no parent would sell a carseat that has been in an accident

[McHappyPants2012]

This has always puzzled me.

no parent would put at risk another child for a sake of a few pounds ( would they)

i tend to agree, in the grand scheme of things I think its pretty low risk

They would. They sold one to us, the polysterene was broken, only realised when we got home. This was before we realised that you shouldn't buy second hand car seats. That taught us our lesson fairly well.

This thread has just panicked me. We (by which I mean DP) rolled into a car in front in almost stationary traffic. Our car couldn't have got much above 5mph at the point of impact, and there was no damage to our car. That level of impact wouldn't require a new car seat would it?

When we were in an accident, the police told us to dump the car seats with the covers removed and straps cut, otherwise people would take them to sell.

Mentalists.

Broken polystyrene does not necessarily mean a carseat has been in an accident. We had a rearfacing carseat that when I removed the covers for washing I found out the polystyrene was broken. It had not been in any accident so we must have caught it at some point. We checked with the shop we got it from and they told us it was common for it to happen and that it was for comfort so just tape it up and it would be fine for dc2. We did but aftr reading more since we replaced it for dc3. I would not dream of selling it on.

I've seen people using ancient car seats so it wouldn't surprise me that some would sell a car seat that should be ditched.. I parked next to a car just as 5 people were getting out and the ancient car seat was shoved right up to the window with the seat belt loosely looped over it.. the straps on the car seat itself were twisted and manky.... I admit I did stare as was quite gobsmacked

Some people would sell their Granny for a quid.

LisasCat I don't think I'd be replacing your carseat because of that...sounds like you could bump the kerb harder than your 'impact'.

Lazylula the polystyrene is not a comfort thing entirely; I understand that it absorbs shockwaves. If it was a comfort thing, they would fill the area with wadding.

Thanks for this - have been in a couple of low-speed shunts and though the seat we had in the first one was almost at replacing stage anyway, I don't want to have to replace the current one! (Its construction is, however, steel tubes with polystyrene padding, so I guess it won't have buckled when the shunt only cracked the bumper a bit!)

Most folk don't know that all car seats have a "do not use after "date stamp, by which point they should be replaced regardless.

Hmmmm, I know 2 family's that use 2nd hand seats (out of the paper, from a stranger on Ebay etc) and in both families at least one parent works in the emergency services. I really makes me wonder as both sets of parents are much more conscientious than me as a parent in other ways and make risk assessments about some things in a much more protective way than I do.

I'll happily admit to using a s/h car seat for our baby, which she'll have outgrown soon so I'll be buying another one s/h to replace that one. The first will go on freecycle. Must admit, didn't know about the date stamp thing so I'll check that out. I will be checking the new seat for damage, for us it's a minimal risk so i find it acceptable.

using a second hand car seat is a minimal and acceptable risk??

I'd be interested to hear the reasoning behind that decision.

I wouldn't personally but I'm sure there r some people who would sone knowingly and others as been posted already as who just weren't aware an incident counted as an accident . If you are looking to buy a car seat second hand ( as they really can be expensive ) then perhaps you could look at close friends and family to buy from- people you trust and you know have never had an accident. Think though that even If you kit out your children with all second hand stuff ( people can be so kind and it's a god send bein given lots of things ) then the one thing you buy new is the car seat even if you have to borrow money or sell stuff to do it. :)

Like some others have mentioned, when I scrapped my DD1's first Car seat, people at the tip wanted to take it with them. Part of the problem (in this area, anyway) is that the people selling are not individuals who are just passing on their kids leftovers. They are dealers who grab up every freecycle or ebay bargain and sell them on for profit. They don't give a monkey's whether the seat is intact or not.

By that logic, people shouldn't sell

This car seat (doesn't look legal)

Or this one (used as a spare at granny's! ... Probably used BY granny for mummy when she was a toddler.)

or this - ancient and uses a seatbelt from 9 months.

There are no really terrible ones on there at the moment though, disappointing

I agree with Caffeine - car seats (and cot mattresses) new, everything else second hand! And have to say I didn't know about the date stamp thing

Me either Wilson

just a question but i assume the same appies to fixed bases?

Natural baby, it's low risk for us because it's only been used for a few hundred miles in hire cars. I do wonder if people risk assess every car journey they make?

I asked a kind of similar question here recently.

Well, I knew the answer ....anyway on preparation for our return to the UK I asked my Dad to get a car seat ready for DD2...I'd pay him back later.

Kind old Dad didn't want me to waste money ...he said he would drag my brother's (15) from the loft
I tactfully explained that I'd prefer a new one, as the plastic breaks down etc....
He replied "Oh don't worry about it, its always been fine , worked for us"

Some people just realize.

My friend ordered one from Argos for me, and had it delivered, he still thinks I am a spendthrift

Surely they wouldn't but I don't trust people's word. If you're short of cash, you're short of cash and a lot of people don't know about the accident rule (as evidenced in a parenting class I once took).

thanks for pointing out that car seats expire. i didn't know that.