We will be renting a car in Scotland this September and will need a car seat for our 3-year-old daughter. We would like to avoid bringing ours so we don't have to to lug it around the airport or into Edinburgh (we have a harness for her to wear on the plane), and it appears that most car rental agencies offer child seats. I just heard a horror story last night from someone who recently rented car seats in the U.S. and got filthy 20-year-old seats (is that even legal??). I am curious to know if anyone has recent experience renting a car seat in the UK/Europe through Hertz or one of the other big names. Did you get a decent seat? I've searched the forum for info on this topic but all the posts are extremely out of date. I plan to contact the rental agencies directly as well, but who knows what kind of info I will get out of them.

ttt

Sorry -- but I think you just have to go w/ blind faith on this one. Even IF someone had a good experience (or a bad one for that matter) it wouldn't have much bearing on what you get on the day at the specific rental location.

Because it's now a legal requirement to use child car seats throughout EU, you should get a decent one. If not, complain on the spot and get it replaced. For that age, you will get a seat (type 2) that uses adult seat belt with loops for it. Make sure you adjust it to her height by moving the backrest, and that lower belt is secured tightly across her lap.

Last year we hired car plus child seat for a 2 year old in both UK and France, with no problems. We used Avis - both times seats were exceptionally clean and in very good condition.

My husband gave each careful inspection before we loaded ourselves, luggage etc, we didn't want any unexpected nasties en route! Di

Thanks for the input. We will be renting from EDI so hopefully they will be accustomed to dealing with child seats. Also we'll pick it up upon leaving the city (rather than just after flying in) so we will be rested and not in a hurry.

hausfrau - I would be very surprised if a reputable car hire firm did not supply you with a decent clean car seat. companies have become quite hot on health and safety here - their insurers insist on it - so you should be ok. if you are not happy, insist on them sorting it out - unless you are arriving at night they could go out and buy one!

your query does however remind me of what happened to us when we arrived at Toronto airport after a long transatlantic flight with our DD, then 1 year old. we were so jetlagged that we just assumed that the car seat [not a model we were familiar with] had been competently fitted and took off into the rush-hour traffic. when we looked at it properly the next morning, we realised that for the whole of the 200 mile journey we'd inflicted upon ourselves the night before, the seat had not been strapped down at all, but had just been loose on the back seat. I still remember going hot and cold all over thinking about what could have happened if we'd had an accident.

so you plan not to pick it up just after you land is a very good one.

have a great trip!

Thanks for the input Ann. What a scary experience. I definitely have been convinced that it is better not to have to make sure a car seat is properly installed after an overnight flight with a 3-year-old!

yes, I still go hot and cold thinking about it. and what I didn't mention was that from the airport, we emerged into the Toronto rush hour, onto the main 18-lane highway that goes through the middle of the city.

There's no way I would repeat that experience.

I have had bad experiences renting car seats, including from large cos. in the US and in Europe. One time the seat was clearly broken and no one could install it safely and I was told that was all they could offer me. Another time they gave me the seat but would neither help me install it nor find me a manual so I could figure out how to install it.

If you bring your own you will know the accident history of that seat and how to install it. My advice is that if you really need a car seat you should bring your own. (I ended up buying a light inexpensive and easily installed seat just for travel.)