Question about expiration dates

littleangelfire · Apr 25, 2007

Hi - here's some background: I went to a Kids Closet consignment sale today, it's a HUGE event twice a year here, and I always buy lots of my son's stuff there. Anyways, they had many car seats/bases/boosters there, and since learning the things I have, I checked the dates on several that ended up being at least 6 years old. Everyone in the forum seems pretty vehement that seats should not be used (except the FPSVD and maxi cossi something or other!) after 6 years, and some other sites, ones with links on this site, correlate that. Many other sites, though, list 10 years as the limit. I visited SafetyBeltSafe USA from a link from 'the Car Seat Lady' and it says it's a judgement call, and implies that the only reason to replace seats after 6 years is because of changes in governmental policies and safety accessories/labels. I'm confused now - I've been commenting to anyone I see with a seat older than 6 years, or about to purchase one older than 6 years, how unsafe it is (of course, it's still possibly not safe since it's used) b/c of it's age, but is it really? Why the discrepency? AAP I believe says something about 10 years in their used seat tips, too.
Thanks!

wendytthomas · Apr 25, 2007

The age has nothing to do with companies trying to get you to buy more sooner, it has to do with degradation of the product. The plastic in the seat cannot stand up to heat, cold, wear, tear, etc for more than six years before it starts being possibly unsafe. The OLD FP seats, not the FPSVD, but the FP Safe Embrace and Stay in View had eight year lifespans. The new ones have six, like other Britaxes. The Radian has a seven year lifespan. There's a seat, not sure which one, that has a five year span. A Chicco?

Want to see why you shouldn't use an expired seat?

http://home.comcast.net/~dcbsr/test...Child_Facing_Forwards_ten_years_old_seat.mpeg

That's a 10 year old Britax installed properly with the appropriate dummy doing a standard sled test (30 mph or the equivalent kph). The harness simply rips out of the shell.

We have no idea if that damage occurs at six years and one day, seven years, ten years. But most of us aren't willing to let our kids find out. THAT'S why a seat expires, though, and that's why they cannot be used.

HTH

Wendy

AutoShopMama · Apr 26, 2007

If you call a manufacturer, they will tell that a seat expires "*" years after DOM. Today I called Evenflo about a seat of mine...their policy says "The end of the 6th year"...so my Aug 01 seat expires in Dec. of this year. There's some things I'll buck against, but a car seat manufacturer saying not to use a seat after a certain time is not one of them. I don't really care why, and I don't want to find out the hard way why either. I personally probably wouldn't shop at a place that was willing to sell them either. The kids consignment shop here in town does sell an occasional used seat, but only from customers she knows well and she always calls to make sure there's no recalls on them before putting them on the floor. When a vaccine manufacturer says your kid needs another one in X amount of years you don't argue (well, I do, since for most kids they're more of a risk than the disease itself, but that's another story), so why argue with the car seat manufacturers?

littleangelfire · Apr 26, 2007

Thanks, I keep trying to use that link, but it's not working for me, I've tried it from a few different threads I saw it on here. I guess my issue isn't that I don't understand why, but that I don't understand why there is a discrepency between 6-10 years. I contacted a lady who was selling an old FP car seat that had a shield, and she basically told me to mind my own business she'd never hurt a child and that her research told her it was 10 years not 6. So, I'd LOVE to get that link to work.

scatterbunny · Apr 26, 2007

10 years was the widely accepted range before manufacturers set clear expiration guidelines. That time frame still seems to be floating around online from various sources, but the carseat manufacturer's word should be "law" on this. Like Kathleen said, if the carseat manfacturer says their seats shouldn't be used after X amount of years, I'm going to follow that...not only for liability purposes (you have no legal recourse against the company if the seat failed in a crash), but because I don't want to make a child a crash test dummy.

littleangelfire · Apr 26, 2007

Putting it that way is helpful and I'll include a link to this thread to anyone I contact about an outdated seat. Still wish I could see the link, though.

Maybe it's too old and isn't there anymore?

wendytthomas · Apr 26, 2007

Here's the climax of the video.

The harness ripped clear out of the shell and strangled the kid, not to mention not holding him in position or even in the seat. That kid is on his back with his legs bent down and arms up, to help you position what you're seeing.

Wendy

wendytthomas · Apr 26, 2007

littleangelfire said:
Putting it that way is helpful and I'll include a link to this thread to anyone I contact about an outdated seat. Still wish I could see the link, though. Maybe it's too old and isn't there anymore?

It's there. I just pulled the image from it.

Can you save it and watch it on a video player on your machine?

Wendy

littleangelfire · Apr 26, 2007

well, phooey. Maybe it's b/c I have sucky dial-up?

I'll keep trying.
Thanks!

kelly · Apr 26, 2007

littleangelfire said:
well, phooey. Maybe it's b/c I have sucky dial-up? I'll keep trying.
Thanks!

Can you right click on it, and choose "Save As"? This will download it to your computer, then you can click on it and watch it from your computer.

Your dial-up probably doesn't go fast enough to see it without doing that.

joolsplus3 · Apr 26, 2007

littleangelfire said:
Hi - here's some background: I went to a Kids Closet consignment sale today, it's a HUGE event twice a year here, and I always buy lots of my son's stuff there. Anyways, they had many car seats/bases/boosters there, and since learning the things I have, I checked the dates on several that ended up being at least 6 years old. Everyone in the forum seems pretty vehement that seats should not be used (except the FPSVD and maxi cossi something or other!) after 6 years, and some other sites, ones with links on this site, correlate that. Many other sites, though, list 10 years as the limit. I visited SafetyBeltSafe USA from a link from 'the Car Seat Lady' and it says it's a judgement call, and implies that the only reason to replace seats after 6 years is because of changes in governmental policies and safety accessories/labels. I'm confused now - I've been commenting to anyone I see with a seat older than 6 years, or about to purchase one older than 6 years, how unsafe it is (of course, it's still possibly not safe since it's used) b/c of it's age, but is it really? Why the discrepency? AAP I believe says something about 10 years in their used seat tips, too.
Thanks!

There may be different information everywhere, but the ultimate authority is the carseat makers. They have been making and testing seats for decades, they know how their seats wear out, they know parts get lost and manuals get lost (if there's no expiration date on a seat, then it's in the manual, if seats are being sold without manuals, there is a much bigger problem than the age of the seat!), they know safety regulations change frequently, and that they face huge liability for failed seats.
www.cpsafety.com has a terrific 'used seat checklist' that everyone should follow. And yes, current seats are all about 6-7 years, so be sure to have people check their manuals, NONE will say 10, so you've been doing good

cso1997 · Apr 26, 2007

littleangelfire said:
well, phooey. Maybe it's b/c I have sucky dial-up? I'll keep trying.
Thanks!

I am sure it is because of your connection. I had dial up until last week and was never able to view the video. It gets stuck. If you are able to download it to your computer, you could watch it that way. With a high speed connection the link works just fine.

Starlight · Apr 26, 2007

holy crap.

i;ve never been able to view the video myself, but man, that picture is awful.

Question about expiration dates

littleangelfire

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wendytthomas

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AutoShopMama

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littleangelfire

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scatterbunny

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littleangelfire

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wendytthomas

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littleangelfire

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kelly

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cso1997

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Starlight

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