UK Car Seats

[TomB91]

Read a through conflicting posts and watched various vlogs but hope someone can clear this up for me...

Can we take our 3 year old daughters car seat to Orlando with us and do the cars over there have ISOFIX points? Or does their equivalent version allow for UK seats?

I don't really want to end up having to hire a car seat, especially one that goes in with a belt as they never feel that safe...

Thanks in advance

[chmurf]

the US use the LATCH system ... that's your ISOFIX under another brand name


but check the certification on your car seat

most UK/EU car seats are not certified for use in the USA and vice versa.
if your car seat meets the FMVSS 213 requirements, you can use it in the US

if it doesn't, you can't.

[TomB91]

So ISOFIX and LATCH are in theory the same.

Tempted to follow other members in other posts and take our car seat, just don't want any problems when we get to Alamo chaps. Seen others have taken their own and had no issues, would love to hear from a few people...

[Jadebe]

Originally Posted by TomB91

So ISOFIX and LATCH are in theory the same.

Tempted to follow other members in other posts and take our car seat, just don't want any problems when we get to Alamo chaps. Seen others have taken their own and had no issues, would love to hear from a few people...

See more...

Yes our isofix seats fit the US latch points. We have twin granddaughters and took our own seats when they were 18 months, and again with different (and lighter!) seats this year when they were nearly 4. No issues at all. We preferred knowing that the seats were in good condition and that the girls were used to them. Just need to check baggage allowances if taking a buggy too, as only one is normally free. Yes, technically they are not US certified, but I think there’s only a tiny risk that it might be an issue. Got carry bags from Amazon which are also useful for extra luggage space on way home!

[chmurf]

if you take your own, you won't have issues with the airline
you won't have issues with alamo, as they won't bother checking the numbers on the seat itself

you won't have issues if you're pulled over by the police

the only issue you might have, is in case of severe accident. Insurance might call on using an unapproved child safety device to bail out.

many UK guests take their own seat, and have no issue at all.

You asked the question, can I take my seat : yes
can I fix my seat onto the hire car :yes
am I allowed to use it : no
will I get in trouble if I use it nonetheless : very, very unlikely

as said above, the only issue will be with the insurance in the unfortunate case you need them

[The Fatadder]

We have used our UK seats every time we have been to the states, my logic has always been that it’s safer to use our own than something that’s been mistreated around a car rental lot.

However as has been said, very few U.K. seats are certified in the states. Alamo won’t have an issue, it’s incredibly unlikely the police will. In the very unlikely event of an accident which causes injury, avoid going after damages as they will probably would pick up on it...

Next year I am hopeful that no2 daughter will have progressed from the harness to a high back booster, at which point I am happy to use the rental...

[alkel2730]

The thing to remember is nothing has changed people have been taking EU car seats for years, the laws haven’t changed. All that’s changed is it has come to light as there was an article published somewhere which was then spewed over all the Facebook groups.

The EU and USA car seat tests and regulations are different so therefore they are not interchangeable. There is no car seat that exists that passes both. However... there is some clause whereby if a car seat is purchased in the eu and used for a vacation then it is legal to use it. I can’t find this at the moment but I’m heavily into car seat safety and in many groups and I’ve seen these clauses.

There is some speculation it invalidated your insurance, this is not true. It doesn’t extend to car seats or specify EU vs other regs. In addition if you cross state in the USA they have different laws regarding car seats so in essence it is impossible for anyone to ever know which car seats are legal and or not, Alamo most certainly won’t give a damn.

I’ve been visiting Orlando for 35 years as a kid myself and now with my own kids and I’m in so many Orlando forums and group, I am yet to come across a single person who had had issues with this, not once. So...this is my long winded way of saying if you want to take yours, do, it’s totally fine!

[alkel2730]

All the above said should you want to buy a USA one you’ll probably find them cheaper than hiring and then they are new. You can get them delivered to your hotel or the airport from amazon or Walmart. I travel regularly with my kids and I have one USA car seat and one EU car seat.