Monday 10 December 2012

Fitting a Ford Focus Estate with ISOFIX child seat attachment

I recently bought a second-hand Ford Focus Estate 1.8 TDCi Ghia, 2007. I assumed it would have ISOFIX as standard, as all the information I'd found online, and the owners' manual, suggested this. It turns out however that it's an optional free extra, and my particular car didn't have it fitted. After some googling around I found this thread on on focusowners.com: Ford Focus ISOFIX installation So it's simple.

Amazon actually stock this part (Ford part number 1357238) with (currently) free delivery:

Ford 1357238 Britax ISOfix Mounting Kit for Childseats 2004 Onwards for Focus
Delivery was very quick.

Installation took about 20 minutes. I needed a T45 driver bit and a flat head screwdriver. Following the instructions from the focusowners.com thread, I used the screwdriver to push the seat-back hinge (nearest the door) over and lifted the seat-back up from the hinge. With a bit of wiggling the seat-back could be completely removed from the centre attachment. Under the seat-back in the metal floor were two bolt holes plugged with grey rubber bungs which were easily removed.

I bolted the fitting with the square brackets (the actual ISOFIX attachments) oriented to the bottom edge (the Ford logo stamped on the bar was upside-down). The seat went back into place (a firm bang down gets the hinge back in place) and the fitting was ready to be used. Easy! I don't know why this isn't done as standard, but at least it's not a great deal of hassle to sort.

Photos to come, when I remember.

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