Question Was in a car accident...

PureRebel · Jun 12, 2013

I was in a minor collision today (someone rear ended me at a red light) the damage was minimal and I've included a picture. They didn't hit me very hard at all. I'm 20 weeks pregnant, baby is fine, moving around and kicking and I have a doppler and all checks out. My 4 year old was in the car and he is also fine, but do I need to replace the car seat? Transport Canada says "Always replace a child seat that was in a car that had a crash." Just wondering your opinion, it was more of a bump really.

Also a bummer I bought this vehicle yesterday! I haven't even owned it for 24 hours!

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn130/Almost_Princess/20130612_151912.jpg

(Wouldn't let me upload directly due to being a new user)

BarbieWD · Jun 12, 2013

Most car seat manufacturers also echo what TC says. What type of car seats, brand and model, were in the vehicle at the time?

PureRebel · Jun 12, 2013

There was only 1 seat, an evenflo triumph 65 convertible car seat.

Keeks64 · Jun 13, 2013

With the exception of some Britax models you do need to replace after any crash no matter how minimal

What seat was your son in?

You might have to fight the insurance company to replace for a new seat & not depreciated value of the crash seated

PureRebel · Jun 13, 2013

He was in the Evenflo Triumph 65 forward facing (he's 4 years old and 32lbs). Just out of curiosity why is the britax an exception? And where would I find this sort of information.

BarbieWD · Jun 13, 2013

PureRebel said:
He was in the Evenflo Triumph 65 forward facing (he's 4 years old and 32lbs). Just out of curiosity why is the britax an exception? And where would I find this sort of information.

Britax is an exception in very few collisions. Britax has pretty strict parameters for allowing continued use after a collision. And it's just because Britax says so really....

You will be able to find the information on replacing after any collision in your car seat's manual. It may be located on the pages of warnings. If you can't find it, you can also call evenflo and they usually email/mail a letter stating that the seat needs to be replaced. Either that letter or your car seat manual is usually good enough for insurance to replace them!

Would you like suggestions on a new seat??

HTH

~Barbie

PureRebel · Jun 13, 2013

I went to the police station and they said the damage wasn't worth reporting which is good. He also said it wasn't necessary to replace the car seat, but do I replace it anyways? And sure I guess suggestions are welcome lol

BarbieWD · Jun 13, 2013

Personally, and this is my opinion, police officers aren't usually trained specifically on car seats like certified techs are. (There are a few police who are though!) And I wasn't in the car with you to know how big or little of a bump it really was. (I'm just really glad that you and baby, and 4yo are ok!)

And it's hard to tell how much stress the car seat really took. Evenflo would be the best to answer this. Any one else would really be, in my opinion, just be giving a judgement call. I believe that's what the officer gave. My judgement call is to always replace. HOWEVER, my tech response is to contact Evenflo for a more specific answer!

What budget would you have for a new seat? What is the vehicle the car seat will be installed in, make, model, and year? And how tall is your 4yo? And do you have any perferences with car seat? And how long would you like to see 4yo harnessed for? And does 4yo have a long torso?

~Barbie

Dani_mummy · Jun 13, 2013

I was in similar situation last year. Was rear ended at light with no damage but still initiated a claim. Even took the car in to a shop and they pulled apart the bumper etc and put parts under special lights to ensure there was no rippling etc but today's plastic bumpers are quite flexible, they also checked to make sure there wasn't any damage to the actual bumper and frame. I inspected my daughter's radian and found what appeared to be stress marks near where the seatbelt bath is which I had never seen before and pretty sure I would have noticed as I am always checking her seats. Seat was fully paid for through insurance. Transport Canada does recommend replacing after all crashes, there can be damage you can not see. Also, as a police officer myself, very very very few actually have any knowledge of car seats. It is always best to make a claim and have your vehicle checked for internal damages etc.

as for Britax rules, in Canada, it appears they now default to Transport Canada as well http://www.britax.ca/support/faq/after-a-crash

In the US they go by these rules http://www.britaxusa.com/support/faq/after-a-crash

cake... · Jun 13, 2013

If I were you I would go ahead and pursue getting a new seat. Better safe than sorry and it's the responsibility of the other person's insurance company to follow TC's recommendations.

PureRebel · Jun 13, 2013

This is a pain! I really wish people would pay more attention sometimes. I'm considering replacing the seat for my own comfort of mind if nothing else. You can never be too safe with a child in the car. Whether or not I'll make a claim for it I'm not sure. I just became insured with my own vehicle so it's already so pricey for me

@BarbieWD I'm looking to stay less than $250 for sure since I'll be on maternity leave soon and have to buy another car seat for this one. It will be in a 2008 Kia Sportage V6 FWD. He follows about the 75th percentile for height but I'm not sure of a current height. I don't have much for preferences with the car seat, as long as it's generally easy to use, comfortable for him, and safe. I would LOVE to see my son harnessed FOREVER haha. But as that's not going to happen I plan on keeping him harnessed to the top of the weight limit which I believe is usually 65lbs. Should be a long time since my son is only 32lbs now. He's pretty evenly distributed I'd say, the evenflo triumph was working fine for him so far.

@Dani_mummy I'm still considering taking it in to have it looked at. And the britax rules for car seats from the US site is what their national standard is for all car seats in the US; as stated here http://www.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/childps/childrestraints/reuse/restraintreuse.htm

BarbieWD · Jun 14, 2013

My go to for a long lasting budget friendly child/booster seat would be a Graco Nautilus. My long torso (54lbs, 46ins tall) 6 year is still comfortably harnessed with a bit of growing room left (least a year at her current growing rate). And it's around the 200$ mark, although quite often on sale for less. And will make a good booster when 4yo is ready in a few years.

Next on my list, since you are happy to harness forever

would be the Britax Frontier XT as Britax just released a newer model (the CT) and places are clearancing the XT's and I've seen them on sale for 239.99. (Just in your 250$ budget!) And other than the newest version of the Frontier it has the highest forward facing harness height currently on the market, I believe. One thing that may be a con since you're expecting and will have more than one seat in your back seat is that the Frontier is a very wide seat!!! But amazing otherwise. It also becomes a great booster.

And since you had an Evenflo Triumph for your 4yo already, I would then recommend the Evenflo Secure Kid 300/400. I haven't personally had experience with this seat, but I've heard it is a great option. Once con is some kids run out of harness length before they reach the height or weight limits. But this seat also has a high top harness height as well. And goes for about 200$.

Here is a great link for more favourite child/booster seats: http://vicarseattechs.com/our-favourite-seats/childbooster-seats/

I gave you what I thought would be a top three, but let me know if any thing else on that list stands out to you. Also I high recommend going to a store that allows you to try the seat in your vehicle. And actually install it and try 4yo in it installed. And if you can do so with the infant seat (if you have one already) for new bub installed too, that way you will get a really good idea what it will be like have both seats in the back!

~Barbie

PureRebel · Jul 2, 2013

Well we've been shopping around (I had more than one car seat because of other vehicles so we had a little time to figure it out) and I think our choice will be the Graco Nautilus. I actually thought it would have been the Frontier. I did look at the evenflo as well, but it doesn't have the features that I liked so much about the Triumph (which is the infinite slide harness and the tensionright knobs) and I do find the straps aren't as comfortable as they could be for the child, they're too close together. My son sat in all three seats and I buckled him up in all of them and his favourite by far was the Nautilus. I don't know if it's just because he's got a smaller frame (I had size 2T shorts on him yesterday and he was still pulling them up all the time, but pants he's in a size 4T-5). But the seat seemed so big for him, like wide. He didn't look very comfortable and he said he wasn't comfortable. With the nautilus he seemed to feel much more comfortable and secure. He's in love with cup holders and the storage on it (which is great for me so I don't have to reach back and get his cups!).

The only things I wish the Graco had are an easier to adjust harness height (no rethreading) and maybe 2 cupholders (one for snacks). But I think his comfort and how he fits in the seat means a lot. I've now seen the graco on sale for just under $190 but I missed the sale

Now I've seen it for $219 where the Frontier I can't find here for less than $280. And the Evenflo Securekid 400 is about $199. The only bonus for that one over the others is the SureLatch which would be convenient but won't last long because at upper weights it has to be installed with seatbelts anyways.

At least they all harness to 65lbs. I feel like he'll outgrow the harness length before the weight anyways (and in Canada you can't harness to 85lbs anyways). But being that he's all of 32.2lbs at 4 years 4 months I don't think he'll make it to 65lbs even haha.

Thank you for all your help!

BarbieWD · Jul 2, 2013

Most kids don't make to the 65lbs before they max out on height any ways!

A cool feature with the Nautilus is that it has little cubbie holes in the inside of the arm rests! My girls love them for storing their teasures (read: rocks, leaves, flowers.....) and their MCD fries fit nicely to eat from! We haven't really missed having two cup holders!

As for the no re thread harness, I didn't think it was going to be an issue for me, as I was getting one for each of my girls and they would always sit in the same seat. But turns out I was wrong.... my oldest is in school, so while she's at school quite often I was taking my nieces places which meant uninstalling every time to adjust the car seat. I really miss having the no re-thread!!!!! It seriously drives me nuts b/c a typical school day requires uninstalling one of my nautiluses at least twice! But it really is just an issue in my situation.... as my other nautilus never gets touched, it just sits there all happy for my younger daughter! lol

Oh and both my girls love the Nautilus! My oldest was actually in a booster before and prefers the Nautilus harness. And my younger daughter just turn 4 a month ago and is barely 35lbs. She uses the Nautilus on the 2nd from the top slots, as the next slots down are just a titch (and I mean barely) below her shoulders. I would expect she has years left (7 or 8 years old hopefully) before she outgrows the harness!!

Pixelated · Jul 2, 2013

Nautilus is $185 here: [ame="http://www.amazon.ca/Graco-1803181-Nautilus-Seat-Reese/dp/B007HAHTPU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372792280&sr=8-1&keywords=graco+nautilus"]Graco 1803181 Nautilus Car Seat, Reese: Amazon.ca: Baby[/ame]

That's a pretty typical sale but Amazon is also very erratic with their prices. It could stay that way for weeks or jump up an hour from now. No schedule that I know of!

PureRebel · Jul 2, 2013

Yes the cubby holes, he loved those too! I think he will do just fine as we've been using no cup holders at all so far anyways!

Yeah I know having to rethread the harness is a pain! I'm postpartum nurse and have helped so many parents rethread their infant car seats haha. I don't foresee myself having any other children in the car seat as they will be 4.5 years apart anyways and the only other child I'd take around is my nephew (and of course I still have another triumph seat and even a cheap serena which would suit him better right now anyways) But that does sound like a pain. Does this mean it's been relatively easy to install for you? I think this car seat will suit us really well actually and I'm excited!

@Pixelated I've never even thought to look online for them, especially amazon. I've never actually bought anything from amazon. It looks like it has free shipping though. Something to consider for sure thank you!

Pixelated · Jul 2, 2013

I post a weekly sales notice for a Facebook group, so barring some surprise sale somewhere locally I'm usually pretty aware of what is on sale where! That's by far the best Nauti price I know of, and they're usually pretty fast to ship.

BarbieWD · Jul 2, 2013

Also for online shopping, don't forget to look at Costco.ca, that's where I got mine on sale!

As for ease of install, well, it really depends! In my van, a Grand Caravan '07, it's not pretty or fun or easy. But it's only because of my van. Any other vehicle I've tried it in (Hyundai Elantra, Kia Sorento, Dodge Avenger, Honda Civic, Jeep Cherokee and a few others...) it has installed with very little effort with either the seat belt or UAS. The Nautilus has an access hole in the side to pull the belt tight when installing by pulling back the cover off the shoulder of the car seat to expose the access hole.

The issue with my van has to do with the buckle stalks and the type of latch plate I have. My buckle stalks are ridged (and don't move at all, not flexible like most) and point forward towards the front of my van (not up like most) and my latch plates also have a cinching mechanism on them. So what happens when I try to do a seat belt install (which I have to for my oldest) the seat belt comes out of the car seat and has to do a "z" shape maneuver to buckle in. This "z" maneuver causes the belt to bunch up in the latch belt causing the cinching mechanism not to work properly, nor allow me to tighten the seat belt as the belt is bunched and half locked in the latch plate..... BUT this is VERY SPECIFIC to the van I have! I have not run into this issue in any other vehicle.

The issue with my seat belt geometry in my van is probably why I miss the no re-thread harness so much!

Overall though, I do think the Nautilus has a parent friendly install! Even with my issues (my van, lol) I still really like our Nautiluses!

PureRebel · Jul 2, 2013

Wow that does sound like a pain. I drive a 2008 Kia Sportage which seems to be easy enough installing. The middle seat belt is one that comes from the roof of the car which might be more of a pain but once baby number 2 comes I don't think we'll be able to use the middle seat for a car seat (and how do you even choose which child goes in the safest part of the car?? Haha).

And @Pixelated how do I get involved with one of those groups? I enjoy sales!

PureRebel · Jul 2, 2013

Okay order was placed for the car seat on Amazon and I used the free trial of Prime for free 2 day shipping. Estimated arrival on July 5th.

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