refer to the manufacturer?s guidelines before buying.

It?s easy to install and offers excellent stability ? protecting children well in front and side crashes.

Concord Lift Evo PT
Price: £90
Score: 74%
This seat is a booster with backrest, designed for transporting children from four to 12 years (15 to 36 kg). It uses the three-point adult seat belt to secure both the seat and the child.

It is light weight and very easy to install and it offers adequate front crash protection. Side crash protection is good and is aided by the unusual side ?wings? on the seat, which extend downwards to provide extra protection for the child?s abdomen. It?s also possible to adjust the seat?s recline angle, which makes it more likely that you?ll be able to get a good, snug fit whatever the rake of your rear seats. The tall back is good for taller children but in some cars it touches the head restraints ? which may need removing to allow the seat to sit flat against the car seat-back.

Maxi Cosi Priorifix
Price: £230
Score: 74%
A seat for children from one year up to about four years (9 to 18 kg), this seat can be fixed using Isofix mounts or seat belts, and has a support leg which rests on the car floor for additional stability. The support leg needs a flat, solid floor, so it won?t suit all cars - always refer to the manufacturer?s guidelines before buying.

It is well padded and provides good leg support, and it has a very high back, allowing tall children continued use up to the point where they reach the weight limit.

Concord Lift Protect
Price: £80
Score: 72%
This seat is a booster with backrest, designed for transporting children from four to 12 years (15 to 36 kg). It uses the three-point adult seat belt to secure both the seat and the child.

Slightly cheaper and subtly different from its stable-mate the Evo PT, this seat has large side ?wings?, which give excellent head support, and the base offers good leg support. It is light weight and very easy to install and it offers adequate front crash protection. Side crash protection is good and is aided by the unusual side ?wings? on the seat, which extend downwards to provide extra protection for the child?s abdomen. The tall back is good for taller children but in some cars it touches the head restraints ? which may need removing to allow the seat to sit flat against the car seat-back.

Maxi Cosi Rodi XP
Price: £95
Score: 72%
This seat is a booster with backrest, designed for transporting children from four to 12 years (15 to 36 kg). It uses the three-point adult seat belt to secure both the seat and the child.

It?s possibly the easiest to use seat we?ve ever tested, scoring top marks for every aspect of handling. As with many seats in this weight category, the tall back is good for taller children but in some cars it touches the head restraints ? which may need removing to allow the seat to sit flat against the car seat-back.

Britax Cosy Tot Premium
Price: £95
Score: 71%
This is the seat-belt mounted version of the rearward-facing Cosy Tot Isofix, so its shared design means it also has many of the same qualities. It?s designed for babies from birth to about a year (13kg). It offers excellent comfort and safety is good.

It has a high quality finish and it provides for your child to travel in comfort with a good-sized, well padded shell to give adequate head support and an adjustable harness to accommodate taller babies.

Britax Hi-Liner
Price: £55
Score: 71%
This is a forward facing booster with back rest that uses the three-point vehicle belt to restrain the seat and the child. It is designed for children aged about four to 12 (15-36kg).

It is very easy to use, offers very good leg support and excellent padding. While the idea of having one seat for several weight categories is often seen as a compromise, this one does a good job of bridging the gap. Crash ratings are pretty good, with low loads imparted to the child in both front and side crashes. The Hi-Liner has a very high back, which can foul on the car?s head restraints. Stability of the seat can be improved on some cars by turning or removing the vehicle headrest, to allow the high backrest to sit more squarely onto the seat back.

Britax Evolva 2-3
Price: £120
Score: 71%
New for 2006, the Evolva 2-3 looks very similar to the Britax Kid but beneath the surface there are subtle changes. It?s a booster with backrest, designed for transporting children from four to 12 years (15 to 36 kg). It uses the three-point adult seat belt to secure both the seat and the child.It isn?t as light weight as others in the class, but the instructions are clear and it is easy to install.

Like most seats in the class it has a high seat back which can touch the car?s head restraint on some cars. In this case, it can be helpful to remove the head restraint to allow the seat to sit flat against the car seat back. Padding is excellent and it offers very good leg support and front crash loads are low. Thanks to the high side bolsters, side-impact protection is particularly good ? you can adjust the headrest height as your child grows.

Concord Lift Evo
Price: £80
Score: 71%
This seat is a booster with backrest, designed for transporting children from four to 12 years (15 to 36 kg). It uses the three-point adult seat belt to secure both the seat and the child.

It has excellent padding and gives good leg support and the child has an excellent view out of the vehicle.

Britax Duo Plus ISOFIX
Price: £170
Score: 70%
The Duo Plus is designed for children from around a year old to about four (9 to18kg). It can be used in Isofix mode, with two- or three-point (using top tether) mounting, or a three-point adult seat belt to secure it.

It is well made and easy to use with clear instructions. Padding is excellent and leg and head support is good.

Maxi Cosi Tobi
Price: £165
Score: 70%
A seat for children from one year up to about four years (9 to 18 kg), this seat is installed using the seat belts.

It is one of the easiest seats in this weight category to use and it?s unusual in that the harness retracts the straps sideways when undone, so they don?t end up behind the child when they are placed in the seat. It has excellent belt routing and easy size adjustment on the child. The buckle?s tension indicator shows green when the strap is secure. The seat is well padded and offers good leg support.

Looks like they either havent done a worst buys for 2007 or havent published it yet.

You can search by make but not by weight which is a bit of a pain but if there are any particular ones you want looked up let me know.

thanks Kezza - that's a huge help and I'll be linking copiously to this thread in future!

You also need to check that whichever you choose fits your car properly. It is all very well going with Which? recommendations but all their test scores are invalid unless it does. Shouldn't the June 2007 edition be out very soon ?

you are right LIZS, here is the additional info from Which to think about when buying.

Choosing a seat
Make a list of the cars in which you might use the child seat ? for example, friends? or grandparents?, as well as your own. Many seats are described as ?universal? ? so in theory they can be used in any car using adult seat belts.
However, there?s no such thing as a truly universal seat yet. Because the belts and the passenger seats in cars differ greatly from model to model, some child seats work better in some cars than others ? check with the seat manufacturer and try the seat in your car to be certain.
Think about whether you?ll need to use the seat with a lap belt in the centre of the rear seat in any of these cars. Not all seats are designed for this. Generally, it?s better to use a standard three-point seat belt (or Isofix system) if you can.
Use our Best Buys as a starting point for choosing a seat. But it?s always helpful to take your child and car with you to a retailer, and to try the seat in your car before you buy, because some designs of seat suit some cars better. A good retailer will find seats that suit the car or cars you?ll be using it in, and show you how to install the seat properly.
Never buy a second-hand seat - it could have been in crash which will have weakened it.
Don't assume your Isofix car will suit all Isofix seats - some cars have a false floor which won't work with a support leg.
In your car
Check that the seat belt in your car is long enough to secure the seat.
Check that you can feed the seat belt through the slits in the seat without any obstructions.
Check that the shape of the child seat fits neatly with the shape of the car seat.
Place your child in the seat and try to strap them in securely.
Check that the harness can be secured and adjusted easily.
Check the seat leaves enough space for your child to stretch their legs.
Replace your child car seat(s) after any accident which results in ANY damage to your car, however slight.
Installation advice
Generally, always carry children in the rear seat if you can. If you must carry the child in the front, never fit a rear-facing child seat if there is a passenger airbag which hasn?t been deactivated. If it goes off, the force could kill your child. If it?s safe to fit the child seat in the front, adjust the car seat to its furthest-back position.
Make sure that you follow the car seat instructions carefully. It?s a good idea to store the manual in the car.
The child seat should sit firmly on the car seat, with little forward or sideways movement. When you open the buckle of the adult belt, the seat should spring upward slightly.
Avoid ?buckle crunch? where, when the seat is installed, the buckle of the adult belt lies across the frame of the child seat. Only the seat belt webbing should be in contact with the frame of the child seat. Otherwise, pressure on the buckle (in an accident, or even under sharp braking) could cause the buckle to fail.
Never try to modify a seat yourself, for example by adding extra padding.

Thanks for that info. So am I right in thinking they aren't bringin that review in June this year like last year?

Also is the only 1-4 years one for cars without isofix the Maxi Cosi Tobi? They recommended a Mamas and Papas one last year, did they mention that one again? Sorry for the thousand questions just so confused what to get!

no the maxi cosi priori XP is also without isofix (there is an isofix version too)

it is the one i have (actually i have 4, 2 in each car!) and it is brilliant
really comfy
recline positions
good head rests etc..

the Tobi is quite a bit more expensive and the only benefit i can see is that the straps stay open and out rather than fall back when children not in the seat.

Is that one on the Which recommended list as well? I didn't notice it when I looked. Someone else has recommended it to us as well though!

Their 'best buy' 1-4yrs seats this year were the Priorifix, the Britax Duo Plus and the Tobi.
Think the first one was Isofix only (otherise it'd be called plain Priori), the Britax is belts or Isofix and the Tobi is belts only.

They quote the Priorifix at £230 (which I guess includes the base with the leg), the Duofix at £170 and the Tobi at £165.

i don't know, it has always performed excellently in test though when i looked, and it has side impact protection which isn't always included in the scores but is essential!

they have the priorifix and the tobi on the list - the priorifix is the same priori xp but for isofix cars
the tobi is the same as the priori xp but more expensive with the "hold out" straps.

quite complicated isn't it?

typically mamas & papas do quite badly in the tests so i would avoid those. don't know about the individual seats, but overall.

M&P Alto and Revo are current 'don't buys', the Revo is a Group 1, so the group the OP is looking at, I think? The Alto is a Group 1/2/3 as is another 'don't buy, the Concord Trimax X-line.

There may well be another report due out soon - Which make minor updates throughout the year, which keeps bringing high profile tests like carseats up to the top on their website.

Chicco, Mothercare and Graco are often a no go too, althgouh think the Graco Autobaby and Mothercare infant carrier have been well rated in the past.

Re Tobi vs Priori....Just bought a second seat 2 weeks ago for GP's car and the TOBI was also more padded and seemend to have better side bits and a headrest bit that the Priori didnt. There was defo more differences than just the straps that stay open.

Didnt look at the Priorifix though as we dont have Isofix option.

SparkyMummy, I bought my dds the Concorde Lift Protect car seats after reading the Which reports and they are great. You can get a variety of different colour options and both girls (mine are a small 7 and a large 9) love them. Comfortable, adjustable, smart and safer than just having a booster to sit on.

pesto - isn't that one for ages 4+?

yes, 4-12yrs (ideal for 7 & 9)

hi, sorry didnt realise this had moved on. I dont think they are bringing out a new one for June as this most recent one is dated May 2007.

there are loads mentioned here, do you want any specific ones looked up?

KezzaG it was only the Mamas and Papas Pro Tec as it was the only best buy last year in the 1-4 age group if you didn't have isofix, which we don't