Getting an older DOM on one of the Recaro's, or any other seat for that matter, isn't necessarily a really bad thing, if the place you buy it from is willing to discount it for you based upon the age of the seat. You can either do this by the year or the month. Whatever both you and the company selling the seat agree upon. If you can't come to a mutual agreement, then return the seat. It's really that simple.
The formula?
$$$ / X Years = Cost Per Year Of The Seat (Where $$$ is the cost of the seat, and X is the number of years the seat manufacturer says you can use the seat before it expires. Usually 5 or 6.)
$$$ / (X Years / 12 Months) = Cost Per Month Of The Seat (Where $$$ is the cost of the seat, and X is the number of years the seat manufacturer says you can use the seat before it expires. Usually 5 or 6.)
So if the seat you receive is at least 1 year old from the date you receive it, then you most likely would use formula 1 to arrive at an appropriate discount on the seat. If it is less than a year old, or a good bit greater than a year but less than 2 years, then you probably want to use formula 2 to arrive at an appropriate discount.
For instance:
$249.00 (Standard Signo street pricing atm.)
/5 (Years the Signo is good for until expiration.)
-------
$ 49.80 Cost Per Year
So for the case of a 1 year old Signo, you would be asking for an additional $49.80 discount. If they gave this to you, then I would keep an older DOM Signo. There just isn't a reason not to, and it will help up all by clearing old stock out of the suppl chain.
Example 2:
$249.00 (Signo)
/5
--------
$ 49.80
/12
--------
$ 4.15 (Cost Per Month Of The Seat)
So let's say you receive a seat with a December 07 DOM. That would be a 9-month old seat at the time of this posting, so...
$ 4.15 (CPM)
* 9 (Months)
-------
$37.35 (Worth of lost use of the seat.)
So you would request an additional discount of $37.35 in order to make up for the fact that they sold you an older DOM seat.
Losing out on approximately 1 year of seat use isn't all that big of a deal as long as the seat is priced appropriately. Why? A couple of reasons. First, and foremost, children usually outgrow their seats by height before the seat ever expires. Quite honestly, there is a pretty good chance you will be replacing the seat before it expires anyways. The other reason is that there are always new seats and new technologies coming out that make the seats safer, and many folks here replace their seat before it expires with a newer seat that has lots of nifty new features. So really, as long as you are properly compensated for purchasing an older DOM seat, who really cares if you lose 6-18 months of life on the seat? Any seat.
:shrug-shoulders: