Question Britax Marathon 70 detatched from base

U

Unregistered

Guest

• Nov 1, 2010

• #1

I went to get my daughter's Britax Marathon 70 out of my MIL's car, and the seat is partially detached from the base. It looks like 2 screws on either side of the base came out. WTF? I'm on the phone with Britax right now, but I'm wondering has this happened to anyone else?

 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

Staff member

• Nov 1, 2010

• #2

I haven't heard of it. What is Britax saying?

Wendy

 

MomToEliEm

Moderator

• Nov 1, 2010

• #3

That doesn't sound good. Can you take a picture of it and post it so we can see what you are talking about? To post a picture, put the picture into a photobucket account (or other file sharing site) and put the img link in a post here.

 

Last edited: Nov 1, 2010

NatNat's Mom

New member

• Nov 1, 2010

• #4

I just registered so I'm not "unregistered" anymore lol. They didn't really say anything except that it shouldn't have happened and they haven't heard this complaint from any other consumer. They're shipping out a new seat today that I should have in a few days, and I'm to ship the defective one back to them once I receive the shipping label in the mail. It's weird. I'm wondering if MIL broke it somehow. We move the car seat back and forth between my car, my husband's car and MIL's car. I'm wondering if all the movement caused it to break? I've had this seat less than 3 weeks though. That's really scary. If it detaches so easily, what the heck woulda happened if it there had been a car accident?

 

ctbcleveland

Well-known member

• Nov 1, 2010

• #5

Transferring a seat in and out of a vehicle absolutely should not cause this to happen. These seats are praised for ease of use and many people specifically get them for situations where frequent installs and uninstalls need to occur.

 

NatNat's Mom

New member

• Nov 1, 2010

• #6

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...9_899027858851_5016196_48792724_4058216_a.jpg

http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphoto...3_899029206151_5016196_48792778_3280104_a.jpg

It's only partially detached now because my husband found one of the screws and re-attached it. Picture #1 shows the missing screw on one side. Picture #2 shows the screw in place on the other side. When both screws were missing, I was able to pick up the car seat and the base was dangling from it. The base is attached with the 2 screws, but it is also attached to the seat from the front where the recline lever is.

 

D

daycaremom2002

Active member

• Nov 1, 2010

• #7

That is scary. Pictures would be great though, so that we can see the exact problem and be on the look out for it in the future.

Glad they are taking care of it and getting you a new seat quickly.

 

M

Mom<3'sBennett

Guest

• Jan 26, 2011

• #8

Just wanted to add that I ran into this same problem with the Britax Marathon 70 today. It has only been installed for 2 months and never taken out or moved. One set of the bolts fell off and the other side was extremely loose. My husband was able to re-tighten them with an allen wrench, but we are still concerned that the safety of the car seat has been compromised. I plan on calling Britax first thing tomorrow. Britax owners beware!!

 

Kat_Momof3

New member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #9

That is so scary... but the response from Britax is just what I would expect... that's one thing I will always love about Britax... they have awesome customer service!

 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

Staff member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #10

Since I posted here before, I had this happen with a brand new Boulevard 70. The dad said there was an extra piece in the box, and it was half a screw. True to Britax, they sent a whole new seat rather than a screw.

Wendy

 

NannyMom

Well-known member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #11

Has anyone reported this to NHTSA?

 

luckyclov

New member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #12

I'm (mostly) loyal to Britax because of their outstanding customer service, proactive recalls, and cute patterns. Yep, I said it. I am.

That said, holy crap - that's scary!
I haven't had any issues whatsoever with my MA70, major or minor (yet), fortunately.

 

hrice

New member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #13

Mom<3'sBennett said:

Just wanted to add that I ran into this same problem with the Britax Marathon 70 today. It has only been installed for 2 months and never taken out or moved. One set of the bolts fell off and the other side was extremely loose. My husband was able to re-tighten them with an allen wrench, but we are still concerned that the safety of the car seat has been compromised. I plan on calling Britax first thing tomorrow. Britax owners beware!!

Click to expand...

This is scary! If it were me I would not use the seat and wait for the replacement.

 

mommycat

Well-known member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #14

Wow, scary! and so unexpected somehow, for Britax. Good to know there is an issue to look out for. Thanks for posting!

 

cpsaddict

New member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #15

Scary! I have had my Marathon 70 since August and have not had an issue with it. We have moved it all over the place, too. I am going to check it thoroughly this evening.

 

mommy-medic

New member

• Jan 26, 2011

• #16

That is so scary! Kudos to you for catching it as well as reporting it to Britax. I also commend them for shipping you out a new seat pronto!

Since others seem to have had similar issues, I would highly recommend reporting it to NHTSA here: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq/index.cfm

It's worth looking into- for each one that is noticed, how many more go unnoticed?

 

NatNat's Mom

New member

• Apr 13, 2011

• #17

Wow! When I posted back in November, I thought I was the only one with this problem! I wonder if it's just a bad batch of seats? My original seat was manufactured in i think 09/2010. I got my replacement seat in just 3 days (luckily she still fit in her bucket seat at the time), and I haven't had any issues since. I didn't even think to report this to the NHTSA. I'll do that right now.

 

Calleiah

Active member

• Apr 13, 2011

• #18

Just out of curiosity, can you list where the seats were made? Im wondering if this is a manufacturing error at a particular location, or if it's more widespread than that.
Definitely something to watch out for, and a bit disappointing to be honest. While Im thrilled that they've responded so well, Im a little stunned that they are even having this issue.

 

M

MirMom

New member

• Apr 14, 2011

• #19

I posted about something like this awhile back and now I think I am going to re-check our MA70. When we first got it, the bolts seemed awfully loose. I called CS and they reassured me that they are supposed to be somewhat loose, so that the seat can recline properly. Hearing stories like this just really scares me a lot. I just wonder how loose is "too loose?"

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• Apr 26, 2011

• #20

We just had the same thing happen tonight. We took my van to have the installation inspected and when they kneeled in to tighten it, the same screw that the OP pictured popped right out. My husband was able to tighten the screw but like PP said...what if we had been in an accident? Seems like this should be a recall item for sure. I'm calling Britax tomorrow to report it and will follow the link above as well. This is really upsetting to me.