Should I replace?

purplemama

New member
I hit a parked car in the preschool parking lot this morning. :( I was turning at the end of a parking row and completely misjudged somehow and ended running the whole back half of my van along someones bumper. The passenger side sliding door was dented in a bit and scraped up and the whole area behind the back wheel is gone (ripped right off). Very little visable damage to the other vehicle. Big rub mark on the edge of her bumper and the bumper was off kilter a bit. I of course did the right thing and waited for her to exchange info. She was a bit shocked I waited. She got hit last year (same parking lot :rolleyes:) and the person took off. She was really nice about it.
I had a Recaro Euro (DS2) and a Graco SR30 (DD) in the van. Both manuals say to replace after any accident.
But there was no impact. It was less than going up on a curb. The only reason I even knew it was happening was I heard it. I looked around to see what the noise was then I realized it was me.
 
ADS

Brianna

New member
I wouldn't replace for less of an impact than the potholes I drive over every day.

Sorry that happened :(
 

purplemama

New member
I wouldn't replace for less of an impact than the potholes I drive over every day.

Sorry that happened :(

Thats what I was thinking. I get jostled around lots more with potholes and uneven roads than it did when I hit the other car.


I feel so stupid. We so cannot afford the $500 deductible right now. Or an increase in out insurance.
 

Brianna

New member
I'm honestly amazed this hasn't happened to me yet. My brother once backed out of his bf's driveway, that has a telephone pole at the end, and backed his car from the back bumper to the front of the driver's side passenger door against the telephone pole, it crushed it all in.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
That seems like a lot of damage for no impact. I realize it's possible to hit at just the right (or wrong) angle to do a lot of damage, but with respect, if you were distracted enough to hit a parked car, could you have been distracted enough not to notice an impact?
 

aeormsby

New member
I wouldn't worry about it either.

Both DH & I bumped into parked cars earlier this year :)o - it wasn't the best week) and the seats crossed my mind very briefly, but they've had more forces on them from slamming on the breaks than they did in the 'accident'. We had nothing more than very minor scratches on our vehicles (didn't even bother getting them looked at).

Hope it's not too much of a pain to get yours taken care of.
 

rxmommy

New member
Oh mama I'm so sorry. My heart goes out to you, because I so know how you feel!!! And of course I will probably never hear the end of it from my husband :rolleyes::rolleyes: - nothing he does will ever be as stupid as hitting a parked car. Accidents happen!!

There was much less damage in my case (my van has paint transfer down the whole side of it and a few little dents. her car had some black paint on it, and she's not even getting it fixed) so I honestly didn't even consider replacing my seats. I imagine there's more impact to my vehicle on speedbumps or potholes. I was barely moving at time - trying to park in front of the car and cut it too close.:eek::(
 

purplemama

New member
That seems like a lot of damage for no impact. I realize it's possible to hit at just the right (or wrong) angle to do a lot of damage, but with respect, if you were distracted enough to hit a parked car, could you have been distracted enough not to notice an impact?

I wasn't distracted, I misjudged the room I had to turn next to the car I hit. I guess I didn't really "hit" more like scraped? The damage is mostly from the part behind the wheel ripping off from getting caught on her bumper.
 

Little Ps Mama

New member
Sorry that happened! If it were me and the accident was as you described, I'd be comfortable not replacing. A couple of months ago I backed our van out of the garage right into our own vehicle. :( I was probably going like 5 miles per hour. Put a minor dent in the sedan and scraped up the paint on the van's back fender but that was it. I didn't replace our seats (Graco). There was more noise than impact.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
As a tech I would "recommend" that you replace the seats because I always recommend following the manual.

As a mom whose money tree has yet to come into full bloom... no, from what you describe I don't think I'd replace but I think it's a judgment call. Nobody who was not in the car can really judge the situation. You know in your heart whether there's any chance that your car seats were damaged.
 

Kobain's Mommy

Well-known member
As a tech I would "recommend" that you replace the seats because I always recommend following the manual.

As a mom whose money tree has yet to come into full bloom... no, from what you describe I don't think I'd replace but I think it's a judgment call. Nobody who was not in the car can really judge the situation. You know in your heart whether there's any chance that your car seats were damaged.

This, except for I'm not a tech.
 

purplemama

New member
My gut says the seats are fine. I know they're fine.

BUT....... It doesn't meet all the NHTSA's criteria :rolleyes:.

1: The door where DD is was damaged (but still very usable).

2: I couldn't drive it away right away. I drove it away after about 2 hours because I couldn't drive it with a two foot X 3 foot section hanging two feet out from the van and rubbing on the tire. DH had to come and get it off before I could go anywhere (luckily I had some food for DD and then she fell asleep). After he got the piece off I could drive away just fine.

I'm assuming not driving away means you have to be towed because you can't drive it at all?

We have excellent insurance that we pay dearly for so I have no issue claiming the seats if I should. I just don't feel I should? :confused:

I did call Graco CS and explained the accident. She said their policy is to replace after any accident but she pointed me towards the NHTSA guildlines. She said she couldn't advise me not to replace because of their policy but that the NHTSA guildlines would be helpful in an accident like mine.


UGH. I want to resell the SR30 after the baby outgrows it (NO MORE babies here) but I can't very well say it hasn't been in an accident. The Recaro I plan an using till it expires so that ones not too big a concern as far a reselling.


I really feel my seat are fine but I tend (especially right now :() to overthink everything. The whole what if, ya know?

I think maybe when the claims person calls in a few days I'll just see what they say?

I'm so stupid. I should have realized I didn't have enough room. I'm so glad I didn't (I hope) do too much damage to the other car.
 

Brianna

New member
You have to go with your instinct on what happened in the car, and how it compares to NHTSA guidelines.

I know that at the speeds that I drive through parking lots, if I did scratch another car, I wouldn't consider it a crash/accident so much as a scrape. But, I'm not you and I wasn't in your vehicle. Did either vehicle jolt at all? Did you feel the seatbelt lock? Were you jerked forward at all?

As far as driving it away- if you had tie-down straps in the van with you, you could have driven it away, so I don't know what the significance of that is in your case. It sounds like you only cosmetically damaged the vehicles- but when your vehicle is looked at they'll tell you if there was any frame damage.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
Your seats require replacement after any crash.

Even if you chose to go by NHTSA, you need to replace.

I would not go with your gut. I would go by the guidelines. I realize I may be stricter than most about this, but with the NHTSA guidelines and the amount of damage, I would replace.
 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
It's not hard to rip a quarter panel off a modern car. I could do it easily with my leatherman, so that alone wouldn't sway my judgement. I know that I've tagged a pole and knocked over a couple of garbage cans in a"what's that sound" moment and it never even occurred to me to replace seats.

Your seats say to replace in a CRASH. I wouldn't consider what you described as a crash though.
 

jourdysmom

CPST Instructor
It's not hard to rip a quarter panel off a modern car. I could do it easily with my leatherman, so that alone wouldn't sway my judgement. I know that I've tagged a pole and knocked over a couple of garbage cans in a"what's that sound" moment and it never even occurred to me to replace seats.

Your seats say to replace in a CRASH. I wouldn't consider what you described as a crash though.

:yeahthat:
 

laurengt

Active member
If you are filing a claim anyway, I'd claim new seats too. The seats are probably fine, and if it was all a straight out of pocket cost I'd probably not replace them myself but with an opportunity to bundle them into the damages, I would definitely claim them.
 

purplemama

New member
Just got off the phone with the ins. adjuster. They will cover the SR30 because it was occupied :)rolleyes:) and it was on the side of impact. I'm okay with that I guess. That is a seat I'm planning to resell, whereas I'm planning on using the Recaro to it's full life.
 

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