Car service with baby seat

[Frangipani Lou]

We have a car that is still under warranty that we bought second hand several months ago. It's overdue for a service and it has DD's car seat in it that was fitted professionally. Our second car doesn't have a car seat in it and I'm not keen on moving the one that was professionally fitted.
So I'm interested to hear how other people with children manage to get their cars serviced please.

[Dansta]

moved the car seats over so the car could be done.
but we're right out of town so i cant exactly catch PT or walk home.

[LimeSlice]

I learned how to fit the child seat correctly myself... car seats come in and out of my car all the time to clean the car, use them in relatives/friends' cars, clean and wash the seats themselves...
I've never asked him to do it, but I believe my (exceptional) mechanic also fits seats, he is in Cheltenham, if you want his details let me know.
I've never had an issue. But I do think it is going to be incredibly difficult to never move your seat - even if it has been professionally fitted, it will need adjustments over the years you will be using it - it doesn't stay perfect forever.

[beansbeans!]

Same as LS, we learnt how to fit them ourselves properly. We are constantly changing where they sit, who sits next to who, changing the strap height, looking for whatever they have lost under their seats etc. also it's not actually hard to fit car seats once you feel confident at doing it

[Miss.September]

We got ours installed professionally too and we only had the one car that could accommodate the kids (up until two weeks ago, other car was a hiace).

We had to get mum to come and babysit. I'd drive the car to the mechanic, DH would pick me up and bring me home and then we'd repeat the same painful process when the car was ready. Absolute pain in the neck.

It was a big factor when we made the decision to replace DH's van with a dual cab ute instead of buying another van.

DH isn't interested in sorting out the car seats as far as taking them in and out of the car. Any adjustments that have been made in the 4 1/2 years we've had them have all been done by the same car seat fitter.

[HotI]

I try to book car service on days that dh can take car in. it drives me crazy sitting there or hanging at shops waiting to hear that car is done, but dh doesn't seem to mind it.

I didn't understand your initial question, I thought you were concerned about having to move the seat prior to the service. genuine question -how do you adjust straps or wash the car seat cover if you need it installed each time?

[wysiwyg]

First time when I only had DD - took the car for a service, grabbed pushchair out of the boot and went for a long walk, lunch, park etc while they did it. We only have one car and I can drop it off and walk/tram home so that is ok anyway. But also as others have said, just have learnt how to put the seats in properly myself, the Compaq S&S you can't change the height of the shoulder straps without taking seat out, no way was I being restricted to going to a fitter every-time needed to change something. (The way I look at it (as we are not daily car users) taking the kids in the car to somewhere to get the seats refitted all the time, actually puts them in more danger than any possible risk of me doing the seats, as is an unnecessary car journey they are making, and just being on the road is the bigger danger)

[Miss.September]

I didn't understand your initial question, I thought you were concerned about having to move the seat prior to the service. genuine question -how do you adjust straps or wash the car seat cover if you need it installed each time?

We can get our straps undone from the back of the seat without moving the seat or altering the seatbelt. Once the straps are removed, the cover can come off.

[~Hestia~]

We only have one car that can accommodate the car seats. My DH organises any servicing to be done on his days off. They drop him back at home in the morning and pick him back up when it's finished. We're confident in moving car seats around but it's not necessary in our case.

[LimeSlice]

Probably worth pointing out that there is some work done on cars, on some models, that would involve them removing the seats to get under the rear seat.... The fuel pump being repaired in my old Volvo, for example, required them to get under the rear seats - they moved and replaced the seats without me being aware of it at the time.
Many will also vacuum and wash the car after a service, so may well move the seats to do that, so if you plan on leaving them in there, it is well worth having them checked again after, JIC they have been messed with when you didn't expect them to be.

Can you get new seats for the other car?

[lady_neon]

When we had our seat professionally fitted, I watched so I knew how to do it. We move the seat between cars constantly.

[feeb]

We only have 1 car so I get DH to drop car off then bus to work rather than train, then I walk with kids in pram about 5 km to pick up car.

[~Kim~]

I too learned how to change seats around reasonably quickly when I was blessed with car sick kiddos....sometimes you have to hose out those suckers.
However, now we only have one car that can take DD2's seat, so I organise for a friend with a seat to come and collect DD2 and I usually as DH often works away. Otherwise our mechanic has always been happy to have one of his workers drive us home and collect us in our car.

[Jennifer13]

I get a loan car from my service centre and they transfer and fit the car seat for me in the loaner (they're an authorised car seat fitter).

I am so spoilt. I'm considering a different brand of car next year and this is the one thing holding me back!

[MummyNaomi]

Gosh, I often take our car seats in and out for cleaning, readjusting etc. I only had the seats professionally installed once (red cross) while pg with our first, the guy showed me how, it's exactly as the car seat manuals suggest have shown DH and he comfortably takes the spare seat on the 2nd car in and out when he needs more space in the hatch for his guitars etc.
Realistically I don't think you need qualifications or training to fit a car seat correctly. Understand why some people would prefer not to
However I am 100% confident that our installation is spot on, I would not risk the safety of my kids otherwise.

[luna moth]

Gosh, I often take our car seats in and out for cleaning, readjusting etc. I only had the seats professionally installed once (red cross) while pg with our first, the guy showed me how, it's exactly as the car seat manuals suggest have shown DH and he comfortably takes the spare seat on the 2nd car in and out when he needs more space in the hatch for his guitars etc.
Realistically I don't think you need qualifications or training to fit a car seat correctly. Understand why some people would prefer not to.

This is what I thought. But then, at my antenatal class I realised how clueless some people are, and it started to make sense. So the tip one of them gave is to fit it yourself, THEN take it to a fitter, and they'll show you what you've done wrong, so then You know how to do it yourself. My mum had it wrong in the seat she bought for when we're visiting her, seat belt through the wrong spot. It's easy enough to mess it up, so I found it really good to be able to troubleshoot.

As for mechanics, DH usually takes it in on his way to work, then bikes the rest of the way. I've taken it once and walked home (3km) but we're thinking about swapping to a place at the end of the street. Which is what the old place was, before we moved!

[~ Zarava Flutterby ~]

I take mine to a place right next to the shopping centre, I drop it off first thing then take the girls to the shops for a few hours.

Before that I would take it somewhere I could take the girls for a walk.
DP's hours kind if stop him taking it for me so we just had to work around it.

[Frangipani Lou]

Thanks folks. I think we'll book it in for a Saturday when we are both at home and one of us can possibly get a lift back from the dealership.