Best travel system with isofix for around £500

[Pondlife87]

Hello everyone,
We are expecting a little girl in May and we went shopping for travel systems today. We were both overwhelmed and really shocked at the cost. We really liked the Silvercross Pursuit, as it was easy to use, but with the car seat, isofix adapters etc it was coming in at more than £900.
What would people recommend for around £500 which is simple to use? We want a pram feature, car seat and to be able to use it with an older child. Also we would like it to be isofix.
Thank you
Gemma

@Pondlife87 Iv always said if I couldn't afford a more expensive travel system I would buy second hand and get it that way because the difference in quality is substantial BUT my DSis had the mothercare travel system which worked quite well for the price and I think they have also improved it since she had it x

Why not get a really good erf car seat like a Britax max fix and a pram (second hand top make eg Bugaboo or Joolz?) Read up on maximum time using car seat and benefits of a life flat pram....

Some eBay sellers have some lovely prams that would cost over £1000 new x

I have the Grace Evo Avant and it was less than £500. I have had no problems with it, would recommend it, if they still sell it.

I have a silver cross wayfarer that can be used with most popular car seats with adapters or the silver cross car seat. It’s great.

We had the Joie Gemm car seat which is about £100, you can buy an isofix base for it separately for about £80. It slots into their Litetrax pushchair to become a travel system, the pushchair has a neat one handed fold system and comes with 4 or 3 wheels. Costs £150 new. If you want you can also get a carrycot which fits with the whole system for another £100 or so. You need to buy the adapters for about a tenner. So all in all about £450 :)

I have the silver cross pioneer, and I love it... It was bought for us as a present, but I have seen near perfect 2nd hand ones locally at a 3rd/4th the price x

By isofix you mean you want an isofix base to clip the car seat into the car?

The mothercare Journey will do what you want for 300, though its not very clear whether the seat is compatible with an isofix base or not. The staff in store would be able to tell you. You could upgrade to the Maine seat and isofix base.

Otherwise, I'd look at car seat/base combos first. For example, the Joie Juva and Clickfit base. This base is not isofix, it's belt fitted, but it stays in the car and once installed you probably wouldn't know the difference. Anyway these two will come to around or less than 100. Joie Juva pushchair adapters are the same as maxi cosi, so any pushchair which says it will take a maxi cosi seat is an option and you'd have a budget of 400. If you spend less than 400, you could upgrade to the Joie gemm, which fits in the same base.

If you really don't want to compromise on isofix, you're looking at over 200 for any combination.
Mothercare maine + base 200 - mothercare pushchairs only.
Phil and Ted's alpha + base 200 - looks like maxi cosi adaptors again but I can't be 100% sure.
Joie i-gemm and i-base. Definitely maxi cosi adaptors (baby shop workers often refer to these as multi brand or universal adaptors) - 210
Obviously these prices might be lowered in promotions and sales.

You struggle to find a pushchair with carrycot for under 3-400. Typically the carrycot adds a hundred to the price itself which leaves very little for the pushchair. You might consider looking second hand, with only the car seat part bougtt new. Or, look for a pushchair with the possibility of a seat which parent faces and lies flat, so you can use that as a pram mode from birth.

Pushchairs which take the universal /multi brand car seat clips with lie flat parent facing pram mode:
Maxi Cosi Zelia, 260
Joie chrome dlx, 300
Cybex balios s, 330
Maxi cosi stella 360

Pushchairs with carrycot:
Baby Jogger City mini, + carrycot, 410
Joie chrome dlx + carrycot 400

That's about it I'm afraid, unless you get very lucky with a special deal or multi buy. Keep checking mothercare as they often have special offers where a car seat and pushchair go together for less. January sales might be worth a look.

Good luck! FWIW I looked at the Joie chrome, Cybex balios s and maxi cosi Stella, and loved them.

Thank you for your help. It really is a minefield x

Mothercare Journey is £299 and comes with car seat but not isofix compatible.
However there is the Journey Edit which is £350 without car seat but comes with adapters to fit many car seats which you can use isofix with.
Example:
Mothercare Maine (£100) + base (£100)
Or
Joie gemm (£90 but £50 on mothercare at the moment) + I-base (£90)
Plus Mothercare have 10% of pushchairs and 15% off car seats right now.

Otherwise Chicco make some good value travel system options

Cosatto giggle 2 comes in under £500 and are available in lots of different patterns - older designs are even cheaper. Very easy to use and lightweight compared to most.

We love our Jane isofix matrix, the car seat can be laid flat (even when travelling) which is safer for newborns and it's very sturdy. We chose to get the package with the pushchair bit too for when she grows out of the pram so ours was about £700. I think, but not totally sure, that the isofix base and matrix car seat/pram would just about come in your budget.

She wants the pushchair seat bit as well, pearls.

The Cosatto Giggle deal in mothercare at the minute is very good. And isofix base only £120 more. Comes to about £510 for the set.

The venicci ones review very well and can be bought on offer sometimes.

@Pondlife87 nothing sorry to add but following this thread with interest, I'm due in June and much like you was completely overwhelmed when shopping at the weekend!