Car Seat Comparison-MyRide65

This is a follow-up to the Graco posts from earlier last week.  I will have to add more pictures as I take them.

 

This is the original seat (above)--I love the cover, soft and squishy, loved that the belts didn't get all twisty, and that the buckle was the style the pushed down, not in. (pictures to be added)

Graco replaced my seat, out of warranty, with a brand new one (manufactured this year) because the harness in this seat is not replaceable, however it was the harness of the seat (harness at the buckle tongue slide) that was the issue since it was fraying and this is through no fault of my own, but a design issue of theirs, which it appears they have corrected.

This is the new seat...fabrics are the same "pattern" but they are nothing alike, this is NOT soft at all, it has the smaller buckle that you have to push in and the belt guides on the buckle tongue pieces are looser and do allow the straps to twist if you don't pull them perfectly straight; however, this looser aspect may be helpful for us since it was probably how tight the fit on the tongue pieces was that caused the fraying in the first place.  It also has different padding (I'll have to find it all to take pictures), which for us isn't a big deal since Paige and Baily are both too big to use the padding anyway.

Measurements that I get on the two seats (these are not definitive and were purely taken to satisfy my curiosity)

Original MyRide65

seat width at booty (internal): 10in

seat width at shoulder (internal): 10.5in

seating height (internal): 24in

harness slot heights withOUT padding: 9in, 11.5in, 12.5in, 14.5in, 16.5in

external seat width: 21in

New MyRide65 lx

 seat width at booty (internal) 10.25in

seat width at shoulder (internal): 10.25

seating height (internal): 24.5in

harness slot heights withOUT padding:8.5in, 11in, 12.5in, 14.75in, 17in

external seat width: 21in

However, I was told that I could keep my old cover (Paige has some sensory issues that I don't want to fight with her over a carseat about--but she's done fine with the new cover so far) and that it would fit just fine...so they are saying they haven't changed anything...we'll see when I try to use the old cover on the new seat.

chest-clip comparisons (top old, bottom new): they appear and feel the same

 

crotch buckle comparisons: (top old, bottom new) 

They are VERY different. Personally I much prefer the bottom buckle as it pushes down and is much easier to both buckle and unbuckle (however there were some complaints about the ease with which children could unbuckle both the chest clip and the crotch buckle, so I assume that is what prompted the change), the buckle tongue connectors on the buckle are shaped differently and have a more open space around the belt, so I assume that this was either due to complaints about how tight it was on the belt and/or because there were fraying issues other than my seat--though I have never seen this as a complaint on any seat forum I've looked at.

fabric comparisons: (top old, bottom new--click to enlarge if you need/want)

The old fabric was a plush/velour in the seat area with an almost fuzzy/soft polka dot fabric for accent.  However, the new seat is a rough polka dot through the majority of the seat, and the solid parts are a really weird and fairly rough fabric as well...I'm really hoping that the old cover will actually work on the new seat.

  

Graco Seat Update

Graco called me back, they are sending me a new seat, should be here by Thursday, Friday at the latest.  They are also sending me a shipping label through FedEx and it should be here by Monday for me to send my old seat back.  She said I could keep the fabric parts if I wanted to have an extra cover.

So, I'll add pictures of the new seat, etc. when it arrives and keep you posted on the situation. 

Overall it wasn't a bad experience (did take staying calm, insistent and a manager to get a deal I found acceptable), they still say I shouldn't really use the seat because of the fraying, and that they can't guarantee my child's safety, but they have no ideas for me on what I should use instead without me having to go buy a new seat myself right now...so I guess for now we'll use it unless I think Baily will still fit in the bucket, then we might put her in it for a few days and Paige in Baily's convertible.

Graco replacement seat

Just an FYI: Graco MyRide 65 car seat straps canNOT be replaced, you must replace the whole seat.  Which really kind of sucks.

I've been on the phone and e-mailing with them for over 30 minutes now, and after sending them pictures of my issue, we might be down to a reasonable solution--we'll see after the next phone call.

The straps are fraying at the spot where the crotch buckle tongues are--this is not anything weird I've done, it's some reaction between their harness and their plastic buckle piece and since you can't remove the straps it's not like I could stick them in the washing machine or anything either...they want me to PAY to ship it to them, then, while I'm waiting for a new seat or reimbursement, I have to PAY to get another seat for either short-term use (if they are going to send a new seat) or long-term use (they'll send me the $149.95 MSRP on it)...ugh, I don't have the money to go buy a new seat just whenever--we saved/budgeted for this seat, did our research and were happy with the seat until the belts started to fray...

The manager I spoke with told me to send photos of the issue and see what she could do to get a seat sent to me without my first having to return mine, and that she'd have a shipping label sent so I don't have to pay shipping--BUT, I really shouldn't be using the seat I have since the belts are frayed.