keep new seat when already a year old?

I bought a Harmony Defender seat yesterday, on January 2nd, 2014. The manufacture date is January 26, 2013. Would you keep a brand new seat that already has 1 entire year off it's use?

I looked for expiration and it says on the bottom that the seat expires 10 years after dom. Is this really true for the harness part too? Or just for the booster portion? So, it would expire January, 2023.

New baby is going to be born in March. I would like her to be able to use this seat ff until she turns 6, which is March, 2023, If it is really a 6 year expiration for the harness and we already lost a year, she won't make it until 6 years old in it. I do not want to buy another ff seat for my parents car. If it is really 10 years, it probably isn't worth messing with because by the time it expires when she is 9, I can just buy a cheap nbb. She might still need a booster through her 10 year old year, so I would have to get another booster anyway.

And just FWI, seat is for my 4 1/2 year old now in Grandmas car. I just want it to make it through all 4 kids. I am not using it for the new baby now! Also, Harmony needs to change the name. It is called the Harmony Defender Convertible seat, but it is not a Convertible seat!!

The manual http://harmonyjuvenile.com/uploads/instructions171.pdf does make any distinction about which parts expire at 10 years, so I'd say the whole seat is good for that long. If you paid full price, I'd be a little annoyed that it was already a year old, but it still has tons of life left with a 10 year lifespan.

It was supposed to be $99 (I saw price online), but when I got home I saw that the seat was $70. There was no sign for price anywhere in store, no sticker with price or sale price on box. It was the last one. I don't know why it was on sale--you can't see when it expires by looking at box.

For that much less, I'd be thrilled it had only lost a year!

The defender has been out of stock at most walmarts for about 6 months and only became available again online a few weeks ago. I would venture to guess that any defender you find on any Walmart shelf right now will probably be a year old. But $70'is a great price for a seat you'll be able to use for 9 years!!

For 30% off, losing 1/10 of the life is not a big deal.

Awesome, thanks for the advice.

I haven't put the seat together yet, but I did get it out and look at it. It seems pretty nice for an inexpensive seat. I think it will be a good seat for my parents car.

rachelandtyke said:

The manual http://harmonyjuvenile.com/uploads/instructions171.pdf does make any distinction about which parts expire at 10 years, so I'd say the whole seat is good for that long. If you paid full price, I'd be a little annoyed that it was already a year old, but it still has tons of life left with a 10 year lifespan.

Click to expand...

With a 10 year lifespan, you've got more life left after one year than with most other seats out there bought a MONTH after their DOM. I'd keep it.