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Quinny Zapp Review by Best Buggy

The Quinny Zapp was bought as a second small, ‘throw in the car’, pushchair. I have to say I preferred the recline of the Petit Zia but the the Zia is just a tiny bit bigger than the Zapp and wouldn’t fit neatly into my car boot ie it would have had to go diagonal! So we bought the Zapp when my daughter was around 10 months old. I have to say from the first moment my daughter sat in it she loved it. I don’t know why, but the shape is fairly snuggly. The lack of a recline has never bothered her. She has fallen asleep and I haven’t worried about her because she seemed to get enough support. So to be honest I haven’t ever felt that I wished I had got the Zia.

One of the first things I did was to ‘pimp’ the Zapp up. I bought a wedge shaped basket to go on the back with a removeable inner and I bought the official Quinny underneath storage basket. I also bought the fab raincover bag which velcro’s on the side. Zapp’s have a reputation for being easy to tip because they are so light, and so hanging bags off the handles is a definite “no, no”. But I have found that if I packed really carefully with heavy things under the seat that I could get a weeks worth of shopping on the pushchair in various places! The underneath basket particularly in car seat mode is accessible and I can get two reasonably large handbags / changing bags wedged in it. My inner Pacapods fit perfectly in the triangular shaped basket – one on each side.

The other main niggle is the fold. It’s a 1,2,3 step process. It’s marked clearly on the pushchair (see photos) but whilst steps 1 and 2 are simple, step 3 is a knack that almost 2 years on, I still haven’t got right. You have to put the brake on first to stop the pushchair sliding as you put all your weight onto the no 3 button and heave forwards. It’s a strange movement to be honest. This Quinny isn’t too bad because its been well used, but I bought the Quinny Zapp Xtra because I loved this Zapp so much, but sliding the No 3 button forward was so hard that I ended up selling it.

I have to say I wouldn’t have a Quinny Zapp as my only pushchair. Its not that solid, the hood is flimsy, the raincover is a terrible fit (I bought a Graco Universal one which fits much better). The storage space is non existant. You don’t even get the basic net underneath bag with the standard Quinny Zapp. But it fulfils the brief that I had for a pushchair ie something small, folds neatly, slides into a gap allowing the rest of the boot for shopping, is great for nipping into a shop with and for those reasons I think its a fab little pushchair.

I have used this little pushchair a lot. Mainly for nipping in and out of shops for which it is very good. It’s also got such a small footprint that you don’t feel awkward about having the Zapp next to a table at a restaurant, but if you did then its easy enough to fold up and slide under the table. When I was pregnant I used it to get my toddler to the supermarket trolley’s and then would fold it up and slide it underneath the trolley as I did the shopping! It’s great for travelling too, and the travelling bag is a useful addition.

I have to say though I hate it for longer walks. The handles are too low and at an awkward angle for you to hold comfortably. I only ever push it one handed which means I end up taking up double the width of the pavement because I use my right hand on the left handle (I think its just comfy like that!) It’s not really a buggy to do the school run with every morning!

I have to say that the Quinny Zapp is a pushchair that actually improves as it gets older. The fold mechanism loosens up making it easier to use. It’s very cheap to buy replacement seat covers which simply slide into place for a new baby, or even now to buy the Zapp Xtra seat to make an older Quinny suitable for a newborn baby. The Quinny cosy toes fits well as do other brands. You can buy car seat adaptors which convert the Quinny into a travel system with a Maxi Cosi Cabriofix infant seat for those early months. I have to say that I used my Zapp Xtra chassis for the car seat for the first 6 months almost every day. It was perfect to nip in and out of shops but after 6 months of the new fold mechanism I admitted defeat. To be honest, if I had removed the fabric on the old Zapp and used that frame for the car seat, I would probably still be using it (but its set up for my daughter to use with the fabric on and you can’t keep switching between fabric and car seat adaptors). I tried WD40 and all sorts on the new frame but it was just too stiff.

I have to say a more minor niggle is the constant clattering of the wheels. It’s especially bad on certain surfaces. Believe me the whole world will know you are on the way!

But we still have the original Quinny Zapp and it still gets used every week. I love the fact it slides into a corner of my daughter’s room and is there for when we need it. My daughter now aged 2.5 still adores being in the Quinny Zapp.

So its really a positive review – not a good pushchair for long walks but absolutely great for a compact fold functional pushchair to save space in your car boot or to take on holiday. I would recommend it.

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