Second hand car seat.. opinions

[allieop]

So I know your not supposed to use second hand car seats but just wanting to know peoples opinions on this as after reading the reasons why I'm still unsure as majority just say it's because you don't know the condition and if they are safe because of their age etc.

The car seat is mine, from my first born who is 18 months old and it was used from newborn to around 9 months. It is a part of the pram and was used a lot more than the other parts. It was never in any sort of accident, was very well looked after and has nothing wrong with it that I'm aware of and the exact same is still being sold now.

I knew I was wanting another quite soon so to save money and also because I still love it I kept the pram along with the car seat. Will this not be safe for my new baby?

Iv looked online to see if I can just purchase the car seat on its own but from what I can see it can only be bought as a full set.

Second hand means bought from someone else. It's not a problem to re-use your own car seat that you bought from new, even if you used it with an older child.

Like crash helmets car seats do have a best before time but it is in the order of 5-10 years as various components can deteriorate with age. Using the same car seat for 2 children close in age is fine provided it has been stored sensibly - not exposed to extreme temperatures or damp etc.

It’s your own. It’s not second hand. I’d say it’s perfectly fine to use.

Not a problem, you know it's history so it should still be fine.
We used the carseat from our travel system with our 1st 3 children. Our twins had new matching ones, we still have both carry seats but gave one of the next stage ones to our niece. So we still have those to use this time, it saves a lot of money reusing things and is perfectly safe if they are in good condition.

Ahh perfect thanks so much for your replies

Absolutely fine to reuse a seat from a previous child (i wouldn't if a big age gap though) you know the history of the seat and as long as you've stored it well it shouldn't be a problem.
I gave a seat to a friend of ours as she knew we'd looked after it and it had been stored in the cupboard in spare room so no extreme temperatures or anything.
The 2nd hand thing is to do with buying a seat from ebay or FB where you know nothing about the person selling it or the history of the seat in regards to things like, has it been dropped, in accident, age of seat, how its been stored or how covers have been washed(covers have a special fire retardant coating that can be washed off if not done to manufactures instructions) dito the fibers in the straps can be weakend if cleaned with chemicals and should only really be wiped down with water.