Which is the lesser of two evils?

[SoBroken]

Really in a bit of a quandary. Had a Britax First Class car seat for DS1, which he's still in. Really love it and would ideally like to get another one for DS2, but in the interim, they seem to have gone up from £80 to about £130, which is not an easy amount of cash for us to find at the moment.

Had a look at 2nd hand ones on ebay, there's one locally for £35. I know you're not supposed to get 2nd hand in case they have been in accidents and have damage you can't see, but otherwise I'm probably going to end up having a cheap flimsy one from Asda for about the same money, but not one I really know and trust.

What would you do?

You can get a decent one for a lot less you know it isn't all or nothing. Cheaper ones are not necessarily flimsy. Have a look at Kiddicare.

What do you pay for in the expensive ones? I like the first class because of the metal frame and good straps and it looks safe and comfy and can recline for a newborn. The cheap ones I have seen have barely any newborn support and seem to be made from polystyrene.

We had an accident when DS was about 4 months and the first class was brilliant. He was absoutely fine. I trust this seat because of this I think!

The name mostly but yes the expensive ones are the nicest and the cheap ones can be nasty but there are some middle-of-the-road types out here which do the job perfectly fine. I have a Britax that is great but didn't cost me a weeks wage! I got it from Argos. I have also bought one form Netto for £20 and it shows!

You can get Britax ones from kiddiecare for £80, have a look here

While all car seats should meet UK safety limits, the better ones really do offer more protection. The britax baby safe SHR one has just been awarded the Which best buy rating. Up to you, but you may not have to compromise as much as you think. Good luck.

What age is your DS1? Is he nearly old enough to go up to the next size seat soon so DS2 could have the Britax?

Also did you change the car seat after the accident? There can be damage caused which you can't see, hence the warnings about not buying secondhand.

Amazon seem to be price matching kiddicare too, they are all about £95. Still a lot I know but better than £130.

Or even better... goto boots.com, they have the first class plus jet for £99.99, but if you spend over £90 and use code FRGT23 then you should get 10% off, i.e. it will work out as £90 (and with advantage card points - taking those into account it will work out as about £86). Need to use the code by 25 August though.

My DS1 has just turned 3, so probably not ready for next size up for another year. I toyed with getting a little handle-type baby seat, but they don't seem much cheaper and then I'd probably have to buy a bigger one anyway. Since I don't intend to carry him around in it or clip it onto a buggy it seems like a bit of a waste of money.

Can anyone recommend a car seat that goes from newborn to 4 like the First Class but is cheaper? I had a good look on Mothercare and the cheaper ones seemed to mostly have bad reviews about fiddly buckles and no newborn support.

I did change the seat after the accident, just in case. My mum had a spare she had bought but hardly used since we had moved, so she generously donated it.

Thanks for the code grubbalo, I hadn't thought of Boots! Will check that out!

And if you do buy from boots, you can get 10 points on your boots card for every pound in parent and baby club or whatever its called which works out at 10p back- so 10% to spend back at boots on baby wipes or whathaveyou