See all Motoring AdviceStudies have shown that a worrying number of parents don't fit their kids' car seats correctly. It's not intentional, obviously, but it endangers the children in the case of a collision and it's also an offence that attracts penalty points. So naturally parents want to make their lives easier wherever possible. ISOFIX can do just that. It stands for International Standards Organisation Fix, which doesn't give much of a clue as to what it's all about.
Most new cars come with ISOFIX mounting points as standard, usually for two child seats in the back. Many also have ISOFIX points in the front passenger seat while larger MPVs and SUVs sometimes have additional mountings in the back. Most of the time it's quite obvious where the mountings are, as there's a little symbol on the seat upholstery itself indicating their positioning. Sometimes the metal fixings themselves are hidden behind zipped flaps of material so consult your car's manual if you're in any doubt.
The biggest advantage of the ISOFIX style mounting is that it does away with needing to secure the car seats with seatbelts. That means the seats are far more likely to be held in place correctly as there's less margin for error. They really are very easy to use. You simply offer up the relevant part of the car seat to the mounting point and push them in until they click. It's then possible to tighten the mounting up. Releasing them is just as easy. Some child seats and seat bases have either a foot prop or top tether. Each car seat might be different, but the fittings are standardised.
Pretty much the only disadvantages of ISOFIX car seats are that they can't be used on cars without ISOFIX points and they're usually much heavier to carry around.