Triggaaar

As you may have seen from a thread I started, I'm trying to choose a new family car. One point influencing the decision is the amount of isofix points in the cars. For example, the Honda FRV, with 3 seats in the front and 3 in the back, had an isofix point in the front middle seat, but not the front passenger seat, so you can't have your 2 kids next to you, in isofix seats. Pretty stupid, since that's the selling point of the car.

But are the isofix points worth having anyway? I assumed they were a metal bar, running at the back of your seat, that you simply clicked a chair into, but having looked at the seats, they all seem to have massive fixing trays with a leg at the front. That would make moving the seats from the front of an FRV to the back (depending on whether there's 1 ot 2 adults in the car) a real pain.

While the Isofix seats are safer, unless I'm missing something, the whole design seems rubbish. Would have been easy to just have a strap at the front of the child seat that attaches a metal bracket on the floor of the car, instead of these massive bases.

Any ideas?
Thanks

serpico

I have an isofix child seat in my bugeye and it is far more secure than the seat belt options available. It is also a lot quicker to install.

I have no base on mine and no pole at the bottom of it.

Your best bet is to go to somewhere like halfrauds and try em out. Then you can shop around for the best price.

I have my isofix seat in my previous cars: golf gti, seat lcr & ctr with no probs. Defo recommend em and it doesnt seem to mark the seats as much as the conventional ones.

pippyrips

Isofix fitting and compatible sits are definitely worth it. I've got a Britax Duo + (at least I think it’s called that!) and it’s great. Came top in the Which survey and takes seconds to move from 1 car to another without the need for a base.

Triggaaar

That's reassuring, thanks guys.

I read the which report, and then looked up online prices for the 3 recommended seats for newborns, and they all appeared to require these massive bases, but perhaps they are just an extra option, more suitable if say you never move the seat. I shall pop to Halfrauds to see how they work.

So I will so with Isofix seats, which leads to my next question:
Anyone know how much it costs to add an Isofix fitting to a car (ie, the front passenger seat of an FRV)?

Thanks

pippyrips

Cheapest place to look for seats is kiddiecare.com

TopBanana

The idea behind seperate bases and seats is that you can transport your little uns without waking them up.

mightyyid

The massive bases are on the new born seats which face rearwards, so they need a base and an additional leg onto the floor as additional security. Remember some cars offer the third ISOFIX location which is a strap over the rear seat onto another spot - but not many people use this.

I'm a big fan of ISOFIX, having both our kids (3 and 1) in ISOFIX in our S-max, although it was disappointing that the middle seat in the S-max does not have ISOFIX, so when number 3 comes along next May, the middle seat will have to be the oldest kids seat and will thus not be held in place with ISOFIX, just the seatbelt.

As for adding ISOFIX< it all depends if the mounting points are there - if not, then you cannot just add it, otherwise I'm sure Honda will have done this. It may be that the centre seat is not affected by the airbag, but the front passenger seat is, hence the lack of an ISOFIX point. My other car is a Focus ST, and while that did not come with ISOFIX, you can by the bracket for £20 and fix it yourself, which I did, but it had the bolt holes filled with grommets. Pull these out and it gets connected directly to the car. If your front seat does not have this, then it was never designed to have ISOFIX in which case you are back to square one.

I think some countries have the argument that by keeping the kids in the back, you cannot do anything to them without stopping - thus being safe. Having kids in the front seats next to you means it is easy to become distracted by them and thus take your eyes off the road. Have to say it seems a valid point...

Andy

Brendan Hughes

I was told that ISOFIX wasn't as standardised as they'd have you believe, a bit like bluetooth phones in cars - some work together well, some don't. True?

mightyyid

I've never had a problem - ISOFIX is global and when we took our seats to Australia, all worked fine. Likewise, our ISOFIX seats (the first was purchased 2004 when they first came out) have been in a 307, WRX, Kia Sorento, S-max and Focus ST, and all fitted without any issue. Never had or heard of any problems - after all they only need to be a certain distance apart!

That is just UK cars - they have worked in both Greece and Aus as I say.

Andy

TopBanana

I don't think so. It's just a couple of sticky outy bits of metal. The clever bit is on the car seat itself.

Triggaaar

It's going to be a while before we're not using the baby seats, so do they all need the base & leg, or are you saying that the 3rd Isofix location strap on some cars would do instead?
Ok thanks. So hopefully they just haven't put it in due to the airbag, and we can add it.
Yep, but that can't be the reason that Honda haven't fitted it to the front passenger seat, or they shouldn't have fitted it to the front middle either.
Although the brackets may be standard, not all cars can take the bases that need poles, as they need a flat footwell. If all cars took all seats, seat manufacturers wouldn't need to list the cars that their seats work with. And not all cars have the 3rd isofix fixing point.

mightyyid

I 'think' that all rearward seats have the base and the leg - simply because the baby is suspended over the floor rather than tucked into the seat back. They will thus probably all require it, but it's easy enough to set up and leave. The third ISOFIX Location just supports the seat (presumably the frontward ones only) as an additional locating point, but one I have never used or indeed seen used in this country. I think it's a nice to have but AFAIK, all UK ISOFIX manufacturers charge extra for this attachment as it's not a legal requirements, just a nice to have if your car has it.

I would think Honda thought parents with one kid would have them in the middle seat, and the parents either side. Who knows their ultimate aim, but I would bet you can only have ISOFIX in the middle seat and not in the passenger seat.

The pole is simply to fix and adjustable - I do not know of many cars that have such sloping rear floors that a pole would not work and would be surprised if there are any that offer ISOFIX but do not allow you use a rearward facing car suit - it is not something that actually holds the seat in place (as such) but is there so that either when the seat is bouncing (car over bumps) or in a front end collision, the front point of the seat will take the strain and this will then go through to the floor via the pole and thus support it. Certainly, you do not have to get the pole presicely in position - it has a few adjustments, and you just click it into the nearest one.

Shark Man

Sorry for butting in, but when I read this, my first vision was a family of pikeys in a transit

Somehow I don't think that was Honda's intended market

Triggaaar

Seeing what's available, that makes sense, thanks. At least I'll only need 1 of those.

Good, as the cars we're looking at don't seem to have the 3rd point. The Toyota Yaris does, but the Verso doesn't - bizarre.

Having spoken to them today, not only can you not have an Isofix in the passenger seat, but you can't switch off the passenger airbag. Their reason/excuse is that they feel airbags that are switched off, could still activate in an accident.