buying car seat bases off craigslist

purplepeanut6 · April 2013

I know your not supposed to buy used car seats especially if you dont know their history, but what about the bases?

we need 3 possibly 4 bases (for grandparents) and I prefer not to pay full price. can i buy a used one?

penguingrrl · April 2013

Bases follow the same rules as carseats, so no, you cannot buy one off of craigslist. That said, how frequently will you be putting LO in the grandparents cars? I'm pretty sure every infant bucket on the market can be installed without a base. It's pretty easy to do that, so I would get yourself and anyone else driving LO comfortable doing that instead of getting a lot of bases. Save your money for when the baby outgrows the bucket and needs convertible seats for any regularly used car. Those are a pain and you don't want to deal with reinstalling them frequently.

purplepeanut6 · April 2013

penguingrrl:
Bases follow the same rules as carseats, so no, you cannot buy one off of craigslist. That said, how frequently will you be putting LO in the grandparents cars? I'm pretty sure every infant bucket on the market can be installed without a base. It's pretty easy to do that, so I would get yourself and anyone else driving LO comfortable doing that instead of getting a lot of bases. Save your money for when the baby outgrows the bucket and needs convertible seats for any regularly used car. Those are a pain and you don't want to deal with reinstalling them frequently.

so MIL doesnt work and im sure if i need a day break or anything i will drop LO off. I would be more comfortable if she had a base because without it you need to use the seatbelt and loop it around it makes me nervous i prefer her to have a base.

my mom prob doesnt need one, but she will want one.

i mean they will buy them themselves, and graco bases arent THAT expensive. so its their call. I was just wondering if it goes by the same "rule"

Pumpkin_Princess · April 2013

We bought a spare base from Craigslist. As long as the seat snaps in securely, there is no damage, and it is within date, I don't see why it is a problem. Do you really need 4 of them? Most, if not all, infant car seats can be secured without the base. We will only be placing bases in vehicles that the baby will be traveling in daily (mine and DH's).

AliciaS1411 · April 2013

It takes less than 5 minutes to just move a base from one car to the other. We were constantly moving ours from one car to another. its not a big deal.

penguingrrl · April 2013

Pumpkin_Princess:
We bought a spare base from Craigslist. As long as the seat snaps in securely, there is no damage, and it is within date, I don't see why it is a problem. Do you really need 4 of them? Most, if not all, infant car seats can be secured without the base. We will only be placing bases in vehicles that the baby will be traveling in daily (mine and DH's).

It's a problem for the exact same reason buying a used carseat is unsafe. You have no idea if the base has been in an accident and damaged. And the only way you would find out for sure is if it failed in another accident.

penguingrrl · April 2013

purplepeanut6:
penguingrrl:
Bases follow the same rules as carseats, so no, you cannot buy one off of craigslist. That said, how frequently will you be putting LO in the grandparents cars? I'm pretty sure every infant bucket on the market can be installed without a base. It's pretty easy to do that, so I would get yourself and anyone else driving LO comfortable doing that instead of getting a lot of bases. Save your money for when the baby outgrows the bucket and needs convertible seats for any regularly used car. Those are a pain and you don't want to deal with reinstalling them frequently.
so MIL doesnt work and im sure if i need a day break or anything i will drop LO off. I would be more comfortable if she had a base because without it you need to use the seatbelt and loop it around it makes me nervous i prefer her to have a base.
my mom prob doesnt need one, but she will want one.
i mean they will buy them themselves, and graco bases arent THAT expensive. so its their call. I was just wondering if it goes by the same "rule"

For that kind of occasional use I would not buy bases for your mother and MIL. If either is taking the baby and you'd rather know you installed the seat/base (which is fair, I only let my kids ride if I've done the installation because I don't trust that anyone else has done it to my standards) then you can move the base over (and later the convertible seat). It takes 2 minutes to clip the base in and properly tighten it, less once you've done it a few times (I can install my son's base in under a minute).

purplepeanut6 · April 2013

didnt know bases were so easy to install...

il definitely look into it when we buy and install the seat.

thanks!

purplepeanut6 · April 2013

DreamingBabies:
purplepeanut6:
penguingrrl:
Bases follow the same rules as carseats, so no, you cannot buy one off of craigslist. That said, how frequently will you be putting LO in the grandparents cars? I'm pretty sure every infant bucket on the market can be installed without a base. It's pretty easy to do that, so I would get yourself and anyone else driving LO comfortable doing that instead of getting a lot of bases. Save your money for when the baby outgrows the bucket and needs convertible seats for any regularly used car. Those are a pain and you don't want to deal with reinstalling them frequently.
so MIL doesnt work and im sure if i need a day break or anything i will drop LO off. I would be more comfortable if she had a base because without it you need to use the seatbelt and loop it around it makes me nervous i prefer her to have a base.
my mom prob doesnt need one, but she will want one.
i mean they will buy them themselves, and graco bases arent THAT expensive. so its their call. I was just wondering if it goes by the same "rule"
Why don't you just switch cars with your MIL or mom when they need to watch the baby? It would save some money and then you'll have time to figure out what to do for your lifestyle when you need new car seats.

thats actually a great idea for my mom. MIL is a horrible driver and her car is falling apart mechanically. I wouldnt trust her with mine lol.

purplepeanut6 · April 2013

LauraT25:
purplepeanut6:
;MIL is a horrible driver and her car is falling apart mechanically. I wouldnt trust her with mine lol. nbsp;
So...you don't trust her to drive your car, but you're cool with her driving around with your baby?

yah that sounds bad, but i mean she is not reckless, but she has a lot of scratches and dents. she parallel parks by tapping the car behind and infront of her. and pulling in the garage she scratched up the entire side of her van. she is a careful driver in terms of goes below speed limit, so i wouldnt not trust her driving LO, just dont want her denting my car since its a lease and need to return it in good condition.

BabyHope2013 · April 2013

Just an idea to throw out there. Instead of you or them spending money on buying all those bases, why don't you buy a convertible carseat?most if them you can put an infant in and it's a seat they can grow a lot more into. My son is almost four months and his infant seat is getting really heavy, so we are already planning on switching over to convertibles in our cars in the next 45 weeks.

notkateanymore · April 2013

There is no way I would buy a carseat or a base off of Craigslist. Why are you buying all the bases? My parents bought their own when they decided they wanted to be able to take DD places. Are they going to be babysitting on a regular basis?

jschmidt6 · May 2013

I'm a little late to the party, but maybe a friend or family member has one you can have or buy from them? At least you can trust them that it hasn't been in an accident. I just bought a used base at a yard sale. It will be for his grandparents to keep at their house. He will probably use it less than 10 times at there house, but hey, it was $5! I couldn't resist.

buying car seat bases off craigslist

Re: buying car seat bases off craigslist

Choose Another Board

Search Boards