Should I email this seller?

[Michi]

Okay, so i came across this on ebay....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160059439015&fromMakeTrack=true

It says..." One small part is missing but will not effect the operation. Comes without headset."

Those are the SIP head wings, aren't they? Um yeah - those WILL effect the operation!

[Dillipop]

One SMALL piece is missing? Like the LARGE head wings that are integral to making the seat safe in side impacts? Totally email the seller and if it doesn't get removed, try contacting ebay. That is not a safe seat!

[Michi]

I sent them an email...anyone else...feel free! :)

[SusanMae]

In his listing--it says he assumes full responsibility for the listing and the item offered.

So when some kid dies because it doesn't have head protection the parents can sue HIM.

Susan

[Yoshi]

I e-mailed him, too. Here is what I wrote:
"I believe that the side impact wings that are missing ARE an integral safety feature of this seat, and selling it without them makes this seat unsafe for the buyer. If a child in a seatbelt in this seat was involved in a side-impact collision, they could sustain serious neck/head injuries. Please take this information to heart. Thank you."
I didn't want to tell him outright to remove it, but we'll see what he does, then we can report it?

[lovinwaves]

THis may be a silly question, but this seat is partially expensive because of the SIP wings. If someone doesn't want the wings then they don't have to use them do they? There are lots of kids in boosters without SIP Wings, right? So you get what you pay for? This is would be just as safe as any other booster without wings wouldn't it? A highback booster does not have to wings legally does it?

[Splash]

I was thinking something along those lines, but the issue with that booster is head support. You cannot adjust the back up (only the head rest) so there is no head support in that booster at all, which IS unsafe.
No, there is no requirement to have side impact protection.

[lovinwaves]

I was thinking something along those lines, but the issue with that booster is head support. You cannot adjust the back up (only the head rest) so there is no head support in that booster at all, which IS unsafe.
No, there is no requirement to have side impact protection.


Thank you for that answer. Ok that totally makes sense then. I just didn't understand how that seat worked exactly...:)

Hopefully he will remove it from Ebay.

[Michi]

She wrote back to me - she said that she agreed it was important, and that she changed the description and said that you could buy it seperately.

[lovinwaves]

She should say something like "This seat must be used with headrest, to be safe"

[Yoshi]

I bet no one in will buy it anyway....Even if technically, a booster doesn't "need" SIP, this one COMES with it, and altering the seat would ceratinly cause it and the occupant to react differently in a crash, not as it was tested. I'm sure Recaro would say do not use w/out SIP wings.

[Morganthe]

Ummm, please don't be so harsh with this individual. Nothing was removed from this Recaro. In fact, I just checked my 2006 Start. The head support is completely one piece with the rest of the frame. Impossible to detach.

I believe this is the earlier first design before they put the side wings into the headrest in 2005. I saw these several years ago online whilst researching car seats available in Germany. In fact, I just located another one at ebay also in Germany.
http://cgi.ebay.de/Auto-Kindersitz-RECARO_W0QQitemZ130053668371QQihZ003QQcategoryZ476 73QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I still wouldn't want to purchase it, but it is complete as it has always been. The owner is not trying to sell something broken.
regards
:)

[Dillipop]

If she isn't talking about the headrest as the missing piece, what is actually missing?

[lovinwaves]

If she isn't talking about the headrest as the missing piece, what is actually missing?

That's what I was thinking? She talks like there is a missing "piece", not headrest.

[Morganthe]

While I was looking for the blasted 'impact cushion' that no one at Recaro USA has a clue about, I think I located the 'part missing' that the seller is referring to:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Kopfstuetze-Kindersitz-RECARO-START-Neu-OVP-Schwarz_W0QQitemZ190058349161QQihZ009QQcategoryZ47 673QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Looks flimsy. I wonder how secure it actually is :confused: I don't think you can purchase that Stateside. There's no mention of previous models or even the user manuals at the USA or UK Recaro.com websites.

[LuvBug03]

The recaro(just the start?) was(or is still?) done with babytrend, and you use to be able to buy it with speakers, as in to listen to music. Maybe that is the 'headset' that she meant?http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/babyant_1923_25660949
http://www.babytrend.com/carseats/Recarocarseat.htm (notice the display is of the recaro up to date but in the demo pics it is the older one with no wings on the head).

[Morganthe]

The recaro(just the start?) was(or is still?) done with babytrend, and you use to be able to buy it with speakers, as in to listen to music. Maybe that is the 'headset' that she meant?http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/babyant_1923_25660949
http://www.babytrend.com/carseats/Recarocarseat.htm (notice the display is of the recaro up to date but in the demo pics it is the older one with no wings on the head).
Personally, I think the speakers are a new feature for the latest model and weren't available for the first version. I found 3 other ebays that were selling the separate headrests and they just look like earmuffs too -- no speakers or hookups mentioned.


But I got this blurb from the second link:
"In recent European car seat crash test performed by a major motor sports magazine, the Recaro Start was the only seat that received a total recommended use rating for both age categories."

I want to know -- Who tested and where can I see the results????
Re: the 'both age categories' -- was the younger category using the impact cushion or not?

Reason I ask is I located the AA crash testing summary online yesterday for 2004 for the Recaro Start " "use of the impact cushion for children 9-18kg makes it safer"
(I did think it was humorous that "heavy seat" was a plus AND a negative factor in their ratings :rolleyes: )

Since the impact cushion is not available for purchase in the US, in fact, those at Recaro USA have no idea what I'm talking about even when I direct them to the mirror UK, French, & German sites. :confused: Recaro USA has already basically told me that US testing is more stringent than EU. I want documentation that they are selling a product that is not being used for smaller & younger weights as the original European design & testing advises. EVERY UK & German site I visited and comments on usage all said the same that the 'Impact cushion was highly recomended or necessary for children under 41lbs' by Recaro. But so far, other than the AA document, I didn't find any actual test results.

Any ideas about the wierdness?

[LuvBug03]

the speakers were on the older model when it was still marketed as the baby trend recaro instead of just recaro. I couldnt find a picture of it but it was only a guess to how she used the word 'headset'.