car seats for small cars.

Shopping bags shouldn't be put on a parcel shelf. The sensible place would be in the rear foot wells if the boot space is inadequate.
 
Nod said:
Joe, does that faux floor cover where a spare wheel would be if you had forked out the extra few quid for that over the next to useless reflator thing?
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No, theres the spare, then the start of the boot, then a faux floor above that, then the parcel shelf. We paid the extra for the full size spare wheel :thumbs:

you can see here

http://assets.carbuzz.co.uk/blog/Volkswagen-up-boot.jpg

thats the faux floor, that lifts up and theres another boot underneath on top of the floor that covers the spare wheel

Nod said:
As for car seats, whichever you can find that has room for child growth and is safe enough to satisfy you and your wife.
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cheers
 
fracster said:
People have offered opinions Joe, last time I looked that was not against the forum rules, only the rules that state nobody must disagree with the almighty Scrivens, for he is the font of all knowledge and his word must be taken as gospel,in his opinion.

If the car suits you then fine, I always preferred something more substantial when transporting my daughter about, but each to their own.
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how can someone have an opinion about what car suits our family better? Surely in this instance my opinion is more valid - since it is actually my family?

:shrug:
 
joescrivens said:
how can someone have an opinion about what car suits our family better? Surely in this instance my opinion is more valid - since it is actually my family?

:shrug:
Click to expand...

Nobody Joe, nobody at all. After all, only you are allowed an opinion on everything.

Your very first post states that things are a bit tight in the car, so people have suggested something bigger. But, as per usual..........................
 
joescrivens said:
this thread is classic. I love it :lol: :thumbs:
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I think it should be 'Joe is a classic'

I have to agree with Suz about the shopping though, not really safe especially if you have lil'uns the car too but next you will say that you never put stuff on the shelf when t'kids are in the back.

Joe is it raining outside by the way?
 
fracster said:
Nobody Joe, nobody at all. After all, only you are allowed an opinion on everything.

Your very first post states that things are a bit tight in the car, so people have suggested something bigger. But, as per usual..........................
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Actually the thread was about me asking for car seats as the car seat was too big - not that the car was too small. Several times I mentioned actually the cars great and its not too small, but apparantly people know whats better for me more than myself :shrug:

it beggars belief it really does.

But I appreciate all those helpful posts throughout the thread :thumbs: and the thread has been great fun too, so no hard feelings :thumbs:
 
joescrivens said:
Here's the thing. You can go as far as you want when it comes to safety - I could say - why risk even taking them out in the car in the first place?

Isofix is all well and good and we have had it in our other cars when they were newborns. But at this moment it's not right for our situation.
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Ok Joe that's fine, I just find it strange that you are willing not to give your kids the best protection available to you and are willing to risk their safety because the seats are a bit bigger hence more protection.

As to the comment about about not taking then out at all in the car, that's your choice, but again I want to know when I take my kids out they have the best protection possible should the worst happen.
 
tiler65 said:
I think it should be 'Joe is a classic'

I have to agree with Suz about the shopping though, not really safe especially if you have lil'uns the car too but next you will say that you never put stuff on the shelf when t'kids are in the back.

Joe is it raining outside by the way?
Click to expand...

I don't disgaree with that, it is unsafe to put anything on the parcel shelf - but se la vie, I've done it from time to time in all my cars. It's not something I do regularly and I think only once in the Up! when shopping did I have so many bags I had to.

Yes it is raining outside, which is a shame.
 
Davec223 said:
Ok Joe that's fine, I just find it strange that you are willing not to give your kids the best protection available to you and are willing to risk their safety because the seats are a bit bigger hence more protection.

As to the comment about about not taking then out at all in the car, that's your choice, but again I want to know when I take my kids out they have the best protection possible should the worst happen.
Click to expand...

Each to their own Dave. :thumbs:

Some people choose to wrap their children up in cotton wool and buy them crazy headgear like this too:

http://www.simplesafetysolutions.co...=google_base&gclid=COCYiuS1jbUCFebLtAodxTgApg

It's available to us, but we don't all buy them do we.

Everyone has their own level of safety :thumbs:

I actually wonder, is there any danger in how close to the front seat a child shouldn't be - a lot of these big bulky car seats push them further forward towards the back of the front seat - is there any danger here?
 
tiler65 said:
If only I could use emoticons....I could have had a field day!
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you should desrcibe the emoticons like that visual description you can get on the telly. Put a bracket round the description and detail exactly what the emoticon would be doing.
 
joescrivens said:
I actually wonder, is there any danger in how close to the front seat a child shouldn't be - a lot of these big bulky car seats push them further forward towards the back of the front seat - is there any danger here?
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That is why having a family car would be better so that there would be more leg room in the back. Simples.
 
joescrivens said:
I would say I probably know more about the car than you since I have it.
Click to expand...

Of course you know more about that car than I do because I would never have considered that class of car when my children were small when there were safer options available. But I don't doubt that you think you know what is best.

To try and answer your question; you may already have looked on the Euro NCAP site but you will see that they carry out their child safety tests using specific seats for each vehicle. They clearly state that their results are dependant on using those seats.

For the Up the seat suggested is the Bobsy G1 Plus Isofix Top Tether.

But I have no personal experience of this either. When I was a kid I used to stand up between the front seats or sit on my mother's lap in the front seat.
 
tiler65 said:
That is why having a family car would be better so that there would be more leg room in the back. Simples.
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you misunderstood.

Its a generic question. Is it the closer you are to the back of the front seat the more dangerous or does this have no effect?

Does anyone know this?
 
Spuff said:
Of course you know more about that car than I do because I would never have considered that class of car when my children were small when there were safer options available.
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what car did you have when your children were small?
 
joescrivens said:
you misunderstood.

Its a generic question. Is it the closer you are to the back of the front seat the more dangerous or does this have no effect?

Does anyone know this?
Click to expand...

Surely logic says the more space you have around you the better?

In the event of crash where internal/external parts are compresses it's stands to reason that if the front seats are further away from the rear passengers there's less chance of them being pushed backwards into the rear passengers?
 
Russ77 said:
Surely logic says the more space you have around you the better?

In the event of crash where internal/external parts are compresses it's stands to reason that if the front seats are further away from the rear passengers there's less chance of them being pushed backwards into the rear passengers?
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thats my understanding too - I just wondered if anyone had any official safety data on it - rather than just logic - i'd be interested to know.
 
Personally........ I'd want the seat that makes the child as safe as possible, as horrible as it is, from what I've read internal decapitation is the most common cause of death to kids in crashes even in an approved seat so whatever seat makes that least likely to happen would be the one I'd chose.

If that seat isn't appropriate for the car then it's a question of compromise. Some things I'll compromise on, some I won't.
 
Russ77 said:
Personally........ I'd want the seat that makes the child as safe as possible, as horrible as it is, from what I've read internal decapitation is the most common cause of death to kids in crashes even in an approved seat so whatever seat makes that least likely to happen would be the one I'd chose.

If that seat isn't appropriate for the car then it's a question of compromise. Some things I'll compromise on, some I won't.
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do you have children russ?
 
joescrivens said:
just making conversation :shrug:
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Paranoid? Me? :suspect:

When my kids were born my company at the time provided company cars. I had an E Class estate:

edit_Picture_075.jpg


A big old boat but it worked well as a family car. Cost the company less than £200 per month too on contract hire. Cost me a fortune in bik tax though. The wife had the Scenic that you can see in the background - again a good workhorse with plenty of space.
 
thats interesting because the Up has better safety ratings than both of those for children :shrug:

you see its not quite as cut and dry as you think is it. You don't always choose the safest there is, but you decide based on a number of parameters which combination of car and car seat work best for your situation.

I would imagine you had little choice on your company car for example.
 
joescrivens said:
thats interesting because the Up has better safety ratings than both of those for children :shrug:

you see its not quite as cut and dry as you think is it. You don't always choose the safest there is, but you decide based on a number of parameters which combination of car and car seat work best for your situation.

I would imagine you had little choice on your company car for example.
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Were those cars the safest at the time though Joe?
 
tiler65 said:
what?...not even compared to the VW UP equivalent at the time?
Click to expand...

you asked me if the cars were the safest cars at the time.

the answer to that question is no. :shrug:

But the data is publically available so if you so desire you could research into it more :thumbs:
 
Just had a quick browse on the EuroNcap site and pre 2000 it is a bit vague on testing.... but there are quite a few super mini* (as they describe them - not family cars) equivalents that were very poor compared to the Scenic and the E class. Suzuki super Mini was the best at the time but that is one of the few that was on a par with the other two cars.

*(leading manufacturers only looked at)

And like for like now ...the new scenic is the first mpv in its class to receive 5 stars...it shows how technology has moved on.
 
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tiler65 said:
Just had a quick browse on the EuroNcap site and pre 2000 it is a bit vague on testing.... but there are quite a few super mini* (as they describe them) equivalents that were very poor compared to the Scenic and the E class. Suzuki super Mini was the best at the time but that is one of the few that was on a par with the other two cars.

*(leading manufacturers only looked at)
Click to expand...

ok
 
joescrivens said:
thats interesting because the Up has better safety ratings than both of those for children :shrug:

you see its not quite as cut and dry as you think is it. You don't always choose the safest there is, but you decide based on a number of parameters which combination of car and car seat work best for your situation.

I would imagine you had little choice on your company car for example.
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I had every choice. Like I said, it was my company.

And I can absolutely guarantee that my priority back then for a car was safety. Not tax, not emissions and not economy. And the Merc (bearing in mind this was 11 years ago) was pretty much it - certainly safer than "City" cars at the time.

But as you've said, different people have different attitudes to risk and safety. You've already found a compromise with finding a suitable child seat but if your priorities lie elsewhere then that's you and your partner's choice and I wouldn't criticise you for that. :thumbs:
 
tiler65 said:
And like for like now ...the new scenic is the first mpv in its class to receive 5 stars...it shows how technology has moved on.
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Is that the grand scenic?

I can only see pre 2009 rating for the normal scenic

even the grand scenic has a lower child saftey rating than the up. But it has a 99% safety assist rating!!! :clap:- i wonder if they ever gave a 100%
 
Spuff said:
I had every choice. Like I said, it was my company.

And I can absolutely guarantee that my priority back then for a car was safety. Not tax, not emissions and not economy. And the Merc (bearing in mind this was 11 years ago) was pretty much it - certainly safer than "City" cars at the time.

But as you've said, different people have different attitudes to risk and safety. You've already found a compromise with finding a suitable child seat but if your priorities lie elsewhere then that's you and your partner's choice and I wouldn't criticise you for that. :thumbs:
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cheers

All I can tell you is that right now the VW up is a safer car than the mercedes benz e class 2010 model - it doesn't look like ncap have tested the latest model so who knows. Maybe it has received the elusive 100%!!!

also looking at the stats ncap would disagree that your mercedes was the safest car back then - although its not easy to tell granted as the ratings are a little ambiguous. They also dont have a child rating for back then.

Let me ask you this - are your kids still at home? or have they flown the roost?
 
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joescrivens said:
Is that the grand scenic?

I can only see pre 2009 rating for the normal scenic

even the grand scenic has a lower child saftey rating than the up. But it has a 99% safety assist rating!!! :clap:- i wonder if they ever gave a 100%
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No

The Scenic on test is here.....there are different result testing/scores compared to current tests...so how accurate a comparison is... I will leave up to you because whatever is written down ...you will find something else to deflect from the issue of you car being unsuitable for a family car.

http://www.euroncap.com/tests/renault_scenic_2003/183.aspx
 
surely its joes choice what car he chooses to drive his family arround in ? - are we really saying he's an irresponsible parent for choosing an 'up' because that's a pretty big and unfounded assumption.

The whole purpose of these five door city cars is to carry 1 or 2 adults and 2 children - they are essentially a parents run about for taking kids to school etc. VW clearly think they'll have car seats fitting in them, as they fit them with isofix points.

maybe we could just answer his question instead of having yet another bitch fight ?

on the car seat question joe - VW do recomend the isofix system , so i'd tend to suggest that you go with that - okay the seats are big, but they are a damn site safer than ones secured via the adult seat belts

(for the record I don't have kids, but i do have a nephew and every second conversation at the inlaws revolves arround some description of baby care)
 
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tiler65 said:
I will leave up to you because whatever is written down ...you will find something else to deflect from the issue of you car being unsuitable for a family car.
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this thread is becoming my favourite thread ever. Now I have to go by what is written down to decide if my car is suitable for my family or not.

Isn't actually owning it and using it as one a better judge of that than what someone has written down on a piece of paper? or website?

:suspect:
 
And I see the safety assist for the VW up as 86% not 99%

VW-up.jpg


Is there a different test?
 
big soft moose said:
surely its joes choice what car he chooses to drive his family arround in ? - are we really saying he's an irresponsible parent for choosing an 'up' because that's a pretty big and unfounded assumption.

maybe we could just answer is question instead of having yet another bitch fight ?

on the car seat question joe - VW do recomend the isofix system , so i'd tend to suggest that you go with that - okay the seats are big, but they are a damn site safer than ones secured via the adult seat belts
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it is not a bitch fight...it is a very well informed and educational discussion.

As well as being one of the best wind ups ever!
 
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