Are you a little bit tight on your budget and confused about buying a cheap used baby Car Seats to save some extra cost? Well, it could be a good deal for you if you know the right kind of Seat.
After hours of analysis, our experts find out some worthy ways to justify a cheap used car seat. Hope that below analysis will clear your thoughts on should you buy used car seat or new one to provide proper safety.
Tips For Buying A Used Car Seat:
So, the type of Seat you should buy is an important thing. Here are the main points that you need to look into a second hand safety seat.
Firstly – the seat mast not be damaged on repaired. These types of car seats can be deadly. A broken child safety seat will not be able to provide total protection. In an event of emergency they will crack and push the baby in front of danger.
Secondly – carefully examine the car seat before buying it. Check for any sort of cracks, torn or repair marks. If you find any feel free to walk away.
Thirdly – see if all the cards, and straps one okay and doesn’t show any sight of weakness. Weak straps can tear and cause serious injury to the child.
Also, check if the fiber of the seat is right and doesn’t have any hole in them. A torn car seat cover will let liquids get into the foam and make it damp. Damp car seat foams are the power house of germs and bacteria.
Fourthly – check and cross check if all the components of a car seat for children are present in it. Remember, even the smallest parts can matter. See if all the jacks, locks and strap lighteners’ are present in their appropriate place.
Finally – it’s always a better option to check the car seat in your own car and with your own child. See if it fits both. Whether it’s a new or old one a child safety car seat must sit firmly on the car seat and you also have to make sure that the child fits perfectly inside.
Okay now you know what to look for in the best convertible car seat for children while buying a second hand child safety car seat. Now how much you should pay for it.
Used Car Seats and Health Issues
A car seat is used to protect the child from any sort of health hazards. That’s why it must be safe for the child.
- What is an unsafe car seat?
An unsafe car seat is a seat that is incapable of providing safety. There are many reasons that make a child safety seat unsafe. Among those reasons, infections can be great hazard although most parents are not much concerned about it.
If its prior user had a kind of infectious disease the car seat will have a great possibility of infecting yours. You have to make sure that the car seat was pre-owned by a healthy child.
The broken locking mechanisms and harness makes the car seat really unsafe. These things have been elaborately discussed before. Make sure that the car seat didn’t face any sort of accidents.
The warning and instructions are stickered on the seat. They help a stranger to install the product easily in the car. Without these stickers one will face a lot of difficulty in equipping the car seat. A wrongly installed car seat can be deadly and will be providing zero safety to its user.
- History Check:
You can buy second hand car seats from a charity stores, eBay or garage sales. If you buy used car seats from other sources, then it is impossible for you to find the previous history of the car seat.
There is a great risk of getting outdated seats. Sometime you need to recall the sellers. The report of product safety commission, many stores sell low quality car seats which are very dangerous to your child safety. Most of them are outdated which can’t ensure you a proper safety in highways.
If you know the background of the used car seat, then you are allowed to buy it for your family purposes. It is best idea to pick best infant car seat from used car if it has no history of taking serious accidental history.
A used second hand car seat is not recommended for you after the involving with moderate collision in the highways. You should be aware about it.
If you decided to buy a second hand car seat from your close family members, then you can easily know about the accidental history or collision history of the seats. You can get the idea of the previous history of the used car seats.
- The User Manual is Important
The car seat manufacturing company will provides you a guarantee for a safe new seat. These seats have full of working parts. It ensures you a manufacturing warranty which is not valid for old car seats. A brand new car seat has the instruction manual and installation leaflets.
By using these papers, you can easily install the brand new seats in your vehicle. The instruction manuals will provides you a guideline how to use the components with seat carefully.
On the other hand, instruction manuals are rarely found in used car seats. It is complex job for you to set up these seats in your vehicle which can’t ensure a proper safety for children. It may create serious risk.
- How Much Should I Pay?
The price of a second hand child safety car seat depends on the condition and the time it has been used for. Generally the price beings from 70% to 80% of the seats market price mostly sold at around 50%. You’ll often find people buying wrong kind of car seat and posting it for sale.
You have the luxury of bargaining while buy a baby car seat. Try reducing the price as much as you can. Remember that the prior owner will have no use of it. If you can make them understand it, they will agree to let go of the product in exchange of a little cost.
Oh yes, from posting it on sale, where to look for second hand safety seats?
Where To Look For A Used Car Seat?
The best place to look for child safety seats is in your friends or relatives’ closet or basement. If you’re lucky enough, you may get one for free. If they don’t have any use of a safety seat but parson one, feel free to ask it from them. Why would you spend so much behind a new one? Ultimately you’ve to alienate it in your closet once your child outgrows.
Among the other places you can buy your safety. From different buy sell or exchange websites. But remember you may not be able to go and check them all and compensations may not be that much helpful over the phone.
Okay, for the next section. Which type of safety seat should be bought as a second hand one?
Which Type Of Car Seat To Buy?
We know, every parent wants to ensure maximum safety for their children and hence they try to provide their children all types of seat, the infant, the convertible and the booster market price of all three seats are around 1000$.
Yes, thousand dollars, you’ve heard right, and probably haven’t calculated it before the birth of a child is over whelming and easier the new both child needs a car seat inside a car.
You probably have saved some thing for the baby equipment. A travel car seat should fit into that budget. We have seen very few parents buying a second hand infant safety seat for their child. If you want to buy an infant seat, try buying it under a baby registry. That way you will get it at a much cheaper price along with other products.
what about the rest two models?
Yes they can be bought used if they are in their perfect condition. Nobody is foolish enough to buy a convertible and booster seat while buying the infant seat under baby registry.
That’s why after the baby’s two year old you will need a convertible car seat and the baby registry period won’t be prolonged that long. Looking for a used convertible seat in this period isn’t a bad idea actually. But make sure the seat you are going to buy is safe and sound.
The same thing applies for booster seats. Although there shouldn’t be much to think about while buying a booster seat for your child you can get it very easily.
Benefits of Both Types:
To make things easy for you let’s see the benefits of buying new and used car seats.
Benefits of Buying New Seat:
- Everything is new and intact. This leaves no room for the tension
- You’ll get the warranty of an year or more
- You can avail the customer support only by buying a new product
- You’ll also get the user manual what says almost everything about the product.
- If you buy a new product you will end up with the latest product in the market.
- The latest products have the most advanced safety features.
- You can also sell it later for a good price
Benefits of Buying Used Seat:
- First of all, you’ll get a used car seat at a very cheaper rate.
- If you’re tight on your budget a used car seat will easily fit into it.
- You don’t have to be looking for the modern features
- If it’s from someone close you will often feel a personal attachment with the product.
- A car seat looses it utility as the child grows. This way you will be saving more and spending less.
Disadvantages of Both Types:
Now you know the benefits let’s take a look at the disadvantages of buying these two types of seats.
Disadvantages of Buying a New Car Seat:
- A new car seat will cost you a lot more.
- A new car seat won’t give you the scope of having personal attachment
- If it doesn’t fit your child or baby you may not get the opportunity to return it in every case
- Buying a new car seat requires time and you need to do a lot of personal research in it too
Disadvantages of Buying a Used Car Seat:
- You can’t be 100% sure about a used car seat whether it faced an accident before or not.
- A used car seat can be faulty and dangerous
- You may not get to return it you want
- You may not get all the accessories that are provided in the packaging
- A used car seat can also be unhealthy too.
Final Call:
After all these points we’d mention three points as final call and give you our honest opinion about buying safety seat.
- It’s not right to buy a used infant seat. You should at least buy it new
- You can buy used convertible and booster seats.
- But before buying a used seat, be sure to check its history.
It is very much helpful for you to understand the utility of the car seats. It is easy for you to compare with brand new seats and used seat.
That’s why it is not recommended for you to buy a second hand seat instead of a new seat. If there’s no factor about the budget, then you shouldn’t buy cheap used baby car seats.