removing car seat

[L0gan20190822]

Happy weekend all. First post and a brand new grandparent! I've bought a snazzy new car seat which clips into the car. As I won't my grandson in the car more than once a week I wondered if I should keep the seat in the car or not between trips. Iy occurred to me it might be ripe for stealing! Should I keep it out of the car between uses? TIA

[Celebelly]

Congratulations! I would probably keep it out if it's not being used that often, mainly because if you're in a small collision or shunt, it'll require replacement of the seat, even if it's a pretty minor impact.

[BertieBotts]

Hi, I don't think you'll find people will want to steal a car seat. There isn't much of a market for them second hand because the advice is to buy them new in case they have been in an accident. Plus they tend to be quite bulky and awkward to carry unlike a sat nav etc.

I would disagree with the previous poster and say leave it in place, as installation errors (which affects the safety performance of the seat) are very common with car seats and the possibility of this increases if you take it in and out of the car a lot. Better if you read the manual/watch fitting videos and make sure to get it really well installed and then leave it in place until either you want to use it in a different car, or need to use that seat in your car. If you did have an accident with the seat in the car then yes it would need replacing, but you could claim on your insurance for that and in the meantime it's not getting bashed about being stored.