Question When and why did Britax stop putting Locking Clips on seats?

tam_shops

New member

• Dec 28, 2012

• #1

When did Britax stop putting Locking Clips on their seats?

Know my 2009 MA had one, which is interesting b/c it had built in lock offs.

Looked up the instructions for my (now gone) 2009 Frontier, and it doesn't look like it had one. Know the 2011 ones don't have them.

What's the deal with that?

My 2012 $90 Maestro has one!


I'm not impressed! LOL

tam

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Dec 28, 2012

• #2

Scratch all that.

My marathon did not come with a locking clip.

My roundabout 50 did.

My frontier 85 did not.

My companion did.

My husky did not.


It seems to me that the infant seats and convertibles that have a way to install without built in lockoffs came with them. The ffing only and combination seats, even without lockoffs, did not.

 

J

Jessica61624

New member

• Dec 28, 2012

• #3

I'm in the US but our frontiers never came with one.

 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob

Staff member

• Dec 28, 2012

• #4

I'm pretty sure Regents didn't. It almost seems like just a convention of theirs at this point. If you call they will send you one, but that doesn't help immediate situations.

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Dec 28, 2012

• #5

I forgot I had a regent at one point as well. It did not come with one either.

 

tam_shops

New member

• Dec 28, 2012

• #6

Thanks everyone! Just curious, doesn't really matter. Was rather shocked when it came up in conversation w/ someone in Germany that needed one for her Frontier and did not have.

Even more shocked that my Maestro has one and Frontier does not...

I checked the website and Britax charges for them, though will phone and complain about it just to find out their response and b/c one spare just won't do if seats are no longer adding them! LOL First Britax, then Graco, then Evenflo....I do *get* it they're rarely needed, guess I just wish I'd thought to save more off the seats we'd crashed...

tam

 

Pixelated

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• Dec 28, 2012

• #7

tam_shops said:

I just wish I'd thought to save more off the seats we'd crashed...

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I make a point of collecting locking clips off of expired/donated seats - I've never bought one and have a growing collection because of this! I've only ever used two or three of my own doing seat checks. Frustrating that Britax wouldn't include them though.

 

Keeanh

Well-known member

• Dec 28, 2012

• #8

Pixelated said:

I make a point of collecting locking clips off of expired/donated seats - I've never bought one and have a growing collection because of this! I've only ever used two or three of my own doing seat checks. Frustrating that Britax wouldn't include them though.

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Yep. I started having babies in 1998 when seats came with a locking clip AND a tether anchor LOL. There are still two vehicles in the family that don't have locking seatbelts -- my '97 Protege and my mom's '93 Aerostar -- so I have tons of clips kicking around. I grab them off expired, crashed, free-on-the-sidewalk seats all the time.

I was quite surprised and annoyed that the Frontier didn't come with one.

 

F

Frenchgirl

Member

• Dec 29, 2012

• #9

My 2009 Frontier didn t have a locking clip.
In 2009, I didn t know much about car seats and I though that we always needed one for installation.
I called Britax to get one. They told me that I wasn t suupose to need one. But instead of taking time to ask me which car I drove (mazda5 2006 so I WAS able to lock the seatbelt) and then explain to me that I had to lock the seatbelt, they were just telling: you don t need one....
At the end, they told me: Ok, we will send you one.....
it would have been so helpful to learn how to properly install my Frontier but the consumer service wasn t really helpful for that.

 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• Dec 30, 2012

• #10

The Marathon has never come with a locking clip unless you got a mutant random Marathon. Britax has never allowed the use of locking clips with their infant/child seats that had built-in lock-offs.

I believe that the infant seats do have a locking clip on the seat itself, but I'm not 100% sure, I haven't closely looked - I just know that that's where other companies with built-in lock-offs on their infant seat base put the locking clips.

Anyways... I have extra locking clips kicking around too but I don't reach in to my stash very often. Most of the time when I see a seat needing a locking clip the seat has the locking clip attached still.

 

hkllgg

New member

• Dec 30, 2012

• #11

I swear I have them on many classic MA, purchased 6 months ago. Is it just the new gen models?

 

tam_shops

New member

• Dec 30, 2012

• #12

I thought my MA had one. Even found a Youtube video showing it, then realized it was a RA video, after Dillipop posted! LOL

Though, Trudy, we all know I had a Mutant 33# MA, so who knows, maybe it did have a locking clip!

tam

 

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor

• Jan 2, 2013

• #13

hkllgg said:

I swear I have them on many classic MA, purchased 6 months ago. Is it just the new gen models?

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You would have lock-offs on a classic MA I believe? We don't have the classic MA in Canada so I can't comment for sure on if it has lock-offs or not. I just know that the MA didn't come with a locking clip. Assuming the classic is being made identical to how the originals were, then you would have lock-offs.

tam_shops said:

I thought my MA had one. Even found a Youtube video showing it, then realized it was a RA video, after Dillipop posted! LOL

Though, Trudy, we all know I had a Mutant 33# MA, so who knows, maybe it did have a locking clip!

tam

Click to expand...

LOL - I'm voting on mutant memory. I am however, quite willing to accept that the words lock-offs and locking-clips are very easy to mix-up and perhaps it's just a mix-up in wording.

Britax doesn't allow the use of locking clips on their seats with built-in lock-offs, so I'm very sure that the seats with lock-offs have never come with a locking clip. And I'm pretty sure the MA had lock-offs right from the beginning (in Canada anyways, I obviously don't know the US history on the seat.)