Anyone had a CHEAP travel system? How was it?

[YourHandInMyHand]

I'm definitely not going to spend £600 on a travel system, but they seem to vary hugely in price and I want to get one that suits a tight budget but that won't fall apart. I have a maclaren umbrella fold pushchair for when baby is bigger so don't want to spend tonnes on something I will only use a short while.

Has anyone had a joie travel system, or other budget conscious travel system?

I’d get a second hand bugaboo or Icandy to be honest. Loads on Facebook/gumtree and usually in brilliant condition. The cheaper brands are great for strollers but not as robust when it comes to travel systems. For £250 second hand you could get a great travel system that you’d sell on for nearly as much a year later when you’ll want a lightweight stroller.

I have the joie chrome and have no complaints after 18 months. Many friends have stopped using their more expensive systems but I'm still happy.

Yes buying something more expensive but cheaper when second hand is another option.

I've been a childminder for the past 13 years and tried dozens of different pram brands, I've never been able to fathom why people spend soo much money on the big name "designer pram" brands. But then I've not been able to afford to tbh, so perhaps I just don't know what I'm missing ha ha.

I had a graco mirage for my older two. Also used it for the first 5 months with dd3 (10 years later) but hated using it with her so got a second hand nicer one

The graco was about £150 for the whole system including car seat and base. It was fine and obviously pretty durable as I was able to use it for 5 years for dc1and 2 and again for dc3 but I never really liked it.

I paid £100 second hand for a year old m&p sola including carrycot and car seat. There were a couple of marks on the inside of the hood and a couple of scratches on the chassis but otherwise really good condition.

We paid so much for our Bugaboo TS that I'm ashamed We got to test our friends cheaper ones and I hate to admit it but they were just as good. My friend has philandteds Dot and then adaptors with Maxi Cosi seat.... It cost nothing compared to ours and works just fine.

We have another pram now (Buga was too heavy) and were able to turn it into a travel system with 40 quid. It's perfect!

Another one who says go second hand - if we'd bought ours new, it would have cost around £800, but we spent £150 on it. It lasted DD with no problem, and was really nice to push long distances. Plus we could use the carry cot part for DD to sleep in when we went away. Ours was by bebecar; it was huge and heavy, but suited our needs. I'm sure there are loads of others that are equally good!