A Question about Century EZ-LATCH

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kmicah

Guest
A Question about Century EZ-LATCH

I saw the Century EZ-LATCH in the stores the other day, and read the literature that comes with it. It states clearly in the manual that the EZ-LATCH attachment is only to be used on Century car seats. This is stated quite explicitly. My question is...why? Why could I not use this product on ANY car seat to make it LATCH capable? It is nothing more than two LATCH clips that have a seat belt connecting them? Do they only add that statement in there for legal liability issues?

Thanks,
Micah
 
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murphydog77

Guest
Here's why I wouldn't use it

It's crash tested with specific Century seats only (all Century seats made since 1997). If you use this product with another brand car seat, you are releasing the manufacturer of any liability for the seat if it fails during a crash, even if the failure is unrelated to the Century LATCH kit.

Britax has been working on a LATCH retrofit kit for the Roundabout, but hasn't been able to find a suitable retrofit yet. They're running into some kind of problem. If Britax can't get a retrofit kit to work with one of their seats, then I would certainly be wary of using the Century kit with the Roundabout, KWIM?

Even though it appears to be just seat belt material with clips on the ends, we just don't know how it will react with different manufacturer's belt paths on their seats. The retrofit kit may put pressure on the belt path that, say, an Evenflo seat may not be able to handle, for example.

HTH!

Heather
 
K

kmicah

Guest
RE: Here's why I wouldn't use it

I see what you are saying for liability issues, but I think that it would be extremely difficult to ever sue one of these car seat manufacturers even if you did have every thing installed correctly (you will have no proof) unless you have a class action lawsuit.

As far as Britax is concerned, they seem to have issues coming out with ANY LATCH products, let alone a retrofit kit. They had continual delays when it came to their current LATCH offering (Expressway), so I would expect them to have continual delays with a retrofit kit. I don't see any reason to be wary of a LATCH system from Century. Just because Britax is a more expensive brand, doesn't mean that everthing that they do is gold and everything anyone else does is subpar. I looked at the construction of this EZ-LATCH system and it looks top notch.

As far as not knowing how the EZ-LATCH system would pull on another manufacturer's car seat (ie. Evenflo's), we also would not know how the pull seat belt from Suburban would differ from the pull of a seatbelt from a Neon.

I am not saying that these are not valid arguments/comments, because they definitely are valid. What I am saying is, why can it not by done? Why would using a device like this only be SAFE for Century. Are they just doing some CYA? My wife and I would really like to use LATCH, however, right now, the products on the market are not robust at all (not to mention that there are NO LATCH systems for infants).

Also, what does KWIM mean?

Thanks,
Micah Krider
 
C

Caviller

Guest
More comments

In fact, it is possible that the Century kit may work on other models. You could try it, of course, but it will be at your own risk, and would basically be considered an "Aftermarket" item by a technician if used on any other brand.

As an example, we talked to the graco engineers at this year's child passenger safety conference. I asked if the Century kit could be used on Graco products, since Graco owns Century (one of the labels on the EZ LATCH even has the Graco label).

The response was an emphatic "NO". As it turns out, there is a compatibility issue on many Graco seats because of the belt routing path and the length of the EZ LATCH hooks. Graco is develeping their own, and it should be released this year. Evenflo is supposed to do the same.

Britax's system on the Expressway was also shown retrofitted on a Freeway Plus, and it would easily fit on a Roundabout. The speculation is that it would probably work just fine on the nearly identical Roundabout front-facing, but that the issue with the Roundabout is the rear-facing installation.

The moral of the story is that you know the EZ LATCH has been tested thoroughly with the Century products for which it is recommended. With any other products, it may be safe, or there may be some unforseen compatibility issue.
 
M

murphydog77

Guest
RE: Here's why I wouldn't use it

I agree with you on Britax. They are slower than molasses on certain things and slow to admit and fix poor design (i.e. buckle). While I do like most of their products better than other brands, that doesn't mean that another brand is subpar--just different.

I do think it's a CYA issue, but I also wasn't aware that there was a compatibility problem between Century and Graco. Makes sense, since they're designing the retrofit kit for one brand of seats.

I still wouldn't use the Century kit with another brand seat, even though it may *look* safe. I'm not one of the engineers that designed the kit, so I just don't know how it will work with a different brand. FMVSS 208 governs seat belt performance standards in vehicles and I'm sure it mentions shoulder belt height, angles for lap belts, etc., but I'm treading into an area that I'm not that familiar with, since I've only received a summary of it. These standards are there to help ensure that the belts will fit adults, children and car seats properly. But we do still find incompatibilities. It's a nasty little loop we get caught in.

KWIM=know what I mean

Heather
 
K

kmicah

Guest
RE: Here's why I wouldn't use it

Sorry for seeming dense, but what does FMVSS mean?
 

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