Opinions please- dh hit radian with his car. =O

Hey Everyone...

I wanted to get some opinions. Tonight, dh was replacing the brakes on our jeep in the driveway. My next door neighbor had just dropped off dd and her radian and propped the radian up in front of the car against our garbage can.

Well, dh finished the brakes and turned the car on to move it forward a few feet. He must have forgotten about the car seat, and when he noticed it, the brakes didn't work and he had to pull the emergency brake. Basically, when I got outside, the radian was completely underneath the Jeep. That being said, the wheels didn't touch it, just the grille and underbody. (the front of the seat was facing the jeep, so it tipped it backwards)

So, what do you think? The cover was covered (no pun intended!) with grease, and I inspected the seat...a couple of scrapes on the bottom of the seat, but I don't see anything else. I know there can be hidden damage, though. On the upside, the jeep isn't low to the ground, so basically the car seat got knocked over and possibly pushed against the concrete for a couple of feet.

So what would you do? Use or replace?

Edited to add: I am super cautious and am leaning toward replacement. On the other hand, the car was barely moving. Point is, I am conflicted! And mad at dh! lol.

I'd replace it.

I am OVERLY cautious, though, so my opinion may not be the best.

Patriot201 said:

I'd replace it.

I am OVERLY cautious, though, so my opinion may not be the best.

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:yeahthat:

I think I'd call SKJP and get their opinion.

I would replace it.

I'd definitely call SK, but you KNOW they will say replace. They have no incentive to say don't replace and every reason to say replace.
I personally would have had to have seen the impact & inspected the seat myself to come to a conclusion. Since your gut says replace I'd tend to lean toward replacement. However, the Radian is a really strong seat.

Synchro246 said:

I'd definitely call SK, but you KNOW they will say replace. They have no incentive to say don't replace and every reason to say replace.

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Not necessarily true. I found a tiny, tiny, hairline crack on the bottom of one of my Radians. I sent pics of it to Russ, and asked if it was still OK to use. He said it was still safe to use, since the steel-frame is what makes the Radian so safe, not the plastic that covers it.

But since I was worried about the crack and so I wouldn't have to keep checking to see if the crack got larger over time, he replaced it for me for free, even though it was beyond the one-year warranty period. He only asked that I destroy the cracked Radian, which I did. :thumbsup:

To the OP: It kinda reminds me of the treatment that it would receive getting shipped across the country via FedEx or UPS. If car seats are made to withstand that kind of shipping (the beat-up boxes people receive say it all), then I think I'd be OK using the seat if it pretty much got tipped over and pulled a few feet. You could always take pics and email Russ. I'd be curious as to what he tells you.

I'd replace it, that's just me. I'd always wonder if there was unseen damage and would worry.

ccjones said:

Not necessarily true. I found a tiny, tiny, hairline crack on the bottom of one of my Radians. I sent pics of it to Russ, and asked if it was still OK to use. He said it was still safe to use, since the steel-frame is what makes the Radian so safe, not the plastic that covers it.

But since I was worried about the crack and so I wouldn't have to keep checking to see if the crack got larger over time, he replaced it for me for free, even though it was beyond the one-year warranty period. He only asked that I destroy the cracked Radian, which I did. :thumbsup:

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Good to know!!! This impresses me, also. Now, I lean more toward my origional instinct that said "it's fine, keep using it"

I think it's fine...I would still use it! My seats fall over backwards all the time when I have them out of my car.

Well, the verdict is in...I emailed Russ and he said that they're going with replace. I don't think there's anything wrong with the seat, but if there was, I would never forgive myself...I tend to be super cautious, though, although destroying a seat that is 6 months old is going to be hard! lol.

Just thought you guys would like to know...if you hit a carseat with your car, SKJP will say "replace!" =)

normally i'm anti-replace unless it meets reasonable criteria, but this is an unusual example and i'd totally go with replacing it! i'm glad SK said to replace.