Would you accept a used car seat?

[MrsPincince]

A good friend of mine offered me her Chicco key fit car seat. She had her baby 6/1/2011. By the time or even before I have my baby, her son will be out of the infant car seat. When she offered it to me, of course I said yes. then my mom and i went to babies r us today and she bought me the matching stroller. The girl working there asked if I already had the car seat and I said not yet but my friend is going to give me hers. She said "hmm, I don't recommend having a used car seat. I really didn't think much of it as she didn't give me a actual valid reason as to why not. My mom then said to the girl "well if the car seat isn't in good condition then I will come by my daughter the matching car seat...Anyway we left with the stroller and that was that. Then I got home and another good friend of mine called (She also is good friends with the friend that is giving me her car seat) and I told her about how our friend offered me her car seat and the first words out of her mouth was "oooh, I heard you're not supposed to get a car seat used". She too didn't give me a valid reason.....Now I am so confused b/c I don't understand why. The car seat is practically brand new, she leaves it in her car and always just takes the baby out of it. So i guess my question is, what do you guys think?

[MrsPincince]

GREAT news ladies. the car seat expires on June 6th 2015 so I'm DEFINITELY going to use it. (As long as she doesn't get into an accident..)

[morgann_06]

I used my daughters car seat with my son after wards worked just fine(: no worriers dear

[JourneyJoJo]

I used my cousin's car seat for my first. I knew they had never been in a car accident, there were no recalls and it wasn't expired.  All car seats have an expiration date.  I plan on using it again for this little one.

[steph0607]

as long as the carseat has not been recalled you are fine to use it. i am going to use my sister in laws baby seat her daughter just turned 4 months and offered the seat to me and i jumped on it..it just one less thing that i have to buy!

[MrsPincince]

Thank you all for responding. I know for a fact she hasn't been in an accident. She is actually more like family than friend. (Her husband is My husbands 1st cousin.) I called and checked if there was a recall and I was told no. The expiration on the car seat is good for 3yrs. I'm going to jump on it b/c it's a highly rated car seat that is still in impeccable shape.

@ jenkaye21, "The salesgirl's motivation was to sell you a seat.  :)  To me, it would be ridiculous NOT to reuse a seat that's only been used for a few months".

I feel the same exact way:)...

[jenkaye21]

I agree with mum2beagain; if you know the seat hasn't been in an accident, I'm sure it's fine.  I used the same car seat with my first 3 kids, and they were 3 and 7 yrs apart, just checked for recalls and it was fine.  The salesgirl's motivation was to sell you a seat.  :)  To me, it would be ridiculous NOT to reuse a seat that's only been used for a few months.

[mum2beagain]

The risks would be; recall ( but that is daily checked online) been in an accident ( if you know the owner and know there has been no accidents then you are okay) worn or weak harness and or buckles (this could happen with an older seat or if the harness has been removed and completely submerged in water as spot cleaning is only reccomended on the harness) but new buckles and harnesses can be ordered from the manufacturers usually. Personally I would use a car seat if I knew the previous owner and that it was in good repair. I may buy a new harness and buckles though.

[StephRox13]

Recall reasons, stress points on straps & such maybe worn, bent etc, & also the whole if the car seat was in an accident, even tho there may not be visible signs of cracks there could be hairline fractures & what not. It's the "They" that say do not accept used car seats (and that could be in the sense of buying used from a store. But if you trust the person giving it to you then I don't see any reason really not to accept but it is for the safety of your child at the same time. Your call. Check your local fire departments 1. a lot of times they give free classes on how to install car seats properly 2. They check car seats to see if they are safe 3. Sometimes they hand out free car seats.

[Stephanie723]

You can check recall lists and stuff to see if that model carseat was ever recalled for any reason. Im not exactly sure why they dont reccomend reusing car seats, but i think it may be if the seat was in a car in an accident, it could have cracked the base or something, making it unsafe to continue to use.