How to know if a used car seat is safe
What to Check when Buying a Used /Secondhand Car Seat
Timecodes:
today we're going to talk about buying
car seats on the used market now buying
a car seat on the used market is a
little bit more complicated than buying
a stroller on the used market the reason
for that being that there are more
things that one ought to be aware of
when they're buying a used car seat
simply because it is meant as a safety
buffer while you're inside an auto
vehicle which is a dangerous place just
by nature so you do want to check a
number of things first off it's best to
buy it off somebody you trust if
possible of course you should to some
extent try to find out the history of
the seats just to make sure that it
hasn't been in any auto accidents
manufacturers say that a car seat should
no longer be used it should be thrown
away if it's been in any auto accidents
so that's just something to be aware of
in any case when you are checking over
the seat you do want to check all of
these straps that they aren't afraid and
you want to try to adjust the straps so
that you know that the internal locking
mechanisms function as far as holding
the straps tight so you do want to give
that a good test and it's also a good
idea to have a little bit of background
knowledge on whichever seat it is you
intend to purchase so that you can make
sure all of the various elements are in
place that there's nothing missing when
there are missing parts it of course
isn't going to be fulfilling the safety
standards for which it was intended
beyond that the inside of seats under
the fabric does tend to be styrofoam and
you don't want to break this while
you're of course checking it during a
purchase but you do want to test it a
little bit just give it a good light
feel around and if you have a car seat
where it's relatively easy to pull up
the fabric we can actually do that as
well maxi Cosi is a brand for example or
it's pretty easy to for that and then
you can have a look at the styrofoam
here you can actually see there's a miss
sticker
it says do not remove this is in order
to ensure the safety of a styrofoam but
it hasn't been replaced in
properly manner so check that around car
seats actually a lot of manufacturers
put an expiration date
on the car seat so I'm like spoilers
they do expire there are several reasons
for this one I've heard is simply the
plastics that plastic is brittle over
time but I believe it has a little bit
more to do with safety regulations
changing over time and you got to
realize that car seats do not exist in a
vacuum
so when changes in safety standards or
the general design of auto vehicles
changes these safety standards on car
seats change as well
just think about airbags how cars are
all fitted with airbags now that
certainly had a lot of implications for
what is acceptable in terms of safety
for car seats so when you're looking at
the potential car seat you want to buy
you can flip it over and you can look at
the stickers now don't be fooled most
car seats will have a sticker with a
date on it that is not the production
date but actually the date at which the
model came onto the market this sticker
for example on this one even though it
doesn't say it this is the production
date it would be November 2010 and
whatever car seat you're planning on
buying you might want to have a little
look on Google as to how the sticker is
going to be laid out so in this country
and Norway they recommend that you don't
purchase a car seat that is older than
five years that's of course up to you
but that's what they generally consider
to be safe but you do want to have a
look at the production date and have
some sort of idea in your head as to how
old the car seats can be before it's no
longer relevant in relation to safety
standards and think about how long you
will be using the car seat so for
example this car seat is for up to 14
kilos nine months old so if this car
seat is still going to be good
quote-unquote for another year then then
it's not a bad idea to purchase it
because I would be using it for about a
year if you are however purchasing one
of the larger car seats that you're
going to use for two or three years like
for older children then of course it
should be newer because it should last
longer before that quote unquote
expiration date will expire so these are
a few things
you might want to look over or think
about when you are purchasing a car seat
on the used market we hope this video
has been useful to you and if it has we
asked you subscribe as it helps us
continue making videos in the future
thank you
Related queries:
are used car seats safe
is it safe to use used car seats
is it safe to check a car seat
