buying a 2nd hand carseat really that dangerous?

[BFeeding Essentials]

hi everyone

went into peckham mothercare the other day and they had a alot of leaflets about buying a 2nd hand car seat and the dangerous it carries. iv just bought a 2nd hand car seat for grand parents house and am just a bit worried :S should i keep using it? its in such a clean and unused condition as this was a 2nd carseat for another formites grandparents.

any advise would be appricated!

thanks!

BFE x

[Bellenden Belle]

I thought the reasoning behind not buying secondhand is because you don't know if it's been in an accident or not. So if you know the person giving you the car seat, and trust them, it should be fine. We've been incredibly fortunate to be gifted car seats and have felt perfectly fine about it.

I also speak as someone who is quite cautious about these things - we have a growing pile of mattresses which I wont use as I think it's important to follow guidelines in most instances.

[hellosailor]

Yes that's the reasoning, so you might borrow one from a family member or friend who you trust and you know has had no accidents in the car while using it, but I guess with buying one from ebay etc, you can't be sure.

[SBot]

If you know where it's come from, it's fine. But yes if it has been involved in an accident there could be damage that you can't see. It's not worth the risk. Kiddicare do car seats brand new, prices around ?35.

[chantelle]

I think a quality second hand car seat is probably a better option than the super cheap ones, assuming you trust the chances of someone selling a damaged one are extremely slim. I've gotten one on this forum, and another from a work colleague.

[sandy_rose]

Just check the age of the seat. I was given one and called Maxi-cosi to check that it still adhered to current regs...they said you should not use one older than 5 years as the plastic deteriorates, making it unsafe.

[KalamityKel]

Seriously - if you're asking yourself this you've already answered the question.

Sorry ETA (to avoid any assumptions I was being rude - I wasn't) - If you think something is not safe, as in you now have doubts about it, would you really be 100% happy to continue using it? Really 100%?