lifted to new heights (Concord Lift Pro)

Member Name: anwar7

Product:	Concord Lift Pro
Date:	08/02/07 (1252 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: lots!

Disadvantages: none!

Last summer I decided it really was time to think about buying my son the next stage of car seat. I had been very happy with his Britax seat but as he was nearly 5 it was looking a bit small for him. Although most car seats have recommended age bands for use you should really go by the weight and size of your child. My son is still quite small so had been fine in his Britax seat.

Like most parents car safety is very important to me. So before buying a seat I did a lot of research. The seat that rated best in eurocrash test results, was the concord lift pro evo PT. (pt for protection). The seat was voted best junior car seat by mother and baby magazine for 2006/07. Which also rated this seat highly, giving it the highest marks for all round performance. The concord lift pro evo PT is the top of the range and has the highest price tag. There is also a concord lift seat that is cheaper but did not fare quite so well in the Which report-although was still very good seat.

Having decided this was the seat for me, I hit the high street to see the seat in the flesh. Halfords had the seat in stock, although did not have the choice of seat fabrics available on the Internet.

The first thing that struck was just how well padded this seat was. It has far more padding that any other seat I have come across and certainly more that my Britax.

The seat is also very light, weighing just 5.2 kg. It is a very tall seat at 84 cm so gives good head and neck protection. The seat is 47 cm wide and has wings that extend down the seat so giving good protection to your child’s abdomen and pelvis.

Although they are not the cheapest, I choose to buy from Halfords, as they will check that the seat fits into your car correcting. I paid £89.99 for the seat but have seen it for about £5 less. In our case we had to remove the back head restraint to ensure a good snug fit. This is not a problem as the concord lift has a high moulded head restraint.

Fitting the seat is really easy as it uses the 3-point car seat belt to hold both the seat and child securely. I was also relieved to see that when in the seat my son would not be able to unclip the seat belt as it too difficult to reach!

The headrest has 7 positions and is easy to adjust. In addition to giving first class protection my son loves the comfort of the large side wings-very comfortable for sleeping.

Another real plus with this seat is its child appeal. It looks a bit like a racing seat and comes in several lovely colours. We choose the magnum, a mix of red and black that looks very smart and grown up! For little girls who don’t aspire to having a racing seat there is a lovely pink cover available. The seat cover is cotton and machine washable. I have washed the cover a few times and can confirm that it washes well.

The concord lift pro evo pt also boasts that it will help keep your child cool on a hot day due to its air circulation system. I wasn’t convinced by this claim when I bought the seat but having used it in hot weather my son did seem to stay cool and his head wasn’t sweaty as it used to be in his Britax seat.

The seat is recommended for children from 4-12 years or from 15-36 kg. The tall back makes this seat a good choice for a tall child.

The verdict

When reviewing a product I like to make it a balanced review. However I have really struggled to find anything negative to write about this seat. It looks good, my son loves it and it has an excellent safety rating. I hope I never have to put its crash test results to the test, but feel that my son is not only very comfortable in his seat but that he is safe too.

Summary: car seat for ages 4-12 years