Nautilus from Graco expiration

tlj · Jan 11, 2008

I emailed Graco to ask about the expiration of the new Nautilus.
This is the response I received:
"Thank you for contacting Graco. As with all Graco Car Seats, the
recommended expiration of the 'Nautilus' is 6 years from the date of
manufacturing. Graco Car Seats manufactured this year, 2008, have an expiration date of Dec. 2014."

I've heard this mentioned in a few other posts because of Graco advertising it as the only seat a child will need, so I thought I'd post the info.

amy919 · Jan 11, 2008

Thanks for the info!

You know, I really think car seat manufacturers should be banned from making that claim on ANY seat. I don't believe there is ANY seat that will the ONLY seat a child will ever need. It's flase advertising and it bugs me :thumbsdown:.

I'm still going to buy one, though.

Starlight · Jan 11, 2008

Graco isn't advertising it as the ONLY seat. They're advertising it as the LAST seat. Typically a backless booster is the LAST carseat you use before switching to the belt alone, correct?

While still crappy, it is mostly accurate.

mamaofthree · Jan 11, 2008

Yeah, because you know there are stupid people who will think- "oh, the last seat I need- it must not expire then!"

Really, the companies should STRESS the expiration date- that means they sell more seats because it has to get replaced. I honestly think people are gonna do what they want though. Those of us that research and make safety a priority will follow the rules, others just don't care, even when they know better.

Kimberly

mamaofthree · Jan 11, 2008

starlightCPST said:
Graco isn't advertising it as the ONLY seat. They're advertising it as the LAST seat. Typically a backless booster is the LAST carseat you use before switching to the belt alone, correct?

While still crappy, it is mostly accurate.

No way is it the last seat if you use it starting at 1 yo like they recommend on the box! Wouldn't most 7 yo's still be in a hbb?

keri1292 · Jan 11, 2008

tlj said:
I emailed Graco to ask about the expiration of the new Nautilus.
This is the response I received:
"Thank you for contacting Graco. As with all Graco Car Seats, the
recommended expiration of the 'Nautilus' is 6 years from the date of
manufacturing. Graco Car Seats manufactured this year, 2008, have an expiration date of Dec. 2014."

I've heard this mentioned in a few other posts because of Graco advertising it as the only seat a child will need, so I thought I'd post the info.

So a January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008 seat BOTH expire on December 31, 2014? That's crazy. There is a 364 day difference.

Or do you just use the 6 year date. I'm confused. lol

mommy_quigg · Jan 11, 2008

It expires 6 years from the date of manufacture. Some car seats only put the month and year, others include the day as well in the manufacture date.

Starlight · Jan 11, 2008

mommy_quigg said:
It expires 6 years from the date of manufacture. Some car seats only put the month and year, others include the day as well in the manufacture date.

All Graco seats expire on the last day of December, 6 years from the year they were made. Other companies might follow the DOM rule, but Graco does not.

Starlight · Jan 11, 2008

mamaofthree said:
No way is it the last seat if you use it starting at 1 yo like they recommend on the box! Wouldn't most 7 yo's still be in a hbb?

Does the box recommend buying this seat for your 1 year old? Maybe I need to see better pics of this box.

MomToEliEm · Jan 11, 2008

starlightCPST said:
Does the box recommend buying this seat for your 1 year old? Maybe I need to see better pics of this box.

From Graco's website:
The Nautilus™ 3-in-1 car seat offers a precise fit to help protect growing children from ages 1 to 10. As your child grows, Nautilus™ adapts from harness protection for children up to 65 lbs. to a high-back booster for 30 to 100 lbs., then a backless booster for 40 to 100 lbs. It’s a great value, providing versatility without compromising on safety.

I recall some pictures of boxes posted in the initial Nautilus picture threads. It looked like there was a 1 year old pictured on the box.

I found the box pictures from MySillyBoys http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=298389&postcount=161

mamaofthree · Jan 11, 2008

This quote is on the front of the box too:

offers a precise fit to help protect growing children from ages 1 to 10

singingpond · Jan 11, 2008

I suppose Graco wouldn't venture to say that the booster function (especially backless) might last longer than the 6 years? Pretty sure they wouldn't, since that would just introduce more confusion into the consumer's mind (and more liability potential for the manufacturer). However, I tend to think there would be fewer potential safety fears with a 7 or 8 year-old booster, than with a 7 or 8 year-old harnessed seat. In other words, accident stresses would seem less likely to cause catastrophic failure when the seat is being used only in booster mode. It would be nice if they could say, for example, that it's good for 6 years as a harnessed seat, and 8 years as a booster -- that really might make the 'last seat you need' claim more realistic. Not likely to happen, I suppose....

Katrin

daycaremom2002 · Jan 11, 2008

starlightCPST said:
All Graco seats expire on the last day of December, 6 years from the year they were made. Other companies might follow the DOM rule, but Graco does not.

Has this always been true with Graco seats? I will have to go look closer at my Cargos then. I have 2 that should be expiring soon. I thought it was 6 years from the month of manufacture. If not, then I have a few extra months to find new seats. :thumbsup:

snowbird25ca · Jan 11, 2008

Evenflo seats are the same way - Dec 31 6yrs from the year they are manufactured in. I think Dorel is moving that way too.

daycaremom2002 · Jan 11, 2008

What about the older Fisher Price seats? Are they date specific? I don't know how I never knew any of this. I always assumed it was 6 years from manufacture date.

mburks26 · Jan 11, 2008

My Evenflo Generations man. Aug (dont recall date) 06 doesnt have a expiration date on it. ( so dh says it dont expire) My Evenflo Victory man. date Dec 11 02 expires Dec 31 09. Strange? My Graco Cargo says man. date in Aug. 06 (dont recall date) expires Aug 20012 Im pretty sure of that I can go look in a little bit though. It would be nice for Graco or any seat with a harness that turns to booster not to use the harness after 6 years but could use the booster seat a little longer.

I know theres test that show after 10 years the harness fails but are there any test that were done for 6-9 year seats? (dh question) As well as test that show boosters fail at 6 plus years. I can see the harnesses failing but how can a booster seat fail kwim trying to explain to dh this.

Im trying to get him to see we are going to need a 2 new seats and 2 boosters befores shes ready for a seat belt and hes not allowing it. (2 cars) Since by law dd can use a belt only (TX) shes 30 months 33 lbs and 36.1 inches tall. (her height allows her to be in belt only) He wont watch videos or anything and now hes on a its my money not yours and we dont need another seat which we dont right now but in 6.5 lbs we will dd gained 4 lbs in 7 months. (unless the drs scale was off). sorry about the vent for a min.

amy919 · Jan 11, 2008

starlightCPST said:
Graco isn't advertising it as the ONLY seat. They're advertising it as the LAST seat. Typically a backless booster is the LAST carseat you use before switching to the belt alone, correct?

While still crappy, it is mostly accurate.

Ooooh - I didn't pick that pick up on that. I still don't like them saying it's the last seat. It MIGHT be the last seat, but not if I put a one or 2 year old in it and use it until they no longer need any type of booster seat. It would have likely expired by then, at least for my kids. OTOH, I guess it might be true for the majority of the "normal" population.

OK - I still don't like it, but it doesn't bother me as much

tlj · Jan 11, 2008

Here is what the instruction manual from the Nautilus says in regards to the 1 year old (not too excited about this):
"Use w/Harness:
Your child must meet all requirements:
• Weight: 20 to 65 lbs (mass between 9 and 29.5 kg)
• Height: 27 to 52 inches (69 and 132 cm) in height
• At least one year old and can sit upright unassisted
• Shoulders are BELOW top harness slots.
If shoulders are above top harness slots, child
is too large for built-in harness."

I like the way they promote using the harness until 65lbs in the bold area at the end. I'm not excited about them pushing kids into the HBB though.

"Use w/out Harness
Your child must meet all requirements:
• Weight: 30 to 100 lbs
(mass between 13.6 and 45 kg)
• Height: 38 to 57 inches
(96 and 145 cm) in height
• approximately 3-10 years of age
• the shoulder belt MUST lie across child’s
shoulder as shown and the lap portion of the
belt is positionned low on the child’s hips.
• Child’s ears are BELOW top of booster seat.
If tops of ears are above top of seat, child is too
large for booster seat.
If child is between 30 and 65 lbs and
shoulders are below the upper harness
slots, we highly recommend use of the
built-in harness for as long as possible
(up to 65 lbs)."

mamaofthree · Jan 11, 2008

At least that last part is BOLD. Most people only skim the manual, so that will stand out. :thumbsup:

Suzibeck · Jan 11, 2008

Can't the people at Graco count? If I buy this seat for my 1 yo, of course I wouldn't, and have it grow with my child until age 10, as their website says, that is 9 years. How can it be the LAST seat I need to buy if it expires before that time? That is false advertising in my mind.

I emailed them a couple of days ago myself and have not heard back from them yet. If I get the same response as you, I will question it further. It really makes me mad that seat makers can make such unrealistic claims.

It just makes people more likely to use seats past their expiration dates. Hey, even Graco says on their website that this seat will grow with my child from age 1-10, how can it expire before 9 years then?

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