We have a baby on the way and so went to buy our baby seat today. We have a Octavia Scout with isofix so were looking at the Maxi-Cosi isofix base. It all fitted without problems but there was a lot of side to side movement in the seat. We tried the Britax base as well and had the same problem. Trying this on another cars seat in the shop didn't have this problem. I checked the Skoda manual and it mentioned you need to fit some "mounting funnels" on to the locking eye's (ie the actual isofix rings) before connecting the seat base (see ?koda Auto - The new ?koda Octavia Combi - Documentation for the page).

Are these something that should be included with the seat or with the car? Am I missing something obvious here? Anyone else noticed any problems with side to side movement of an isofix base? All the green indicators say that the base is fitted in place properly, but we had a good go at trying to lock it tighter on to the car seat but we still had the movement. Now we don't know whether to persist with the isofix base or look for a normal seat belt base.

Thanks in advance.

We've got a Recaro child seat with an Isofix base and yes. it came with what I assume those tunnels are. Never bothered fitting them myself but I'm sure when I looked at them they were a genuine VAG part.

I've try to find them tomorrow and maybe take a photo.

I have Britax and Recaro child seats and both come with what look like plastic funnels that clip onto the locking eye's. They don't offer any extra stability for the seat/base. I think the purpose of them is to give some protection to the car seat around where it fits to the locking eye. HTH

agree with atty. the base will come with the tunnels but they're only there to protect the seat.

to reduce play in the base make sure the base is pressed as far back into the car seat as possible, should be a snug fit then. we use the same base in my wife's leon mk2 and my octavia mk1 with no movement problems

definitely worth going for isofix - it's so much quicker to get the little one into and out of the car and when it's clipped in you know it is secure.

Hi, we have a Scout and use the britax isofix base. There is a bit of play when you put the base in i.e. will slide a half a cm each side, but once the seat is in place and the floor support adjusted correctly have experianced no problems of movement, even on tight haripin bends in the mountians. Isofix are alot easier to use and in my opinion a lot safer than standard belt across fixing and you always get the seat at the correct angle. I sometimes find that car seat belts are a little short for looping over the back of some of the baby seats, which means that your baby gets to inspect the back of the seat a bit more closely whilst you struggle to fit it. Worth every penny for an isofix system.

I agree with Atty the funnels that come with the seats are there to protect the fabric.

Depending on the design of the car seat or the base of the vehicle seat, there will be some movement as the isofix points are about 3cm long.

I cant imagine that a slight sideways movement is going to have a detrimental effect in an accident.

Our 2 ISOFIX seats both have some sideways movement which has been lessened to an extent by using 2 sets of Sunshine Kids protector mats for the seats. These offer some padding and help to grip the seat as well as protecting the seat from damage and spills/dirt.

Steve

Thanks, answers my questions as will be needing seats in Dec.

Does the Mk2 have BIMBOfix on the front passenger seat like the mk1 does? Manual says yes, but cant see anything that matches them.

Thanks for the replies guys. That's kind of what I thought but I just thought I would check. I think we're going to purchase the Sunshine Kids grip cover and see if it makes any difference. Either way we're going to want some kind of cover on the seat so its not a wasted purchase. As it was all the indicators on the seat and base were green so there shouldn't really be a problem. I wonder if I just needed to be a bit more brutal with the base when putting it in to make sure it was as snug as possible.

I found the Recaro seats on line, but can't find a shop that sells them as they look to be a good option. I'll do a bit more digging as we might find that they have a better fit.

Cheers.

Another vote here for the Sunshine Kids mats....

The recaro seats are excellent. I was in toys r us the other day and had a quick look at what is on offer there, horrible plasticky things for loads more money than we paid for ours.

We use babyworld.co.uk quite often as their prices are excellent and they usually give free delivery - if you're looking for a seat I have a online coupon for £6 for this weekend if you want it - PM if so.

I've even bought the next size up (forward facing) in preparation as there was one going on ebay fairly cheap. Again, beautiful seat

were you just wiggling it to see if it moved, or giving it a goold old shunt ?

you want it to move (but not roll) if you shove it from the side, so that it's moving away from an impact.

Incidentally, the Maxi-cosi seat on the isofix base is the best, according to Which?

Both my Britax & Recaro seats have a ratchet mechanism on them. I find that once the seat is clipped onto the locking eye's they need a good push into the back of the seat to reduce any unwanted movement. You can hear the ratchet clicking as the child seat is pushed closer to the car seat.

Most weekends see me hot swapping the Maxi-Cosi Isofix Base from the wife's Mk1 Leon into the Scout for use with a Cabrio Fix for our four month old daughter, no problems and solid as a rock.

We do have a Sunshine Kids seat protector, but that's more to do with looking after the seats!

As per other advice, really shove the base hard into the seat back and I find that putting the foot one click further than you think it should be, magically gets rid of the slight lateral"waggle" that you describe.

Enjoy it all, it's magic!

Niall

agree with atty. the base will come with the tunnels but they're only there to protect the seat.

to reduce play in the base make sure the base is pressed as far back into the car seat as possible, should be a snug fit then. we use the same base in my wife's leon mk2 and my octavia mk1 with no movement problems

definitely worth going for isofix - it's so much quicker to get the little one into and out of the car and when it's clipped in you know it is secure.

Agree...

We have a MaxiCosi Priorifix which came with yellow "tunnels", or plastic things just for helping you align the seat....

Our seat slides along a bar and it will fit really well when you press the seat into the car seat.

Have also bought seatprotector since I want the leather to last.....

Whatever seat you choose, Isofix is the only way to go.

Guys( and ladies) - just become a grandad again .Daughter has no car at present ,so guess who's proudly doing his taxi bit again .They've got a Greco pram / car seat etc ,which says it's got isofix ,but so far only way I've got it to fit is using belt ,especially as with age I prefer to fit it in rear seat with grandson facing rearward ( he's only a titchy 4lb 14 ,looks lost in "first size baby wear ) .Do we need any other bits to make seat fit using the iso ( car as per profile ,04 Furby with ISO mounts ), or am I having a senior moment ?Lady at Skoda UK did say that from personal experience some extra bits wereneeded,but she had not been trained etc about child seats .

IT sounds like you just have the seat itself - you'll need the isofix base that does with the seat. This is what clicks into the isofix mounts on your car seat, then the child seat just clicks in and out nice and easy

Have a look at this fleabay auction, showing the base and the seat:

GRACO Junior Baby AutoBaby 2 Car Seat AND IsoFix Base on eBay (end time 15-Aug-09 11:43:53 BST)

Thanks Timmy -daughter hunted through the seat instructions for info on isofix -nothing .Suspected this was the case .