Question Should I replace my seat?

Unregistered · Nov 6, 2017

My husband bumped into a construction tow hitch of a parked car and although he felt almost NO impact, the front of our Sienna mini-van is totaled. My husband was going less than 5mph and was shocked at the damage at that speed and the lack of impact. He was the only one in the car and the impact was so small that the airbags did not employ. He described it like a hard stop at a traffic light. For car seats in the car we have a booster base which wasn't attached to the car in any way (nor did it slide off the seat) and a 2012/3 Diono Radian forward facing seat attached by LATCH and tether. My 5year old was not in the car at the time so the seat had no passenger. Should we be replacing the seat? It has a 10 year expiration due to metal frame and my 5 year old is the last in my family to use the seat. We figured that he would be in the seat until around age 8 as he tends to be a little tall for his age. Thanks for your advice.

Karen

Dillipop · Nov 6, 2017

Ugh. I hate seeing hitches on vehicles with the ball attached because they can do so much damage with so little impact!

I would call the manufacturers of the 2 seats and ask them. I believe Diono follows the NHSTA guidelines and might be fine to use based on your description if the vehicle was able to be driven away. But it doesn't hurt to double check. Most boosters I know of are replace after any crash. However, you're calling them to find out if they would consider this a crash.

Let us know what they say. I'm interested to see if they consider bumping into something like a ball hitch, which is not meant to be left of a vehicle because it can cause so much damage, is considered a crash.

Unregistered · Nov 9, 2017

I spoke with the folks at Diono. They went through the National Highway Safety guidelines with me about if it was a crash requiring replacement. Because the car could be driven away from the scene, the airbags did not deploy, the doors by the seat were not damaged in any way, there is no visible signs of damage (and one other thing that I am forgetting), the seat does not NEED to be replaced. It is up to our judgement on if we feel it is necessary to do so or for peace of mind would want to. It would be considered a minor accident (even though the insurance company totaled the car). I don't think I am inclined to replace it, although the insurance company could add it to our claim.