Buying a 2nd hand car seat?

[blessedatlast]

I always said i wouldn't but a 2nd hand car seat.. But the one I have, I don't like and it's a pain to swap cars adjust strap etc. i can't afford to buy a new one though.. I found an ad for a car seat I like and it said it had never been in an accident. Surely that would be ok? Should I trust sellers? Would you/have you bought a 2nd hand car seat?

[AlligatorsMum]

I have bought two second hand car seats (one for hubby's car and one for grandparents car) but they were all from people we knew. I'm not sure if I would buy from someone I didn't know incase they didn't disclose Everyhing. And I dont think I'd be able to tell if a carseat had been damaged and repaired?

[PumpkinZulu]

It's not just accidents, the seat could have been dropped or damaged another way. I would not buy a second hand car seat, even if there is no outward damage, you can never know if the structural integrity had been damaged. I understand needing to save money (we're about to buy a second seat in as many years for DD2...a d we don't even drive!!) but for something like this, safety is paramount for me.

[blessedatlast]

Yeah I was thinking the same.. I don't think I can do it either.. :/

[~ Mylitta ~]

When we had our son we got a second hand seat from my sister in law. It was a top of the range one (even with ipod connectivity, lol). We've used it for our son until he moved into a maxi booster. Then when we had our second daughter she started using the slim-line one that DD1 had been using, so DD1 started using the second hand one the my son used to use. Recently I swapped the seat from rear facing the forward facing and while I was pulling at it some of the material moved on the back of the seat and I discovered the the foam along the back and in the head rest area was cracked and broken! I have no idea whether it was like that when we got it, or if it's somehow just happened over time. It's freaked me out a little and I'm not convinced it's fully safe now if we were in a crash, so I want to go and buy a new one for her. I might just get her a maxi booster as well if she is in the right weight range now.