dneul
New member
I had a call the other day with a lady needing some car seats for her grandchildren who live with her full time. Anyway she came yesterday (on time, with a confirmation call in the morning that she was coming!!), She had one of the two children with her. The little girl was going on two years old but grandma had no interest in rear facing her again. It would have been possible size wise but in a 94 2 door Ford escort it would have been near impossible. I could not get the retractors to lock and I put a locking clip near the buckle. We also had to twist the seat belt stalk 3 times for the buckle to not interfer with the belt path. I was able to get the seat (Cosco high back booster with harness) installed rock solid. Grandma watched and learned how to do it and then did the second seat. She achieved a great install as well. I showed Grandma how to loosen and tighten the harness, where the chest clip needs to go, how tight the harness needs to be, and where the car seat manual is. She gave me her old seats to dispose of and she left a happy grandma. The seats that were being used was a Cosco Scenera from 2007 (Grandma bought new for another child) and while it "passed" the critera for whether I ask for the seat and dispose of it or let the person keep the seat (bought new, knows the history, no visible defects, crash free), it was very dirty and someone cut off the latch straps and top tether at some point. Grandma was more then happy to let me keep the seat. The other seat was a Century Metro from 1999 that came with another vehicle that was purchased years ago. The install was awful with both- worse with the metro. The seat was a rear adjust and the adjuster mechinism was rusted. The straps were also not routed properly to lock the straps in place.
While installing and showing Grandma how- out of the corner of my eye I notice a yellow triangle of noodles with duct tape for installing rear facing. I ask Grandma about it and she pulls it out of the rear and shows it to me. I notice that I made it because I had written on it some time ago my name, my telephone number, and if they need help with car seats to give me a call. The grandma said she was given it sometime ago when she had her grandchildren rear facing and looked me up when she needed help. I thought it was so cool that it actually worked. She let me keep the triangle for my next rear facing install...
Anyway I just wanted to share.
While installing and showing Grandma how- out of the corner of my eye I notice a yellow triangle of noodles with duct tape for installing rear facing. I ask Grandma about it and she pulls it out of the rear and shows it to me. I notice that I made it because I had written on it some time ago my name, my telephone number, and if they need help with car seats to give me a call. The grandma said she was given it sometime ago when she had her grandchildren rear facing and looked me up when she needed help. I thought it was so cool that it actually worked. She let me keep the triangle for my next rear facing install...
Anyway I just wanted to share.