Second hand car seats?

[specialsubject]

time to upgrade to the toddler/child size seat. Like much baby kit, it is VERY cheap on ebay and there are lots that clearly have only been used for visitors, so haven't had much use.

If the seller says it hasn't been in an accident, and if it looks hardly used...am I missing something?

Buyer beware I know, but is there anything else I should consider?

thank you!

www.rearfacing.co.uk when making choices

Personally, I would get a new one, or a second-hand one from a trusted source, someone you know well.

Some people say all sorts when they want to make money.

food for thought indeed, and definitely no old ones! Thanks folks.

Also, "never been in an accident" might mean different things to different people. I was in a rear shunt when DS was tiny and XP expressed disbelief that I wanted to replace DS' car seat because the impact was "no harder than an emergency stop" - well, maybe it wasn't, I don't know, though, and I'd rather not take the risk. But he'd have happily carried on using the seat and perhaps even passed it on to someone else.

Also they can be damaged if dropped or handled roughly and people may not be aware of this, no car accidents, but perhaps they've been tripped over in a hallway a few times or dropped which could damage the seat. I know people who are incredulous that anything short of a major crash can damage a car seat, because they're designed to take knocks.

Since the stage 2 seats are used for around 3-4 years I'd definitely buy new because they can take a lot of wear and tear just from everyday use. You can get some good deals - try the January sales!

Also worth mentioning that your baby hasn't grown out of the group 0 seat until their head reaches the edge of the seat back OR they reach 13kg, whichever comes first. Legs coming off the end aren't an issue, and if you're finding them hard to squeeze in the seat with coats on then take the coat off and use blankets - it's unsafe to use coats in car seats anyway.

HTH! :)