Joie - elevate™ R129

We bought 2 of these for grandparents' cars as they each take our toddler once a week. She's only 2 so I don't love that she's front facing, but it's only for occasional short journeys and is light so easy for grandparents to take out of their cars when needed.

Yep we’ve had it for a couple of years, initially using harness and now using seatbelt, and I’m happy with it. Very easy to install and feels safe (never had an issue with my son escaping the harness), and my son says it’s very comfortable. Haven’t had an issue with the fabric slipping either, and it’s easy to take on and off to wash. I think it’s a good option for safety and price, as I trust Joie car seats.

There's different regulations in the UK for car seats so most/all American seats might not fit. Depending on the area of the UK you are planning to visit you might find public transport is a better option than renting a car and definitely a safer option than renting car seats that you can't guarantee haven't been thrown about and damaged. If you are planning on coming back then you could buy 2 inexpensive seats to use next time there is a joie seat that's both HBB and 5 point harness forward facing to 18kg (the weight limit is the only limit and must not be passed) they are around £40/$52 a seat

That would be a good option, the joie elevate would work for both kids unfortunately at £80 each or for the older one as it's HBB only the joie trillo. If you are getting public transport from the airport I wouldn't worry about buying them until you get to your destination and look for a Halfords who may have some in stock, Amazon or smyths, and look for belt fitted as older cars don't have extra attachment points apart from seatbelts.

Yep, got that exact colourway as well. Works perfectly well for my 5yo

Yeah I used the harness for about a year I think. No problem with that at all. Also no complaints from the little one on comfort either! She's had a few naps in there and it's been on plenty of long journeys across the country.

Yes we have this car seat, used it since my oldest was about 3 with the straps and currently use it interchangeably for my now 5 and 7 year olds with the normal seat belt. It's done us fine, the material that goes over the seat only loosely hooks into the base and flaps up all the time, only complaint. When I came to need another car seat last year I bought a Graco which I think is better.