Second hand car seat from a friend?

[Paris2019]

Hi, our first baby is due in 6 weeks and we recently bought a Bugaboo Cameleon pram and Maxi Cosi car seat from a friend. She's a close and trusted friend so we know the car seat has not been in any accidents and will have been well looked after. However, having read up, I am now wondering whether we should get a new car seat anyway, in case hers has any unseen wear and tear from age etc? Is it better to be on the safe side or am I just overthinking this when I know the history of the car seat??

Our car seat is second hand. My brother gave it to us and other than the odd mark it's absolutely fine and perfectly safe. We have used it a bunch of times.
Just make sure you have an Isofix for it to ensure absolute safety 👍🏻

It will be fine, get an isofix base

Car seats are one thing I never use second hand. You don’t know if any of the parts have become worn or weakened. Personally it’s one thing I wouldn’t risk.

Ours is second hand from SIL. If you know its history and trust the person who had it first, it's no different than using it for two siblings which everyone does.

They are very robust. Cant see the issue.

Ha! Well done for having got it from a friend. You use them for a few months- the months you’re barely taking the child out, and then they grow out of it. If you know the person and know they haven’t been in a crash etc I would have no problems (now. With my first child I got absolutely suckered in).

So long as you know the history of the seat and it's not too old (an infant carrier has a life span of about 7 years) then you should be fine.

Also isofix doesn't make a seat safer it just eliminates the risk of it being installed incorrectly.

Thanks everyone for the reassurance!

Have a look at the date on it to check it's 'in date' still and if it is, I wouldn't hesitate to use it from a trusted friend (I wouldn't buy a 2nd hand one though).

When you think about it, it's such an enormous environmentally unfriendly indulgence that everyone in the first world expects to have a brand new car seat/mattress/cycle helmet at every stage for every child they produce.

At least cars and prams and clothing can be legitimately recycled. All the insistence that car seats etc must be new for each child is just horrific for landfill.

Isofix isn't any safer than a seat belt - it cuts the chances of incorrect fitting but it doesn't sort a dodgy seat!

How old is the car seat and where has it been stored? Car seats are the one thing I won't scrimp on, it's a life saving device, if it's been in storage for years then I wouldn't but if it's recently out of use and was bought within the last 5 years then I probably would.

Also when used correctly most children won't outgrow a group 0+ seat until 12-15 months so they're used for quite a while.

If I got one from a trusted friend and knew the history and no accidents etc, I'd use it no problem. I wouldn't buy one second hand not knowing where it came from though.

I used my cousin's 2nd hand one as a holiday one but bought new. Although I would use my 2018 seat for a 2022 3rd child so who knows!

I would. I bet people use them again for their own second+ children.

I’ve always used second hand. Mainly for environmental reasons. I think it’s fine x