Renault Scenic and Britax Boulevard/Cosco Alpha Omega Elite Convertible Car Seat

[pepeti]

I have an 11 month old daughter who weighs 8 kg (approx 18lb):). We live in South Africa and have a Renault Scenic II 2005 which has ISOFIX fittings. I would like to find a convertible car seat so that she can remain rear facing for a while and then change to forward facing later.

Unfortunately:mad:, it is very difficult to get ISOFIX seats here in South Africa and I am looking at shipping from the US. Obviously, this means I cannot check that the seat fits properly in my car and so I would ask for anyone out there to advise me:confused:

a) whether either of the Britax Boulevard or Cosco Alpha Omega Elite Convertible Car Seat fits into the Renault
b) any recommendations for or against these seats

Many thanks
Pepeti

[snowbird25ca]

I'm not familiar with your car so can't comment from the standpoint of compatibility issues...

If you're paying to ship a seat over I would definitely eliminate the cosco alpha omega or any of it's 3in1 clones from your list. Most kids outgrow it well before the age of 4, many by 3, and so it's just not worth the money it would take to bring it over. It's also notorious for having install & compatibility issues in north american vehicles, so would not want to try it out overseas.

Britax seats rarely have compatability issues, and have built in lock-offs. I'm guessing that your car doesn't have locking seatbelts, so going with a Britax will probably be your best bet. As for which one, that's up to you. Some kids hate the head wings that the blvd has, others don't mind them.

[Jewels]

Britax seats rarely have compatability issues, and have built in lock-offs. I'm guessing that your car doesn't have locking seatbelts, so going with a Britax will probably be your best bet. As for which one, that's up to you. Some kids hate the head wings that the blvd has, others don't mind them.

She has ISOfix (UAS/LATCH) so a Britax seat should install well with that until the ISOfix weight limit is reached.

I would go with a Britax as well, it is one of the easiest seats I have installed and you can rear-face tether it. I have a MA and love it but a blvd is a good choice as well.

[southpawboston]

cool! that's a very nice and also safe car, i wish they'd sell renaults here in the US.

does your renault also have top tether anchors to supplement the ISOFIX? there's a good chance it does not. they are becoming more popular now in europe, i'm not sure about elsewhere outside of the US (they have been required in the US for some years already).

if it doesn't have top tethers, i would not import a US seat, as US seats are designed to US top tethers (with some exceptions, which i will not go into here). i would rather import an ISOFIX seat from a european country if possible, as the rigid ISOFIX seats are designed to work without top tethers.

[pepeti]

Thanks for your responses - I didnt realise you dont get Renault in the US! Finally, something that we have and you don't:p

As for the tethers, I have absolutely no idea whether we have one in the car. Unfortunately, I also cannot check my manual right now because the car is at the panelbeaters ( after a hectic hailstorm threw golf balls onto my poor vehicle:eek:)

What would these tethers actually look like, and would it be possible to 'fabricate' them myself or do something similar. The reason I have selected the BLVD is because it is convertible. I have not been able to find a single convertible RF FF car seat that covers groups 0+/1 together. The shipping costs are so high, I really cannot consider shipping two separate ISOFIX seats when my little girl is only likely to use the 0+ for another 8-10 months.

Any European suggestions for convertible ISOFIX seats? Or regarding the tethering of the BLVD?

Thanks again,
Pepeti

[Unregistered]

The britax Uk web page has a fitting tool for European cars.
www.britaxchildcare.com and select UK
Hope it helps.

[Poppy]

Pepeti, did you go ahead and buy the Britax Boulevard? And did it fit in the Scenic?