Feeling uneasy about my new Recaro seat, are you?

ZephyrBlue

New member
After knowing what I do re: my own Como fiasco, and then reading what went on behind the scenes with the jacked up Signos, AND reading Darren's post about having had quality control issues w/other Recaro seats he's owned- I'm really feeling uneasy about letting DD ride in the Vivo Lite. How do I know that there isn't something really wrong with it? Recaro's quality control just sucks, let's face it. It's such a sturdy booster, but who knows if it was even manufactured properly? Ugh. I hate having to have doubts like this :mad:

Anyone else using a newly-made Recaro product and feeling uneasy about the "what ifs"?
 
ADS

csma

New member
In spite of DD's love of her Como, it's going back. I could manage to cope with the occasional use of the locking clip (though I wouldn't be happy about it), but their slow response to the non-fuctional lock-offs makes me wonder what else is wrong with the seat that they aren't telling consumers. :thumbsdown:

I would feel better about a booster seat (even from the new line) since they've been manufacturing boosters for years.
 

ThreeBeans

New member
After what I've read from the RF-tether issue, to the non-functioning lockoffs, to SPB's seats and how they handled it, has pretty much effectively decided for me that I will NEVER purchase a Recaro product. Their seats may look fancy but in my mind they are no different than Dorel.
 

arly1983

New member
Its a hard decision to make. I think that there is a reason why companys make boosters first. They must be easy to make.

For myself, personally, the comos we had fit their purpose and had some things that annoyed the heck out of me but nothing that would prevent me from recommending the seat to someone else.....until the CS, it was just bad all the way around. It wasn't that they said no to me, it was that they never called me back and gave me a chance to ask the question after repeated tries via phone and email.

Its a hard decision: can you have faith in the product but no faith in the company?
 

mom2riley

New member
After what I've read from the RF-tether issue, to the non-functioning lockoffs, to SPB's seats and how they handled it, has pretty much effectively decided for me that I will NEVER purchase a Recaro product. Their seats may look fancy but in my mind they are no different than Dorel.

:thumbsup:
 

arly1983

New member
Sure. Look at the Radian! LOL.

In this case though, I have no faith in the product OR the company.

Ahhhh, I forgot about them....at least they will talk to me. I have heard the designer of the radian is a cool guy.

The radian won points with me for publishing their crash data, it really was a brilliant move (marketing wise). It set them apart.
 

lovinwaves

New member
If I had to replace two of my seats, I would be getting two new Como's, or Signo's with no hesitation at all. The main reason is the deep side (SIP). Now if only the base could come off :cool:
 

ZephyrBlue

New member
The more I think about it, the more Recaro falls into the Evenflo and Dorel category for me. I'm sure some of their seats are fine- lots of people feel comfortable using them. But not something I'm comfortable doing. It's going up for sale and I guess we'll be waiting for the Monterey. I'm not excited about being one of the first to test drive a new seat again, though. I do, however, trust SKJP more than I do Recaro at this point. :rolleyes:
 

joolsplus3

Admin - CPS Technician
I really like my Starts... I know they are old school, but if you like the Vivo and it works for you, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
 

ZephyrBlue

New member
Melissa, did you replace your MA's with Radians? I remember you telling me that you felt really strongly about deep sides ie: the Recaro convertibles, but I thought I remembered you saying that you have Radians in your van now instead of the Marathons. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Radian vs the Marathon and why you chose the Radians over the Como/Signo for your primary vehicle :)
 

lovinwaves

New member
Melissa, did you replace your MA's with Radians? I remember you telling me that you felt really strongly about deep sides ie: the Recaro convertibles, but I thought I remembered you saying that you have Radians in your van now instead of the Marathons. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Radian vs the Marathon!!

Eh, I have two Radians in there, with the two other Marathon's in Hubby's car. Because of gas we had decided to try and take his car more often for "errands". I don't leave the house much, and if I do it's just around town (35mph). For some reason Dh *thinks* the Radians are "safer". I don't know where he gets this from, but that's his feelings. Which totally cracks me up. Anyways, I love the Radians except for the the lack of SIP. OTOH, even though my kids are outboard there is still significant room between them and the side door. I still really really really want two Signo's or Como's, but because of $$$$$, it just isn't happenin' anytime soon. But, Dh and I have decided that if either of us are in an accident we will replace whichever seats with new Recaro's. ;) My Mom has a Radian, while my Sister and Aunt both have Marathons in their car for the kiddoes.

ETA: if I had to put my kids in boosters right now, I would put them in new VIVO's hands down! I totally love that booster and all it's deep sides and extra EPS Foam. Someone walked into our store, and said "WOW, that looks like a racing seat!" lol
 

Mattkarn

Member
I bought my Vivo's before the problems with the Como, Signo, and Recaro customer service appeared. But now that it has happened I have been having doubts, but we love them and they work wonderfully for us. So were keeping them.
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
On one hand, boosters seem pretty hard to screw up. I mean, if the seatbelt fits, it fits! OTOH, I'm still glad FIL went with Britax over Recaro for the kids in his car, and my next seat purchase (barring unforseen events) will probably be a 35 lb-RF Britax seat. Fortunately, I have plenty of time before my current seats need to be replaced.
 

scatterbunny

New member
I really like my Starts... I know they are old school, but if you like the Vivo and it works for you, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

:yeahthat:

Unless you're actually having a problem with the Vivo, I'd keep it. We love the Start. Every new seat has kinks to work out, and I wouldn't discount a company's entire line because one or two products had issues. :twocents:
 

ZephyrBlue

New member
I wonder what seat(s) Darren had trouble with, as they have made primarily boosters up to the recent convertibles, right?
 

southpawboston

New member
echoing scatterbunny's comment, i think people are forgetting that this a major new product launch by recaro. and now that we are in the internet age and this forum is much larger than it was a few years ago, products are getting hyped up more than ever before they even debut. this is inevitably setting up the manufacturers for massive criticism when their products are finally released and don't live up to the hype. i was told by someone here that there was a very similar backlash against britax years ago when they were new to the carseat industry. but look at them now. that seems to have been forgotten. i've heard stories about how britax lock-offs fail after a couple of years. and how the HUGS pads rip easily. and how the adjuster straps get frayed (and even break! :eek:). and how the bases stop locking into position after the seats have been RFing. why don't these stories shake people's confidence in britax???!!!

i've mentioned in another thread that this new line of seats (como/signo/vivo) represents a new departure for recaro, who has traditionally only made boosters (start, yong style) and combo seats (young sport). for the US market, those seats were also made in the US and were (are) very high quality. my YS is unbelievably sturdy (blow-molded frame). recaro has made a departure with its new line of seats, as they have branched out into the convertible seat market and have also started making their seats in china. they are BOUND to have glitches that will take a few months or even a year to work out. according to katherine, recaro is already working on revisions to all the complaint items they've heard about, and will be continually improving the seats until all the concerns are addressed. probably by this time next year, the signo/como will have all the bugs worked out and will be truly great seats. and i feel perfectly safe with the early production versions that i have now. there is no other seat than the signo that really fits the majority of our needs, our DD, and our car. and i just wasn't willing to allow our DD2 to be uncomfortable (headwings) in a BV.

i would recommend that unless you have actually used a previous recaro product or had the chance to play with one in a store, that you don't comment on their quality.
 

ThreeBeans

New member
i would recommend that unless you have actually used a previous recaro product or had the chance to play with one in a store, that you don't comment on their quality.

:confused:

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I don't think one has to have owned or played with one to point out Recaros series of embarassing gaffes.

And, all those things you've pointed out about Britax? Britax has handled them properly. Malfunctioning push-adjuster? Issue a recall. Seat won't stay in upright position due to possibly aggressive use of the RF tether? Give a new seat. They issue recalls and put out safety notices quite frequently. They don't seem to be on a mission to cover up their grevious errors. Recaro does.
 

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