Advice sought ref Group 2-3 Highback Booster Seats with issofix

[RFH]

Hi, hope someone can help.
My daughter is in the process of outgrowing her current car seat which is a maxi cosi on an issofix base stand with leg. Her current issofix base fits easily in our Cali's issofix points particularly when the seat is in the slight reclining position.
We spent this morning at mothercare where staff advised that my daughter is now in the appropriate weight range for a group 2-3 high back booster seat and also added that the group 2-3highback booster seats with issofix fittings are Safer than seats requiring seat belts only.
Mothercare has a car seat fitting service however they had great trouble trying to attach the child seat issofix to the Cali's issofix anchor points. (It appears that the group 2-3 high back booster seat issofix rails are a lot shorter than the rigid rods on my daughters current issofix however it appears that the shorter ones are standard on group2-3 seats) . During our visit to mother are there was only one seat that was successfully attached howevever the difficulty in doing so put me off purchasing it.
Therefor would anyone be so kind as to advise or recommend a group 2-3 high back booster seat with issofix that fits a Cali Ocean.

 

[Amarillo]

Therefor would anyone be so kind as to advise or recommend a group 2-3 high back booster seat with issofix that fits a Cali Ocean.

Forget Mothercare - they are incompetent when it comes to car seats.

We have the Maxi-Cosi Rodi Air Protect Group 2/3 Car Seat from John Lewis and are very happy with it. It is light and fixes with ease to the isofix points.

However, we have a three seat bench Beach, so there is a significant difference there.

 

[RFH]

Many thanks for that Amarillo. Following your suggestion I watched a video of the Maxi Cosi Rodi Air Protect Group 2/3 and the issofix arms do appear to be longer than the seats we struggled with yesterday and similar fittings to our current set up.
I will try the Maxi Cosi Rodi Air Protect with our Cali and feed back on the outcome.
Fingers crossed will fit. Thanks again Amarillo.

 

[Amarillo]

Many thanks for that Amarillo. Following your suggestion I watched a video of the Maxi Cosi Rodi Air Protect Group 2/3 and the issofix arms do appear to be longer than the seats we struggled with yesterday and similar fittings to our current set up.
I will try the Maxi Cosi Rodi Air Protect with our Cali and feed back on the outcome.
Fingers crossed will fit. Thanks again Amarillo.

The seat I linked to was non-isofix. Here is the correct link.

 

[RFH]

Thanks Amarillo, I found the model and video of the seat with the isofix in place from the details you provided. I'm not sure if there are major differences in issofix anchors from beach to ocean but it does look promising. Will give it a try.
Thanks again.

 

[Redpanda]

When we hired a Cali for a 'test trip' we found our current Britax seats (two different ones) a huge pain to fix in. We haven't got our Cali yet (on order) but recently used these seats in another car - Britax Romer Kidfix - and because they have the soft-latch isofix they were so easy to use. Basically the isofix are on long flexible material strips so you can attach each one independently (instead of a rigid bar) and then pull to tighten. So we are thinking of buying these.

 

[RFH]

Hi Redpanda, many thanks for your contribution. Your description of the soft-latch style sounds very similar to the majority of the fittings on the car seats we were struggling with at Mothercare yesterday. I imagine this type of fitting would be easier to attach in most cars however it seems that Cali is a different beast altogether. The main difficulty we found with this soft latch style was that although they could go down into the Cali benches isofix opening points they lacked the rigidity to then bring them up to the required position to clip/slot them into the anchor points. I know there was at least one britax seat amongst the ones we tried however I'm unsure if the 'Romer Kid fix' was tried so it may be that it is different and just what we are looking for. I have made a note of this seat and will give it a go but my hunch is that the rigid bar style stachments (like on our current maxi cosi base) will be easier to fit providing the rigid bars are long enough. I am going to try Amirillos suggestion on Friday and will now also add the 'Romer kid fix to my must try itinerary (what Joy!). I will, of course feed back with the outcome.

 

[Redpanda]

Thanks - it would be really good to hear how you get on!

Didn't think getting suitable car seats would be an issue as we don't have any problems fitting in our current car but given we'll be wanting to remove and fit in the Cali on a regular basis (potentially daily when away on trips), we want to get the best in terms of ease of fitting and weight wise!

 

[Amarillo]

Thanks - it would be really good to hear how you get on!

Didn't think getting suitable car seats would be an issue as we don't have any problems fitting in our current car but given we'll be wanting to remove and fit in the Cali on a regular basis (potentially daily when away on trips), we want to get the best in terms of ease of fitting and weight wise!

Our two boys are ages 2 and 3 i.e. group 1 and group 2 seats. The Maxi Cosi pearl group 1 with family fix base is a pain to remove; the Maxi Cosi rodifix is a delight.

 

[Stuart]

On our 3 seat bench, you can make it easier to fit an ISOFIX seat by slightly relining the bench towards bed mode. Not sure if it's the same for the 2 seater though

 

[RFH]

Update:
to Amarillo's recommendation we are now the owners of a "Maxi-Cosi Rodifix Air Protect group 2/3 isofix child car seat". Purchased at a children's store locally (available in all good retail stores). The seat and isofix arms fitted easily into the Cali's anchor points with no issues or any faffing about. The seat is also tidy, lightweight and not as cumbersome as our previous Maxi-Cosi with isofix base.
I must say I'm relieved after the struggle we had getting a group 2/3 car seat to fit the Cali at mother care and was half expecting a similar experience this time but not so. I wouldn't mind but mother care actually sell the Rodifix and its on there website however the staff from the fitting service advised that the longer rail type isofix system is not available on group 2/3 child seats! Ah well, a sale lost for mothercare.
Redpanda, I'm sorry I did not get a chance to try out the 'Romer Kidfix' that you suggested so unable to recommend or otherwise. It sounds like a seat you have had a good experience with so I'm sure you'll want to try it, but just make sure you can fit it easily before you consider purchasing it as a the soft-latch style fittings caused me a lot of frustration.
If the Romer Kidfix turns out to be a faff you could do worse than trying the Maxi-Cosi Rodifix Isofix system.

 

[Amarillo]

I wouldn't mind but mother care actually sell the Rodifix and its on there website however the staff from the fitting service advised that the longer rail type isofix system is not available on group 2/3 child seats! Ah well, a sale lost for mothercare.

Mothercare really need to invest in staff training. The thing that really annoys me about Mothercare and their staff is that they pretend to be knowledgeable. One of the reasons I love John Lewis so much is that the staff really seem to know what they are talking about, and they care.

I am glad my recommendation was correct for you.