We were rear-ended, question

My Dodge Grand Caravan was rear-ended yesterday- my vehicle was stopped, a guy in a pick up hit us. As far as we can tell, no structrual damage to my van (taking it to the body shop today), the visible damage is to the bumper/fender, rear quarter panel and tail light. Totally drivable. My 6.5yo DD was in the rear row of seats, harnessed in her Apex 65, my other kids' seats (BV and MA) were unoccupied. Anyone know offhand if I need to replace the seats? The other driver's ins. is covering all damage to my vehicle and a rental car, and I told the rep. that I may need my seats replaced, but that I would have to get back to them on that. Any help would be great- my kids are all sick and I'm a bit short on research time right now, sigh

I would say if their insurance is willing to replace them I would go for it.

The Britax seats most likely don't need to be replaced, but the Apex does. Britax is more forgiving than other manufacturers when it comes to replacing them. Cosco says replace no matter what. Since your daughter was in it, and closest to the impact, and the manufacturer always wants them replaced, I'd replace it. You can contact Britax on the other seats though.
If you *do* replace them, make sure you keep the cover from the Apex and the covers and harnesses (since the harnesses were unoccupied) from the other seats. Never hurts to have spares!

Thanks for the info. I checked the owners manual for the Apex, and it says not to use a seat that has been in a crash, so I'm def. going to get that one replaced. Of course Britax is closed till Monday, ugh, so I guess I'll have to wait till then. Should I put my kids in diff. seats till I speak with Britax?

Ouch, hope everyone is feeling okay.

Britax goes by a NHTSA checklist for determining whether or not a Britax seat should be replaced (unlike Cosco/Dorel and most other seat manufacturers which say to replace their seats after any crash no matter what). Here's the checklist from the FAQ about crashed Britax seats at www.britaxusa.net:

"Britax recommends that use of a child restraint be discontinued if it has been in a severe crash. We further advise of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) position that it is not necessary to replace a child restraint after a minor crash. A minor crash is one that meets ALL of following criteria:

* The vehicle was able to be driven away from the crash site;
* The vehicle door nearest the child restraint was undamaged;
* There were no injuries to any of the vehicle occupants;
* The air bags (if present) did not deploy; AND
* There is no visible damage to the child restraint."

If your crash meets all of the about checklist items, then it's likely Britax won't recommend replacing their seats. If the at fault driver's insurance is cooperative and you want the Britax seats replaced for peace of mind in addition to the Apex, I'd go for it. Feel free to check out this article for additional pointers if the insurance company gives you a hard time: http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=9575

Hope everything goes smoothly for you.

Jean, thanks for that info! There was no damage to the rear liftgate (that is the door closest to where she was sitting, if it counts as a door) and the crash did meet all of the other criteria, so it looks like our Britax seats are okay to keep. I don't know that the driver's ins. will agree to replace them just for my piece of mind- esp. since it would be $570- but I am still going to call Britax just in case on Monday, and if there is any question at all, I'll push to have them replaced. Thanks again for the info!!

You're welcome, and feel free to post an update about how things are going. Fingers crossed all goes well for you.