Car seat manufacturing dates/expiration

A particular Britax Roundabout is on sale for $150 on Amazon (closeout) and Target.com....how do I know I'm not getting something that was manufactured a while back?

Does this really matter? I had a car seat that I got from my shower, and ended up returning it at the urging of a safety technician. In her mind, if I wasn't going to use it until a year later, it was going to depreciate. So it made more sense to return it, and get a new one that's manufactured around the same time.

Thoughts?

Message edited 12/10/2009 2:56:42 PM.

Re: Car seat manufacturing dates/expiration

I thought (though I could be wrong nad my "expert" is asleep) that if it was new in the box that it expired between 4-6 years after it was installed.

Though, what you are saying makes total sense, so I am stumped

Re: Car seat manufacturing dates/expiration

Expiration date is specified in the manual and is based on date of manufacture NOT date of first install. If there isn't a "DO NOT USE AFTER" on your seat itself, then your manual should state what the lifespan of the seat is, or you can call the manufacturer.

I've bought 2 seats from Amazon both Britax within the past year, both were manufactured the month prior and have a 6 year lifespan.

I just bought a seat at Target, date of manufacture was 5/08, but it is a truefit which has a 7 year lifespan, so I'll still get almost 6 years from it.

Albeebaby.com is good with their seats, I've heard of people calling them to check mfg dates. Ditto for elitecarseats.com and babycatalog.com

Re: Car seat manufacturing dates/expiration

Tara - you should see the manufacturers date on the car seat itself. It expires from that date.

Re: Car seat manufacturing dates/expiration

Posted by KateDevine

I thought (though I could be wrong nad my "expert" is asleep) that if it was new in the box that it expired between 4-6 years after it was installed.

Though, what you are saying makes total sense, so I am stumped

Re: Car seat manufacturing dates/expiration

Re: Car seat manufacturing dates/expiration

Posted by MrsRbk

Posted by KateDevine

I thought (though I could be wrong nad my "expert" is asleep) that if it was new in the box that it expired between 4-6 years after it was installed.

Though, what you are saying makes total sense, so I am stumped

Nope, when I had the base installed in DH's car, the officer pointed out that it was actually a year old and explained it's only good for 5 years from the manufacturers date. He told me I should return it and get a new one. Since it was already installed and we have no plans to be using an infant seat in 5 years, I left it as is.