Quick help re: buying second hand car seat

[Reastie]

Might be buying a couple of car seats from MILs friend (well, employer). Their DC is about 8 now and this seat seems to be from age 4.

Our DD is 2 so by the time she uses it it will already be a good 6 years old. Do safety requirements change over time? Is it likely if we waited until we need it that we could get something safer for DD? Is there any advantage of waiting until nearer the time?

Does £40 for each second hand car seat (apparently they are slightly different from each other despite the same name (Britax Romer Trendline) sound usual? MIL claims it's a really good price but I'm a bit dubious, it sounds expensive for a used car seat to me.

Does anyone have any comments on the britax romer trendline seat? It needs to be one which can go in and out of cars relatively easily as one of the 2 will be a second seat for my parents/PIL to share.

Any advice appreciated. Apparently they are keen to move forward and we need to decide ASAP. I also need a very good excuse if I'm to say no as MIL is pressurising through DH about it and they already think I'm being choosy for asking the model and looking into it as they think it should be fine.

in advance

[YoniBottsBumgina]

You can get a brand new one for less than that, booster seats arent expensive. I wouldn't bother. I got DS' Britax Adventure seat for 30 as it was on offer. Since you won't need it for 2 years, I'd look for an offer on a britax or graco booster - these seem the best value to me.

Look at the halfords or mothercare website to get an idea of the different models and prices but there's no way I'd pay 40 for a 6 year old car seat when you can get brand new ones for less (and of course the standards are increasing all the time - side impact being the current "thing")

[YoniBottsBumgina]

Graco junior maxi is great and on offer for 25 at motyercare.

[YoniBottsBumgina]

The trendline isn't even a current model which adds weight to your argument.

[LillyofWinchester]

I've vaguely heard of the plastic deteriorating over time too, & so a new car seat is recommended ever X number of years, even between siblings. Not sure if this is a money making scam from the manufacturers or not but worth looking into perhaps. £40 sounds a lot for an old car seat, I'd just buy a new one. Lots of people won't buy a second hand car seat for safety reasons, you can't be sure if they've had any accidents or how well they've looked after it.

[JazzAnnNonMouse]

I definitely wouldn't buy a 6year old car seat for £40!

I probably would feel funny about even using a car seat that was that old and had been used as you don't know exactly how much it's been bashed about therefore how strong it is.

You can buy new car seats for less.

[Reastie]

Thanks, I thought it sounded alot too. I know these ones haven't been in accidents so it's trustworthy but I still feel it's alot of money.

I've done some research and it looks like all car seats have an expiry date after which they can't guarantee their safety. This seems to usually be 5 - 8 years, and given it will be around 6 years from first use of their DS to first use of my DD it doesn't seem worth the risk. Have rung DH, he seems fine with this but I think MIL wanted us to buy it so she may be gritting her teeth, but it's not worth the risk.

I looked on ebay at similar seats and they were going for £5 - £10 second hand (although I suppose people might be less inclined to buy from an unknown source because of accidents etc) so £40 seems a bit excessive. Wouldn't surprise me if MIL had told them we would as good as have them as when DH rang this morning she was all ready to pay for them for us there and then and was a bit when I stalled to look into it. Glad I did. MIL said it was a very good price for the seats but from what I've found they weren't at all!

[YoniBottsBumgina]

It's in the US that car seats have expiry dates but of course the seats here aren't magically going to last forever. For me though the issue of everyday wear and tear on seats which have been used for 4 years, plus the fact that they have been superseded by newer ones with better safety would be enough to say no. As a freebie/nominal payment for a spare seat maybe. Certainly not paying more than a brand new cheap-but-decent seat costs!

I'd also wait until your DD is much nearer 4 to buy because again there could be new developments in car seats in 2 years' time and it makes sense to wait since the seats that cost 40 new then will be more likely even better than the ones sold now, let alone seats sold 4 years ago!