Expired car seat

[LauraMoser]

So upon digging the baby gear out about a month or so ago, I found out that our second infant carrier/car seat was expired. It was a hand-me-down from my SIL, so I wasn't surprised. In a conversation with my sister, it came up that we only have one good car seat now since the second is expired. My sister said she didn't know that car seats expire and she said she would still use it. This thing is 2 years past the expiration, BTW.

I'm not crazy for not using it right? It seems no one in my family knew they had expiration dates besides my other sister. Everyone else says they would use it, lol.

[baconlettucetomato]

You're not crazy.

[Saudade]

Not crazy. If you get in an accident with an expired carseat insurance will not cover anything. If your child is injured in a car accident in an expired seat they won't cover any medical bills. There is no way I would ever use an expired seat.

[egishere]

Yeah your SIL is the crazy one!

[Deleted]

Not crazy. I think you can get $ off if you trade it in.

[Deleted]

You're not crazy. We just went through the in-laws stash of car seats and destroyed all the expired ones.

[crazygame]

Yeah. Don't use it.

[pugz]

do not use it and do not give it to someone else to use! I agree trade it in at BRU!

[anna7602]

You're not crazy. However, I had no idea car seats expired until I saw it on this board. We passed ours on before leaving the U.S. in January and I honestly have no idea how much time my friend has until it's expired.

[LauraMoser]

Dec 13, 2012 15:22:00 GMT -5 pugz said:

do not use it and do not give it to someone else to use! I agree trade it in at BRU!

I won't be giving it to anyone! Any idea what kind of value it has as a trade in at BRU? depending on what it is, we may do this! Otherwise it will go in the trash.

[chia]

Dec 13, 2012 16:02:10 GMT -5 @ojo said:

Dec 13, 2012 15:53:48 GMT -5 LauraMoser said:

I won't be giving it to anyone! Any idea what kind of value it has as a trade in at BRU? depending on what it is, we may do this! Otherwise it will go in the trash.

25% off a new piece of gear.

Do they only do this at a specific trade-in event? Or, can you do it anytime?

[rosetyler]

Dec 13, 2012 16:37:25 GMT -5 chia said:

Dec 13, 2012 16:02:10 GMT -5 @ojo said:

25% off a new piece of gear.

Do they only do this at a specific trade-in event? Or, can you do it anytime?

Not sure, but I think it's an event. We have a bunch of hand-me-down stuff that we plan to trade in next time they do it!

[doctorsbaby]

Dec 13, 2012 16:37:25 GMT -5 chia said:

Dec 13, 2012 16:02:10 GMT -5 @ojo said:

25% off a new piece of gear.

Do they only do this at a specific trade-in event? Or, can you do it anytime?

They normally hold 2 events a year. I loved trading in DD infant seat, it was $99 brand new and we saved $75 of her convertible seat using the 25% off coupon we got for it.

[badtzmaru22]

The told us in our birth class you can get a ticket if you get pulled over and have an expired seat. I don't know if that's true or not- we're in NY - but I wouldn't use it just for the safety aspect.

[bronxgirl]

I definitely would not use and, as pps have mentioned, I would hold onto it for a BRU trade-in event. I also don't think I knew about expiration dates before TN/GBCN so I am really happy I post here.

[livinitup]

I think it's a random deadline by money hungry manufacturers ... but follow it out of fear anyway. Those carseats are stamped with huge 'expired by' dates all over them. How do you miss that? Crock I say! Total bunch of crock that a solid, hard, plastic seat is safe one day and not the next.

[Deleted]

Definitely don't use it. I wouldn't trust the plastic and the harness to do what it is supposed to do.

[SusanBAnthony]

Dec 13, 2012 22:16:36 GMT -5 livinitup said:

I think it's a random deadline by money hungry manufacturers ... but follow it out of fear anyway. Those carseats are stamped with huge 'expired by' dates all over them. How do you miss that? Crock I say! Total bunch of crock that a solid, hard, plastic seat is safe one day and not the next.

It isn't the plastic frame, it is the energy absorbing foam that protects their little brains. It would be amazaballs if you could just replace the foam with new every 6 years! It really does break down fairly fast- car condition are the worst for polymers- burning hot in the sun in the summer and freezing cold in the winter.

[csquared]

If you do get rid of it, cut the straps so no one else will use it either.

[bronxgirl]

Dec 13, 2012 22:40:53 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Dec 13, 2012 22:16:36 GMT -5 livinitup said:

I think it's a random deadline by money hungry manufacturers ... but follow it out of fear anyway. Those carseats are stamped with huge 'expired by' dates all over them. How do you miss that? Crock I say! Total bunch of crock that a solid, hard, plastic seat is safe one day and not the next.

It isn't the plastic frame, it is the energy absorbing foam that protects their little brains. It would be amazaballs if you could just replace the foam with new every 6 years! It really does break down fairly fast- car condition are the worst for polymers- burning hot in the sun in the summer and freezing cold in the winter.

That's what bothers me the most is that it's such a waste of resources.

[LauraMoser]

Dec 13, 2012 22:48:54 GMT -5 csquared said:

If you do get rid of it, cut the straps so no one else will use it either.

I didn't think of that before, but be sure to do so.

[Deleted]

Dec 13, 2012 14:59:16 GMT -5 Saudade said:

Not crazy. If you get in an accident with an expired carseat insurance will not cover anything. If your child is injured in a car accident in an expired seat they won't cover any medical bills. There is no way I would ever use an expired seat.

I agree with livinitup that car seat expirations are a scam to get us to buy new ones. HOWEVER this is why I would never use an expired one.

[SusanBAnthony]

And if you are concerned about the waste, you can buy one radian, and use it for 8 years. They last two years longer than other seats, so will get a kid all the way through carseats. My understanding is that the company hasn't said exactly why (might just be that they are just being less conservative than other manufacturers, might be that the frame is mostly metal instead of plastic).