second-hand car seat - advice please!

[lazycat]

Some friends have offered us their old car seat. It's really kind of them, and will save us loads of money, but is it safe to use a second-hand car seat?

In theory, no, but you can take off the covers and have a look to see if there is any damage, and ask the owner for its history i.e. were they in any accidents, how many children have used it, how old it is etc. We used our rear-facing car seat for dd1 and dd2 before getting a new one for ds, and ds will use dd1's old front facing one when he has outgrown his first one. HTH

We used one from a friend.

If you know them well, so you know it hasn't been in an accident, and it fits your car and your child, I don't see the problem.

so long as you know its hasnt been in a crash it should be ok.... but exactly what seat is it cause some car seats are not very safe full stop, especially a few older ones

No. It depends also how old old is. It may have been recalled. There is probbaly a better seat on the market. I would say thanks, but no thanks.

Also seats do deteriorate over time.

You should be able to do a google on the make and style to get an idea of age and safety. Newer ones have a lot more side impact protection.