expired carseat?

U

Unregistered

Guest

• Apr 22, 2013

• #1

I have a Century 1500 STE Prestige carseat that was my niece's who is now 11. It was given to me to use for my 1yr old but I'm not sure it's still safe to use. It's in great condition but I don't see an expiration date or know why it would expire. please advise if it is safe to use.

 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

Staff member

• Apr 22, 2013

• #2

Welcome. Very glad you stopped by.

That seat was last made in 2002. So at best it expired over four years ago. It's not safe to use. The plastic can break down, the harness is old, and technology has changed.

In addition, it's a used seat. Do you trust that for the six years it was usable that it was never in a crash, never checked as baggage on a plane, never had the harness washed, and was always treated properly? If not, I wouldn't use it even if it was a fairly new seat.

So given the fact that it's a used, expired seat, I wouldn't trust it to save a life.

Can we help you with recommendations for something else?

Wendy

 

S

Stelvis

New member

• Apr 22, 2013

• #3

Also, it would be helpful to know how tall and heavy your child is, and what car or cars you'll be installing in.

 

Brigala

CPST Instructor

• Apr 22, 2013

• #4

There is likely a "do not use after" date molded into the plastic somewhere, but it may be quite hard to find. Plus, as Wendy pointed out, that seat was discontinued so long ago there is no chance that it's still within its "useful life."

There are many reasons why car seats expire, and even if it's in perfect condition it still does not compare to what is currently available. I believe that seat has a 22 lb weight limit for rear-facing, for example. It is now recommended that children remain rear-facing as long as possible, and most currently available car seats had rear facing limits of 35 or 40 lbs. We encourage parents to choose car seats that will fit their children rear-facing until a minimum of age two, which for an average-sized child is pretty much any car seat you can find (even the $38 Walmart one).

If you can give us an idea of what your budget might be, the size of your child, and what vehicle you'll be using it for, we can make some suggestions for you.

As for the Century car seat, many communities have car seat recycling programs available. If you have trouble finding one near you, we may be able to help with that as well.

 

S

Stelvis

New member

• Apr 22, 2013

• #5

You can also save the seat to trade in for 25% off at the next Babies R Us trade in event.

 

mom of six

Active member

• Apr 22, 2013

• #6

It could be that this car seat is so old that it does not have an expiration warning stamped into it. IIRC the expiration thing didn't start until right around the year 2000. The STE's were manufactured for a long time so that seat could be REALLY old. My cousin used a STE 1000 and he is 26 now.

 

Brigala

CPST Instructor

• Apr 22, 2013

• #7

Yes, that's also possible. The manual I found online for it says there's a date stamped in the shell, but it could be that the seat pre-dates the available manual.

I wish I could find a manual for my old Century convertible seat, but it was from about 1996. I am positive that even back then, the stickers on the side of the seat said baby had to be 1 year old to face forward, but the manual for OP's seat doesn't say that, and it says it has a RF weight limit of 22 lbs. I'm positive my even-older seats had a RF weight limit of 30 lbs or so. YDS was a HUGE baby and I am sure I was able to keep him RF until he was a whole year, and I was a direction-follower even back then (that was after a car seat had already saved ODS's life).

 

Brigala

CPST Instructor

• Apr 22, 2013

• #8

Oh, one more thing, the seat the OP has may also be recalled.

http://www.carseat.org/Recalls/179NP.pdf

 

mom of six

Active member

• Apr 22, 2013

• #9

Brigala said:

I'm positive my even-older seats had a RF weight limit of 30 lbs or so.

Click to expand...

When I was shopping for a convertible car seat for my just turned 13 year old I was specifically looking for a seat that RF'd to 30 lbs. I almost bought a Century 1000STE but didn't because it only RF'd to 22 lbs. We ended up getting an Evenflo Conquest V because it was in our price range and RF'd to 30 lbs. So there were still some out there, especially the budget friendly ones that only RF'd to 22lbs.

 

Last edited: Apr 23, 2013

U

Unregistered

Guest

• Apr 23, 2013

• #10

Thank you everyone for the very helpful comments. I thought it was too old to use but wanted to be sure (since I've had pressure from mom-in-law to use it). My son will be 1yr on May 1st. He's a pretty big boy - 25lbs/30inches. Will be using the seat in a Dodge ram pickup or Chevy tahoe. Was hoping to spend $100 or less but am putting his safety as #1 priority.

 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor

Staff member

• Apr 23, 2013

• #11

I'd look at the Evenflo SureRide. It's tall, will fit him rear facing for quite a while, and is under $100. Another option is the Safety 1st Guide 65, usually around $80, also fairly tall and rear faces to 40 pounds and 40", like the SureRide.

Wendy

 

linneabw

New member

• Apr 23, 2013

• #12

Sureride is on sale at Target for $80 this week.