Stephen337 Posted September 4, 2005 Share Posted September 4, 2005 Hi, The mrs is in the family way and we are looking for a car seat for our disco (A 1995 300). We need a rear facing one. We have been to Mothercare and tried the two types they have. The first type would not sit properly on the seat as the base of the seat is too short and the seatbelt is not long enough to easily fit around the head of the seat. Mothercare also do a second type that has a seat base that you fit then clip in the baby seat. This has a long leg that is supposed to hook over the edge of the seat and sit on the floor, but because of the shape of the floor it wont sit flat! All they could suggest is going to Mammas and Papas! So we tried them and the belt would fit and it sat correctly on the seat but the buckle (female end you clip into) has too long a strap so the clip is too close to the plastic base. This means that there is too much sideways force on the buckle and it will not hold in an accident. So we are a bit stuck! Obviously I should have waited until the kid was going to school and a school run was needed before we got the Disco Does anyone have any advice for me as to which seat they have used? Or do I need to look for a shorter strap for the buckle? Any help would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopchop Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Having just become grandparents for the first time a few weeks ago, we've gleaned a lot of knowledge about current baby seats...... We have a '91 UK-spec Disco and a 2001 Canadian-spec Golf. You'll find it far more practicable to have a baby seat with a base which stays in the car. The base has 3 angular positions for getting the seat into the correct angular position. Then you just drop the seat into the base and it clips in automatically. No safety belt to fart around with trying to tension each time you put the babe in the car ..... I'm not sure if the UK / Euroseats are like the ones here, but the rear-facing Graco ones we have can either be fitted using the safety belt or the LATCH - type straps which come with it. The latter have quick-release clips which clip on to the LATCH rails behind the rear seat base The Golf has 4 of these, so you can secure the seat base with either the rh pair, the central pair, or the lh pair. These are far easier to use than the safety belt, which, even the central one on N American Golfs, are all inertia-reel lap & diagonal belts. The Disco has no LATCH pins, but has a central simple lap-only, NON-inertia-reel belt, which is almost as easy to use to secure the base as the LATCH system. We used the seat in the Disco twice this week, and have used the Golf frequently. None of the baby seats we've seen here have any leg as you describe which sits on the floor...... Hope this helps. I'd be pleased to assist you more if I can. - Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imspanners Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Two places you can try are Halfords and Toys R Us (babies r us)..... Both stock quite a range of child seats, and are often more helpful than Mothercare. The brackets you refer to chopchop are ISOFIX fittings which are used in the UK but not on older vehicles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopchop Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 Yes, I knew they went under another name as well.... Thanks. I believe they started being fitted around 2000...? The other point is that the babe - in whatever seat - needs to be strapped in quite tightly. One of the seats we have has a neat tensioning strap for the shoulder straps, with the tensioner released through a finger-hole in the seat base - makes it much easier to make the babe tight in the straps without fiddling around. Heavens, what a change in technology from when our own kids were babies! - Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen337 Posted September 5, 2005 Author Share Posted September 5, 2005 Ta for the replies, going to do some more research! As you know the disco doesnt have isofix, so maybe look into the lap belt solution. Ta again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chopchop Posted September 5, 2005 Share Posted September 5, 2005 My daughter tells me she's seen this leg affair on the Mothercare website, but we've never seen such a thing over here. She tells me GRACO seats are sold in the UK. She also tells me most "young-baby" seats in the UK don't have the clip-in base, but as I said, it makes getting the babe in and out of the car an instant affair, sans fiddling trying to insert and tension the s/b straps..... - R Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinEva Posted September 6, 2005 Share Posted September 6, 2005 Stephen From memory, we had a simple babycarrier with a handle. Just hoik into the car and the seatbelt just slotted into a recess in the base. We used this rearfacing in the front and back of a 91 200TDi and in the back only of a 95 V8iES (front had airbag). The beuty of this over a system that leaves the base in the car is that when the baby is not in the car, you dont have a great plastic lump taking up one seat. Actually, thinking about it, Disco's do seem to have quite short rear seat belts and I remember it being a bit of a stretch. Might be an idea trying first before you buy. Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted September 6, 2005 Share Posted September 6, 2005 Making do with an SJ413 in the meantime Tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut tut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dartmoor Posted September 11, 2005 Share Posted September 11, 2005 Try contacting R.A.C.or A.A. They should be able to offer advice re:fitting and safety. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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