Are these usable?

[Aprilmom]

Last winter the ABS wasn't working on our van. We hit a patch of ice and bounced up the curb (after doing a 360), because of the snow and ice piled up there the right front bumper was trashed. The tire also popped and I think there may have been slight damage to the rim. Our Ma and SS1 had our kids in them at the time. I stopped using them and considered them "crashed" but may be they aren't? What would you continue to use them? We didn't feel much impact in the van, and the kids didn't even notice.
We need to get our youngest out of the snugride so I would like to use the SS1.
Thanks
Danielle

[NewfieMoma]

I am no expert, but I am fairly certain they are crashed. Sorry I am not much help

[Pixels]

I'm not going to say what I think about crashed vs not crashed.

But let me play devil's advocate for a minute. Say it was a crash. Britax seats follow NHTSA guidelines. (Airbags did not deploy, vehicle was able to be driven away, no visible damage to the carseat, no injuries to any of the occupants, the door nearest the restraint was undamaged.) It sounds like your crash falls into the criteria of being ok to reuse the seat. (I don't count popping the tire as not being driveable. That could happen just driving down the road. That's what the spare is for. :twocents:) If that's the case, then you could use the Marathon again.

Check the manual on the Marathon for information about the Rip Stitch. It may give you more info about whether the Marathon is safe to reuse, but I don't know enough about it to give you more guidance than that.

[snowbird25ca]

I'm not going to say what I think about crashed vs not crashed.

But let me play devil's advocate for a minute. Say it was a crash. Britax seats follow NHTSA guidelines.

Check the manual on the Marathon for information about the Rip Stitch. It may give you more info about whether the Marathon is safe to reuse, but I don't know enough about it to give you more guidance than that.

Actually, in Canada they say replace after any collision. This is also the recommendation given by Transport Canada.

As for the seats, I'd lean on the side of considering them crashed and destroying them. If it wasn't for how much time has passed, assuming insurance repaired the vehicle, they likely would've paid for the cost of new carseats as well, but I don't see there being that possibility anymore.

My reasoning for considering them crashed is because when it initially happened you considered it to be a collision and that they shouldn't be used anymore. Being that they were occupied, and your initial judgment was that the situation was considered a collision, I would be inclined to recommend destroying the seats.

It's really hard to quantify what is and isn't a collision when we're talking fender bender type things - I mean if you bump a cart when you're parking in a parking lot that's technically a collision - but I doubt you'd find many people recommending you replace a seat because you bumped a cart in the lot. In this case though, I think your initial evaluation is what you should trust. It may be that it's over cautious, but it's always better to be safe than sorry.