Which car seat fits a vauxhall astra?

[arolf]

We went to Mothercare today, and tried out a Graco Mosaic car seat and a mothercare ownbrand, and according to the (very junior) member of staff, neither of them fits in our car, and if they don't fit, none will. she recommended trying some maxi-cosi or britax seats, but they all seem phenomenally expensive in comparison - we have a budget of 250 pounds for car seat and pushchair/pram.

The Graco site says that their seats should fit our car, but not how.

Does anyone have a Vauxhall Astra (we have an estate), and if so, what car seats do you use? Also, did you need a base for the seat (we were told that would be our only option, and would cost us more...).

thanks!

we have an 02 astra and Britax seats have fit in ours no problem. we also have a mother care own make (level 3 i think) which fits in. We paid about £120 for the one we have now and about £80 for the one before. for the baby size seat we got an all in one pram system which came with a carry seat and i think that was a mothercare one.

try halfords because they are pretty good and helpful - much more helpful than mothercare.

got britax first class and britax eclipse (I think - basically same as the first class but not rear facing or reclinable). Both been in a 53 astra at some point. progressed to the graco high back boosters when needed.

thanks - we're going to try and go back next weekend and get another member of staff to help us, as there is really no reason the Graco seat shouldn't fit our car. Having looked at the fitting instructions online (took a while to find them!), it looks like the girl at Mothercare hadn't been properly trained for this seat - not her fault, but annoying!