Safe Kids Coalition Maestro ???

Cognito* · Mar 20, 2011

A friend recently bought a Maestro at a large consignment sale. Safe Kids had replaced some seats there with new Maestros & Tributes because most seats were unsafe for resale or use. Well it had no armrests/cupholders & plastic covers for the holes. Do some coalitions get slightly different models, like institutional Maestros? I told her I would ask here. I know I've seen a little discussion about whether it was ok to remove them or not.

Cognito* · Mar 20, 2011

She added a pic of the cover removed to show the holes. It popped off easily.

Kecia · Mar 20, 2011

Yes - these are the new institutional model Maestros. I know the ones my county purchased last year had the cup holders but according to the Evenflo sales rep that I deal with they have removed the cup holders from the Maestro factory select institutional version. Cup holders are now only on the retail seats.

"It was the plan from the start to have the institutional version without the cup holders for two reasons. Many of the folks that work with grants need to keep the cost down and that was one way to do it. At first Evenflo just ate the loss on cost until that version got ready. The second reason is that most agencies needed the space to fit more kids across in back and it does help with this issue."

This is the first time I've seen pics of the new institutional Maestro model - thanks!

ETA: I don't believe the cup holders can be removed on the models that have them. While it may be possible to pry them off with tools- I wouldn't attempt that. They clearly aren't designed to be removed easily.

Carrie_R · Mar 20, 2011

How wide does that make the seat at the base, then?

MaggieQ · Mar 20, 2011

Whoa, those look so different! I bet they puzzle amazingly, though!

babyherder · Mar 20, 2011

So the arm rests are not a safety feature? (I'm not going to go around prying them off, just curious)

Kecia · Mar 20, 2011

babyherder said:
So the arm rests are not a safety feature? (I'm not going to go around prying them off, just curious)

Apparently not.

Cognito* · Mar 20, 2011

Kecia said:
Yes - these are the new institutional model Maestros. I know the ones my county purchased last year had the cup holders but according to the Evenflo sales rep that I deal with they have removed the cup holders from the Maestro factory select institutional version. Cup holders are now only on the retail seats.

"It was the plan from the start to have the institutional version without the cup holders for two reasons. Many of the folks that work with grants need to keep the cost down and that was one way to do it. At first Evenflo just ate the loss on cost until that version got ready. The second reason is that most agencies needed the space to fit more kids across in back and it does help with this issue."

This is the first time I've seen pics of the new institutional Maestro model - thanks!

ETA: I don't believe the cup holders can be removed on the models that have them. While it may be possible to pry them off with tools- I wouldn't attempt that. They clearly aren't designed to be removed easily.

Thanks for confirming what I thought. All of that makes perfect sense. I'm glad I could post the first pics over here for you

Cognito* · Mar 20, 2011

Carrie_R said:
How wide does that make the seat at the base, then?

I'll ask my friend if she can get some measurements.

christineka · Mar 20, 2011

Early on someone on bbc got the okay from evenflo to remove the armrest. Evenflo even gave her instructions on how to remove them. Later Evenflo revised that and said the arm rests could not be removed due to the safety hazard of the exposed holes. I'm sure the arm rests are only a safety feature for guarding little fingers from becoming scraped.

Cognito* · Mar 20, 2011

It is measuring 17" wide from outside edge to outside edge where the armrests would usually be.

Cognito* · Mar 20, 2011

Can you use latch in booster mode on the retail ones? The institutional one she got says no to using it in booster mode. So that might be a difference too.

christineka · Mar 20, 2011

The retail maestros can be latched in booster mode. I wonder why the difference.

Cognito* · Mar 21, 2011

Today my friend called Evenflo to ask about possibly ordering the armrest/cupholders & to ask about latch in booster mode. She was told to abide by what the manual said about latch & the she could NOT use her seat until she had armrests. They are mailing them to her. She was told her model is supposed to have them & the seats haven't been tested without them. Thoughts?

eyeslkethesky5391 · Mar 21, 2011

Cognito* said:
Today my friend called Evenflo to ask about possibly ordering the armrest/cupholders & to ask about latch in booster mode. She was told to abide by what the manual said about latch & the she could NOT use her seat until she had armrests. They are mailing them to her. She was told her model is supposed to have them & the seats haven't been tested without them. Thoughts?

um i'd be calling safekids of the county

Cognito* · Mar 21, 2011

eyeslkethesky5391 said:
um i'd be calling safekids of the county

She did contact Safe Kids too. No one was available so she left a message. She hasn't heard back yet.

I'm totally confused as to why they would have those caps made for covering the holes for no reason. Designing a part, having a mold made, producing those pieces & having it put on the seat during assembly is pretty intentional, kwim? Can you tell I used to work an assembly line, do sub-assembly & plastics molding? (fuel pumps, not carseats though)

Kat_Momof3 · Mar 22, 2011

it's a customer service rep... remember that CSR's aren't going to typically know the in and outs of the program seats... I would try to get ahold of someone higher up, so the CSRs can be educated.

eyeslkethesky5391 · Mar 22, 2011

Kat_Momof3 said:
it's a customer service rep... remember that CSR's aren't going to typically know the in and outs of the program seats... I would try to get ahold of someone higher up, so the CSRs can be educated.

:yeahthat:

I haven't seen masteros in our safekids yet...i'm kinda hoping we get them though because there are alot of kids out there that don't fit in boosters that are in them

Brycen'sMommy · Apr 8, 2011

Do you happen to have the model number of this seat or does anyone know if I can order the armrest covers from Evenflo? We have a Maestro but in order for it to fit in a very tight three across, I made the parental decision to remove the cupholders/armrests.:duck: I would like to try and buy the covers to help prevent fingers from getting stuck.

By the way, without the armrests it puzzles amazingly well with a RF Tribute and a Turbo booster.

LISmama810 · Apr 8, 2011

I doubt the armrest covers are available separately. I talked to the Evenflo rep at Lifesavers about removing the armrests and she said absolutely not. And I wasn't even asking as a convenience feature but in order to make the seat usable for kids in spica casts.

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