My twin boys not only have a huge collection of toys at their own house, it now stretches to at grandparents houses also. Mr Lools' family do not live close by and so because we have to stay for a few days to visit we have bought some bigger toys. This includes a "cheap" ride on car as the boys have their own at home but we simply can't put this toy in the car with us. Because we didn't want to spend £20+ on a toy that would only get used every few weeks we opted for a "cheap" ride on and purchased the Chad Valley Basic Ride On.


***Chad Valley Ride On***
The Chad Valley Basic Ride on is a foot to floor ride on plastic car for toddlers. The car can be sat on or pushed along by the handle. The car is made from light blue plastic with a bright yellow seat and steering wheel. The car has a detachable red handle and four yellow and red wheels. The car is 52cm long and the seat height is 17.5cm.

The car is suitable for children aged from 1-3 years and has a maximum user weight of 20kg.

The Chad Valley Basic Ride On is available from Argos and Amazon. We purchased this from Argos for £9.99. This is a lot cheaper than the majority of ride on toys, in fact the ride on's we purchased for our own home were £15 each


***Playing with It***
The Chad Valley Basic Ride On states that it requires "minimal assembly". This is partially true. The body of the car is fully assembled; you need to put the wheels on the car, and the handle on the back of the car. The wheels simply press on until you hear them click. The handle slots in the back of the car and to remove requires pulling out with force (a child could not do this it requires an adult).

Chad Valley state that with this toy "direct adult supervision required". I would recommend this with most ride on toys however due to the poor design and quality of this particular toy I would recommend this.

As expected from the name this is a very basic ride on. There is a steering wheel a horn but no other buttons to press that make sounds or do anything entertaining, which most other ride on's are packed with.

As soon as my boys starting playing on this ride on I was concerned at just how flimsy the plastic felt. The plastic seemed to creak, and as the wheels went around there were lots of squeaky noises The plastic handle on the back of the car is very thin and flimsy and if one child is playing on the ride on and the other child is pushing you can see the plastic handle bending. The wheels of the ride on also do not move easily on carpet or grass. They seem to stick and a child has to put a lot of effort into pushing themselves forwards. On three separate occasions the wheels have actually fallen off when my boys have been playing with the toy on grass, and have required to be pushed back into place.

The solution to this would be to use on smoother floors however I do not like my boys using this toy on concrete as it tips backwards very easily. The ride on is so flimsy and light so when a child sits straight (i.e not bent forwards over the steering wheel) or slightly backwards the weight distribution is too much and the car falls backwards which could cause serious injury if on hard ground. Because the ride on has a handle which acts a seat backrest, children tend to lean back and sit against this which obviously flips the toy over and the child ends up on the floor. This is very disappointing from a toy which states on the box "anti-tip".

My boys were 13 months old when they started playing with this toy and size wise the ride on is perfect. My boys were very small and probably the size of an average 8 month old baby at this age. At 19 months old they are still fitting onto this toy perfectly but even for them the seat of the car seems very low and their legs look slightly squashed. A relatives daughter who is an average sized 21 month old tried to play on this ride on at a family event but could not move forwards as her legs were so squashed. Therefore a child over 2 years old would struggle greatly fitting onto this toy.

This would then suggest the Chad Valley Ride On is better for younger toddlers but I would say this is definitely not the case. Younger toddlers may be less squashed but because the ride on tips backwards I feel the toy is unsafe and a parent would have to constantly be holding this ride on which takes away the fun of the toy. I noticed at 13 months when the boys were first playing with this toy they would tip over constantly as they sat back and did not react as they felt the toy tipping. At 19 months they are able to counterbalance this sometimes and move forwards but I still do not feel confident them playing on this toy outside on harder surfaces.

This toy was purchased 6 months ago and has been played with for a few days every month or so. For a child's toy I would consider this very light use but the condition of the Chad Valley Ride On is now very poor. The wheels have fallen off on 3 separate occasions now and the stickers on the front and sides of the car have almost peeled off entirely. You can easily wipe over the car if it gets dirty or sticky but I feel that using a damp cloth to clean encourages the stickers to peel off the toy.


***Overall***
On first glance the Chad Valley Basic Ride On is not a bad purchase. It is a bright colourful little ride on car that costs under £10. However even for occasional use the toy I would not recommend purchasing this toy. It is a very small ride on so for children over the age of 18 months they would struggle to ride this comfortably. However for young children this ride on is quite unsafe as it tips backwards very easily therefore I would not put a 12 month old baby on this without keeping a hold of the toy constantly.

I have found that the quality of Chad Valley toys is inconsistent. Some are acceptable but the large majority including this Ride On is very poor. After a matter of days of play with this Ride On the stickers on the toy are peeling off, the wheels have fallen off and the toy just feels very flimsy.

For an extra £5 you can buy much better quality Ride On's that not only have more functions they move about better and do not tip over when your child is playing on it!