Freak car seat failure

Splash

New member
I was in a very low-speed (parking lot) crash ~2 weeks ago (not my fault, yay!). I had Charlie in a Recaro Start and Sammy in a Graco Nautilus with the old buckle. I'm so depressed to lose my old buckle, I'll never buy another graco seat until they fix their buckle. Alas.

The belts didn't even lock, it was really very minor. But holy heck on the massive movement of the GN. That LATCH belt FAILED, no other way to put it. Kid was 37 pounds, installed like a rock beforehand, now I can lift the seat up off the seat and shove the kid underneath it. It didn't stretch, it just totally released.

This is a FB album that I made public, take a gander. I'm posting it here mainly for curious ogling. Graco wants the seat back, stated they'd even refund the purchase price (and I bought the thing 4 years ago, so I think that's more than generous). They've been extremely proactive and concerned, so I'm not ragging on Graco AT ALL, nor am I dishing the GN (except the new buckle).

Anywho, take a peek!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1479672227130.2064538.1093506991&type=1

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532829_3793821599418_1093506991_3461446_987179528_n.jpg


206051_3793838519841_1093506991_3461450_1161821213_n.jpg


165902_3793827159557_1093506991_3461448_1290573816_n.jpg


317936_3793883880975_1093506991_3461470_1882052201_n.jpg


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Sorry for the massive pictures... they came from my phone, through FB, and I have no clue how to resize them from a FB album.
 
ADS

xursusmaritimusx

New member
thats really crazy and insane. you can see it had a pretty tight install previously with the indents in the back of the seat.

glad they are being helpful! i've had great CS with them too.

glad everyone is okay
 

wendytthomas

Admin - CPST Instructor
Staff member
That's insane! I hope they figure out what happened.

Thank goodness you found out in a low speed minor crash.

Wendy
 

turtlemama

New member
What should parents who have a GN know about this? I'm assuming there's no way to know this is going to happen until it happens, right?
I thought of sharing the post on FB, but I don't want to freak people out (especially since they got the GN on my recommendation) unless I know that they need to know about this.
 

unityco

Ambassador - CPS Technician
I'm with KQ... I've never been a fan of LATCH and am beginning to think it more of a hazard than anything else. :thumbsdown:
 

bnsnyde

New member
Wow. A major crash and you'd be looking at millions of $$. That is SCARY!

The fact that it happened makes it somehow not seem so "freak."

I trust latch anchors totally. But the belts, hmmm...
I remember digging with a flashlight to somehow see that my superlatch had actually engaged around the anchor. Not sure if it's possible to only go half-way. It was nearly impossible to see anything! And I wanted absolute proof.

For some reason the Advocate's latch design was easier to see and feel, that it is totally engaged.
 
Thank god it wasn't high-speed. I hope
everyone is ok. I wonder what, if anything, Graco will have to say about this? If it happens to one, my mind leads me to believe that it could potentially happen to many more, although I certainly hope not.

p.s I may trade my left arm to someone for a set of the old buckles.. I loved those things :sad:

Kayden - 2.5 RF BLVD 65 & RF Truefit Layla- 6 FF BLVD 65 CS & HBTB
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
Any chance you can tighten it back up and take a picture of the adjuster? Maybe pull on it hard and see if it loosens again?
 

jess71903

Ambassador
So, the hooks were still on the anchors, but the adjuster released and allowed the strap to loosen? This could be bad...
 

creideamh

Well-known member
I'm with everyone else trusting seatbelts more. Just gut feeling... even before I was "into" car seats.
 

bubbaray

New member
turtlemama said:
What should parents who have a GN know about this?

Well OP is a tech and if she says it that LATCH belt failed I believe her that it failed.

Personally, if I were using my GN (I own one but it's not in use), *I* would install via belts. I wouldn't do so for any old random FB post, but a when a tech says it, no one needs to tell me twice.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
Just in case you haven't already thought of this, if I were you I'd also report it to NHTSA. Hopefully it's an isolated incident. But holy cow, that's scary.

It was the adjuster that slipped, correct?
 

hrice

New member
I don't trust the LATCH on my GN. I have had loosening issues as well. I only install it with seatbelt. I don't like tilt lock mechanisms on LATCH straps.
 

Crys22B

New member
This scares me, I have a Nautilus :( although I did change over to the seat belt due to weight limits.... I'm glad you guys are ok!
 

Cath3114

New member
Just out of curiosity, do we know who manufactures and where the LATCH strap is manufactured? I'm talking about the webbing and adjuster itself. My gut is saying it's possibly outsourced, though I have nothing to back that up. And if it's the same pieces for various Graco seat models, could it happen on another model? Or even another seat brand if they're all sharing a common source? Idk, maybe it's far-reaching, just curious.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
I most certainly would not share this with the general public on Facebook, especially not as a tech. It will just cause mass hysteria.

It's not unheard of for a component on a seat to fail. The Nautilus has been out for almost five years now, is highly recommended, and this is the first I've heard of it happening. It needs to be looked into, and it sounds like Graco is doing that, but I wouldn't be shouting "recall" or panicking about other Graco seats--or other Nautili, for that matter.

Personally, I always installed my Nautilus with the seatbelt just because I could have it done in less time than it took to unhook the LATCH anchors from their resting places.
 

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