Isofix confusion???

[Edgecrusher]

Hi there, I am totally confused by the whole situation with the isofix thing. I have a Leon Cupra which has the fittings in the back of the car and i am looking for a new seat for my little girl(9 months). She is moving up to a forward facing seat soon so i am scouting round for a good seat. I am lured towards Britax as they are quality stuff and well established but when i looked on their site they have a fit finder guide where you enter in your car details and it tells you which seats fit your car. Unfortunately the isofix seat i am lured to doesn't come up on the list and i don't understand why. The seat is the duo plus isofix.

Has anyone else got one of these seats? and does it fit the isofix in the Leon? Please help as i am well confused and want to be able to sleep at night without worrying that i am going to endanger my little one by buying an incompatible seat.
Help!!!

 

[megadyptes]

Why not just take the car to your local Mothercare and see if it fits?
If not, just work your way around their entire collection until you find one your happy with

 

[Downward]

I think there is only the Britax ISOFit one that comes with ISO fittings.
Best get down to Halfords - They are pretty clued up on Car seats, they have a specialist !

 

[goble]

http://www.seat.co.uk/generator/su/uk/SEAT/site/Service/original-accessories/main.html

 

[Willie]

Good link, cheers

 

[Pugster]

Hi there, I am totally confused by the whole situation with the isofix thing. I have a Leon Cupra which has the fittings in the back of the car and i am looking for a new seat for my little girl(9 months). She is moving up to a forward facing seat soon so i am scouting round for a good seat. I am lured towards Britax as they are quality stuff and well established but when i looked on their site they have a fit finder guide where you enter in your car details and it tells you which seats fit your car. Unfortunately the isofix seat i am lured to doesn't come up on the list and i don't understand why. The seat is the duo plus isofix.

Has anyone else got one of these seats? and does it fit the isofix in the Leon? Please help as i am well confused and want to be able to sleep at night without worrying that i am going to endanger my little one by buying an incompatible seat.
Help!!!

Mk1 Leons have 2 point Isofix fittings. You're only supposed to fit 2 point Isofix seats that have been tested in the specific car so I'm guessing the model you are looking at hasn't been tested in the Leon

 

[Willie]

According to the link it has

 

[Pugster]

The link to the SEAT site? Those aren't Britax seats though.

 

[Ruddmeister]

I have a Brittax Isofix that I use in the Wife's Ibiza 1.2S and my Passat tdi, neither car was listed on the Brittax website but it slots into both fine.

On the Passat the Isofix fixing points in the car are visable at the bottom of the seat cushion which makes fitting easy.

On the Ibiza the Isofix fixing points are concealed behind the seat cushion, the Brittax seat comes with two plastic wedges that wedge the seat cushion apart allowing easy fittment of the seat.

To begin with the isofix mechanism on the seat was stiff in both cars (you had to push the prongs quite hard to get a fixing) after a month or so these has loosened up nicely and it's far easier to switch between cars

 

[Pugster]

Were you advised to get the seat by a shop?

 

[Ruddmeister]

Were you advised to get the seat by a shop?

No I bought the seat on tinternet if it didn't fit I would have returned it.

The seat has red tabs on it that when locked in place correctly turn green, you then push back in tight on the seat chusions (like a one way ratchet) and me pulling as hard as I can I can;t shift the seat

 

[Ruddmeister]

Got my car seat from here excellent service and next day delivery

http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/categorydisplay4_10751_14568_-1_10001_Y

 

[Pugster]

With all due respect, the fact that it fits into the Isofix mountings isn't the issue.

There is a risk with the 2 point fixings that the child seat base will rotate forward in a crash and increase injuries. This is a car specific issue and depends on the shape/softness of the seat cushion on the car and the design of the car seat. Some car seats get round this with a "leg" that jams between the car seat and the floor pan of the car. Hence why the Britax site doesn't list the Leon because they haven't tested it.

3 point Isofix seats get round this problem completely and can be fitted to any car with a 3 point Isofix system in place

 

[james_tiger_woo]

I have a Britax Isofix seat in my Leon and it fits perfectly.... My 2 year old loves it - apart from when I bang his head against the pillar of course....

 

[Ruddmeister]

With all due respect, the fact that it fits into the Isofix mountings isn't the issue.

There is a risk with the 2 point fixings that the child seat base will rotate forward in a crash and increase injuries. This is a car specific issue and depends on the shape/softness of the seat cushion on the car and the design of the car seat.

The Britax has the Isofix 2 system and you can also slot the seatbelt through the seat back as well and tension that in place.

The seatbelt prevents the rotation.

 

[Pugster]

The Britax has the Isofix 2 system and you can also slot the seatbelt through the seat back as well and tension that in place.

The seatbelt prevents the rotation.

Just the job then. Sounds like things have moved on from when I was looking for seats.

It's all mighty confusing for a supposed standard system.

 

[Ruddmeister]

Just the job then. Sounds like things have moved on from when I was looking for seats.

It's all mighty confusing for a supposed standard system.

The seat belt fixing is also for use if you move the car seat to a non Isofix car

 

[Ruddmeister]

For anone else concerned there is also a £15 add on called the Top-Tether which stops rotation

"The Britax Isofix top tether kit is required for some cars to enable the Britax Duo Plus Isofix car seat to be fitted securely - namely Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover Mazda and Mitsubishi models"

http://shop.babyworld.co.uk/DisplayDetail.aspx?prodid=690

 

[Edgecrusher]

Thanks for all your answers. I think i'll try the seat in the car and see if the "experts" at the store think it's ok, ifnot i'll just have to keep on trying

 

[Marty_day]

did you ever figure out the Top tether issue? I'm about to buy a Britax duo plus Isofit for my SEAT ALTEA XL 2007.... which I think doesn't NEED a Top tether.... but I think is safer with one.