Am I the only one who hates the new Britax locking clips?

[salsah]

We bought a MA 70 to replace our MA that was in an accident. I love how easy it is to change the harness height (no threading) but i HATE the new built in locking clips. i loved the old one. the little black thing on the side that you just press open, slide the belt into, and release to close. these new red ones on the seat back, behind the cover are hard to use. first, there are two of them. they are behind the cover. they are hard to close. it is hard to keep the shoulder strap and lap belt perfectly flat and overlapping. i've been moving the seat a lot lately and since we don't have latch in any of these cars, i have to use the locking clips. it takes too long, hurts my fingers, ruins my nails, i have to keep undoing and re-doing to get it, and i end up cursing the whole time. i honestly think it would be easier to use one of those little metal locking clips that are not attached to the seat.
i hate it so much, i want to get rid of this new seat and use the old one. the seat wasn't in use at the time of the accident, what could possibly be wrong with it?

[RunnerDuck]

How bad was the accident? It doesn't matter if the seat was in use, it matters how bad the accident was. Then of course you will get the "Isn't your child's safety most important?" mommy war guilt trip and since insurance often pays to replace the seats, people do - but that doesn't mean they always need replaced. I was rear ended with all my kids in the car, no damage to either vehicle, did not replace my seats. But I know some would have. So - how bad was it? :)

[salsah]

three air bags deployed.

[RunnerDuck]

Hmmmm... yeah I think air bags deploying is one of the "replace the seats" things.

We only have the old style marathons... I don't really plan to buy Britax again now that you can get cheaper seats with the same features (and then some). But this is good to know, in case I were to be swayed thinking "but now Britax goes bigger!"

Where is the seat from? Is there any chance you can return it or have you had it a while now?

[Joolsplus2]

I hate them. What years are your cars? When I install them in a car newer than 97, that has locking seatbelts, I just ignore them, lock the seatbelt instead (either it locks automatically at the latchplate, or you pull the shoulderbelt all the way out and let it retract and voila, it's locked). You only need the lockoffs in cars older than 1997 that have emergency locking retractors.

[bubbaray]

When I install them in a car newer than 97, that has locking seatbelts, I just ignore them, lock the seatbelt instead (either it locks automatically at the latchplate, or you pull the shoulderbelt all the way out and let it retract and voila, it's locked). You only need the lockoffs in cars older than 1997 that have emergency locking retractors.


:yeahthat:

OP, I would not use that old seat. The airbags deployed. I would trash the seat and scavange the cover/pads (to sell).

[salsah]

I hate them. What years are your cars? When I install them in a car newer than 97, that has locking seatbelts, I just ignore them, lock the seatbelt instead (either it locks automatically at the latchplate, or you pull the shoulderbelt all the way out and let it retract and voila, it's locked). You only need the lockoffs in cars older than 1997 that have emergency locking retractors.

i'm so glad to hear that you hate them too! if Jools hates them, then my hatred is justified.

how is it that all this time, i never knew that i don't have to use the locking clip?

you said "newer than" and "older than" '97. what about '97? actually, i can go out and check, duh! one of the cars (our primary) is a '98 (if it makes a difference, it is a canadian car). the other (and my mom's) are '97 hondas. i think that the belts do lock but i'll have to go check.

so do you have any idea why britax changed them?

[lorinick]

I hate as well. I think that is one thing Britax shouldn't have changed.

[bubbaray]

A 1997 Honda should have locking belts. DH's former 1997 Nissan had locking belts.

[salsah]

I hate as well. I think that is one thing Britax shouldn't have changed.

i agree. one of the reason that i went with the britax over the radian is because i knew that i would be installing w/o latch so i wanted the built in locking clip. if only i knew . . . :banghead:

when i was bitching to dh about the new clips, he asked if there is another seat we could get. i said, "no, as far as i know, only britax has the built in locking clip."

dh is going to be :hysterical: at me when i tell him that we don't even need the locking clips. he always talks about his co-workers (when they go out to lunch together) take the car seats out and re-install them in seconds because they just buckle them in and don't worry about locking clips or tethers. and i always responded with a line about the safety of our kids and taking a moment to do it right, etc. :bag

[Joolsplus2]

I'd joke that you didn't read the manual and that's why you didn't know about how belts lock, but since *I* didn't read the manual to even find out how to work the new Britax lockoffs, I'm really in no position to tease (I didn't realize they had two arms you have to lift, I only lifted one arm, and, well, that'll REALLY make you hate the danged things!).
Not doing a tether is just plain dumb, though, so I'm glad you take the time to deal with that (though ssssshhhh... Britax *claims* their seats pass the more-stringent crash testing parameters without it, since they know most people don't do them, but that's not an excuse not to not do it if you have tethers).
You're absolutely awesome for doing the best you know how to do <mom-to-mom-high-five>
:)

[RunnerDuck]

If most cars don't require you to use the locking clips anyway, maybe the car manufacturers are giving Britax kickbacks for making them harder to use... it will push people who are holding on to their old, but working, cars to go out and buy new ones... LOL

[salsah]

I'd joke that you didn't read the manual and that's why you didn't know about how belts lock, but since *I* didn't read the manual to even find out how to work the new Britax lockoffs, I'm really in no position to tease (I didn't realize they had two arms you have to lift, I only lifted one arm, and, well, that'll REALLY make you hate the danged things!).
Not doing a tether is just plain dumb, though, so I'm glad you take the time to deal with that (though ssssshhhh... Britax *claims* their seats pass the more-stringent crash testing parameters without it, since they know most people don't do them, but that's not an excuse not to not do it if you have tethers).
You're absolutely awesome for doing the best you know how to do <mom-to-mom-high-five>
:)

thanks for the high-five.

i knew about locking seat belts, but i didn't know that they are good enough/reliable for car seat use.

i'm fairly certain that if i ride in the back seat, i can move around even with the seat belt on. so wouldn't that mean that the car seat can move around too?

[Joolsplus2]

Not if you get your knee in the seat and pull the shoulderbelt up at the buckle to get the lapbelt really tight, then pull the belt all the way out to lock it, your seats won't move a bit (people, on the other hand, are a bit squishy and we wouldn't install ourselves into a seatbelt like that, so we can still move more :D) (Really, the ONLY reason seatbelts have any kind of automatic locking mechanism, rather than only locking in a crash, is to install car seats. It costs more, it's a pain to engineer, and the government made them do it, otherwise seatbelts would all be just like the driver's seat and only lock in a crash).

:)

[salsah]

thanks jools. yesterday while the girls were climbing into their seat (installed with locking clips), i pulled on the shoulder belt and it moved. i think that the lap belt part might not move easily. i'll take the locking clips off and try it again.

interesting, unrelated, side note: i just noticed that our car has shoulder belt child comfort guides in the back seat (outboard only, the center belt is lap only). i wish i knew about those when my nephews were visiting -- would have been very handy.