Recaro Young Sport

[Unregistered]

I have been reading the different threads throughout the web site and wanted to find out about the car seat I am using for my toddler. I have a Recaro Young Sport for him, which IMO, is a fabulous, top of the line seat. I have, as an extra, the Costco Serena as well and the 2 don't even compare. I would rather cut off my right arm than have him ride around in the Serena as opposed to the Recaro.

My Recaro was purchased in Germany and not Canada. You are saying that the car seat is illegal? That's preposterous! This seat is one of the best. Who determines that it is illegal? What can happen? Who knows that it's illegal? Is there actually a car seat police?

Your feedback and comments are greatly appreciated and welcomed.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[canmom]

It is true, the Recaro is illegal to use here in Canada because it is not approved by Transport Canada. TC tests all car seats for compliance with our Canadian standards... as far as I know it is up to the manufacturers to submit their seats for testing. I don't know if Canada is better etc it is just that our standards are different as are most countries. Your Recaro might not be comparable to the Scenera but there are lots of other seats available to us that I am sure are just as good. Police officers can pull you over and will confiscate your Recaro because it is not an approved seat in this country. If you are in a collision your insurance will likely be voided for using a non-approved seat.... IMHO, that is enough to not use it.

[finn]

I think its crazy too, I have a Recaro Young Sport & love it. The only thing i find is that it doesn't install well in the back seat of most cars. Ours is the European version which is different from the US version, no chest clip & no tether. A Recaro doesn't compare to a scenera at all, so I feel your pain. I would continue to use it until such time as someone pulls you over and confiscates it. In saying that I am using an illegal US seat here in NZ.

[snowbird25ca]

I have been reading the different threads throughout the web site and wanted to find out about the car seat I am using for my toddler. I have a Recaro Young Sport for him, which IMO, is a fabulous, top of the line seat. I have, as an extra, the Costco Serena as well and the 2 don't even compare. I would rather cut off my right arm than have him ride around in the Serena as opposed to the Recaro.

My Recaro was purchased in Germany and not Canada. You are saying that the car seat is illegal? That's preposterous! This seat is one of the best. Who determines that it is illegal? What can happen? Who knows that it's illegal? Is there actually a car seat police?

Your feedback and comments are greatly appreciated and welcomed.

Thanks in advance for your help!

I can certainly understand why the Scenera wouldn't compare to the Recaro. The Scenera is considered a real budget seat (though it isn't so cheap here in Canada,) and doesn't have many of the features that other seats have. It still passes standards, but it doesn't have some of the other things that make seats seem nicer.

The biggest difference that your German seat has is no top tether (basing this on the PP saying German Recaro seats don't have a top tether or a chest clip.) This could mean the seat would outright fail CMVSS standards due to excess head excursion. Too much head excursion increases the risk of impacting the interior of the vehicle and there are more head and neck injuries in children who are in a ff'ing seat that hasn't been tethered. So it's possible that the seat which seems safer by appearances is actually less safe.

I can't speak for whether or not the Recaro seat is safer than a CDN seat. It's worth saying that European vehicles and CDN vehicles aren't always the same, and that can create issues in terms of installation as well...

What I do know for sure, is that the seat isn't approved for use in Canada. I'm not sure if Recaro has tried to certify their seats in Canada or has just chosen not to, but at this point they're not available here. We do have many nice seats here though that will make the Scenera pale the same way the Recaro does now. :thumbsup:

The lack of a chest clip, and top tether, plus being a brand that isn't available in Canada, means that you could count on any police officer who pulls you over recognizing that the seat you had was in fact illegal. At the discretion of the officer, they could prevent you from leaving the check point until a safe seat was brought for your child.

So yes, to answer your question, there are in essence car seat police. :o Some provinces have very active roadside check programs and the likelihood of being stopped at some point is pretty high.