Womder if this childs seat has ever been involved in an accident...?!

pitkin2020

mikey72 wrote: »

You're right, I haven't.
Actually, I've never seen any at car boot sales, so you're partly right.
But I don't know anyone that has ever used a second hand seat, unless it's passed down through the family.

Just because you haven't seen it first hand doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I also don't know a single person that would use a 2nd hand car seat because the risk is too great for a saving of a few quid. I have seen several being sold at carboots first hand though and some looked really minging but the buyer was happy to buy it for a couple of quid as clearly they don't think its all that important.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/csc/Car-Seats-/66696/i.html?rt=nc&LH_Complete=1&_dmpt=UK_Baby_CarSeats_EH&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283 thats the completed ebay sales, take a look through. Some people got some great bargains with some starting and ending at 99p but others have only saved £10-£30 for example on buying it new.

mysk_girl

Barneysmom wrote: »

she's a loony
Remembering when we were kids and we'd all pile into the big old pram that the whole family shared, we slept in drawers, we ate mud, we drank milk with no date on - there was no such thing as germs in them days

My children are like that now! And in 3 years of being a working Mum I have had not one single day off because they were sick.

I did think it was a bit odd, I told her that some of us live in the real world... My infant carrier is in excellent condition, and (fingers crossed!) will be being used for my 3rd in the not too distant future :-)

pitkin2020

mysk_girl wrote: »

I was told by mothercare last week that they recommend a new car seat for each child because there might be harmful bacteria in the old one - like mattresses. Is this them being over zealous or is this actually recommended?!? A friend of mine is having twins so I said I was going to lend her my infant carrier so she didn't have to buy one and the sales assistant reacted like I'd proposed infanticide!

TBH I think this harmful bacteria BS is OTT, yeah sure there will some bacteria on it if the kids, ate, drank and puked whilst in the car but it doesn't take much to remove the cover and put it in the wash and scrub the base down. Fair do's if you don't do that and left the sick in it from 3 years ago then stored it in the garage I suspect it won't be pleasant when the next child decides that the fur growing in the chair looks yummy. :rotfl::rotfl:

mysk_girl

pitkin2020 wrote: »

TBH I think this harmful bacteria BS is OTT, yeah sure there will some bacteria on it if the kids, ate, drank and puked whilst in the car but it doesn't take much to remove the cover and put it in the wash and scrub the base down. Fair do's if you don't do that and left the sick in it from 3 years ago then stored it in the garage I suspect it won't be pleasant when the next child decides that the fur growing in the chair looks yummy. :rotfl::rotfl:

Exactly. Mine was put away in ultra clean condition and it would get a good clean and wash before being used again. Shock horror my kids have hand me down clothes as well, and toys, and roll in the mud and eat worms (one proven, one suspected!). Both are healthy and bouncy.

mikey72

pitkin2020 wrote: »

Just because you haven't seen it first hand doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I also don't know a single person that would use a 2nd hand car seat because the risk is too great for a saving of a few quid. I have seen several being sold at carboots first hand though and some looked really minging but the buyer was happy to buy it for a couple of quid as clearly they don't think its all that important.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/csc/Car-Seats-/66696/i.html?rt=nc&LH_Complete=1&_dmpt=UK_Baby_CarSeats_EH&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m283 thats the completed ebay sales, take a look through. Some people got some great bargains with some starting and ending at 99p but others have only saved £10-£30 for example on buying it new.

Looking at that, there's a lot that don't sell, and the majority of the ones that have are the bottom end Britax, not the expensive designer names.
So that kills the theory of people caring more about names than safety we came in on.

pitkin2020

mikey72 wrote: »

Looking at that, there's a lot that don't sell, and the majority of the ones that have are the bottom end Britax, not the expensive designer names.
So that kills the theory of people caring more about names than safety we came in on.

The lower end items will always outweigh the expensive designer items as they sell more, and more will be available used simple economics. Only a small percentage are buying used decent brand names to save a few quid on a designer name, others are just looking to save a few quid. Even brittax is still a decent brand and those are being bought used for not a lot less than they can be had new. Your theory is like saying more ford cars are sold on ebay than lotus cars, well thats obvious.

How does that change the fact though people aren't serious about the safety on such items when they are still buying used items where they have no idea on the history??

mikey72

pitkin2020 wrote: »

The lower end items will always outweigh the expensive designer items as they sell more, and more will be available used simple economics. Only a small percentage are buying used decent brand names to save a few quid on a designer name, others are just looking to save a few quid. Even brittax is still a decent brand and those are being bought used for not a lot less than they can be had new. Your theory is like saying more ford cars are sold on ebay than lotus cars, well thats obvious.

How does that change the fact though people aren't serious about the safety on such items when they are still buying used items where they have no idea on the history??

I didn't say some people didn't buy secondhand, I said they didn't chase designer labels rather than buy new, as strider stated.
I agree with you not a lot of people do.

FilthyLuka

To be honest the sad (or happy) thing is that the vast majority of car seats are never in a prang so are being landfilled after a few years use.

The seats seam to me to be mainly large lumps of polystyrene and hard plastic - if there had been damage I would hope to see it

It would be great if the manufacturers came up with some form of indicator to say that it has been in an accident - maybe a colour change area or dye capsule that is activated when the seat has a big jolt. (patent pending). I doubt this would happen as it would impact on their yearly sales of £100+ seats.

How many of us buy 2nd hand cars that could have been in accidents and repaired but not reported to the dvla? or have had rear passenger doors replaced? surely the car body is the first line of defence in an impact for everyone in the car

I spent an age researching car seat testing reports when I got my kids seats and got the best I could - the best being from the AA - sadly i cant find any similar reports anymore, they seem to have stopped doing tham. i dont hold much weight to the Mother & Baby review who seem to ask 3/4 mums to see what they think - hardly a test for safety. Even Which? weight their review with a large percentage considering how easy it is to clean and how it looks ( around 40% iirc)


If I could only afford a cheap seat like a Nania which I have seen poor reports for or a 2nd hand 'good' seat which scores well in safety reports I think I would go the 2nd hand route and try and get it from someone I found trust worthy - any decent person wouldn't sell a seat from an accident but we all know that there are dirtbags who would

mikey72

I have to agree, any seat is better than none.
Every second hand car I buy has used seat belts in, and they hold the seat in.

The_Turner

mysk_girl wrote: »

I was told by mothercare last week that they recommend a new car seat for each child because there might be harmful bacteria in the old one - like mattresses. Is this them being over zealous or is this actually recommended?!? A friend of mine is having twins so I said I was going to lend her my infant carrier so she didn't have to buy one and the sales assistant reacted like I'd proposed infanticide!

They would cause that way they sell more seats.