As we have noted in the past, the buckles Graco has used on many of their carseats were changed a couple years ago. Many of our readers and forum members have mentioned that the current ones can sometimes be more difficult to buckle and unbuckle than the previous design. Part of the problems some owners experience appear to develop over time, as the mechanism gets dirty from routine spills, crumbs, dust and other stuff. A proper cleaning can resolve some of these issues (see below), but Graco has also announced an update to the design being phased-in on various products!
The seats that will have the updated buckle include the MyRide 65/70, Size4Me/My Size 70/Head Wise 70 featuring Safety Surround, Nautilus and Argos car seats.
Consumers will begin to the see the updated buckles on some seats at the end of this month.
The change can be seen on the current (left) and updated (right) Graco Nautilus Car Seat above. It’s no secret that CarseatBlog has often preferred the buckle systems made by IMMI (SafeGuard), and we are very happy to see that Graco will be using them! Be sure to stay tuned next week for an awesome Graco giveaway at CarseatBlog!
For those having an issue with the buckles on a Graco model they already own, do not despair! Graco’s great customer service has provided some options for you:
As parents ourselves, Graco takes great pride in the quality, usability and safety of all our products and always strives to provide products that meet the needs of our consumers.
For our consumers who are experiencing difficulty unbuckling the harness buckles, we have provided tips to help make it easier, which are to:
- Lift the lever and pull the shoulder harness straps (refer to Image “g” to the right)
- Tilt the top of the buckle toward the child’s abdomen (refer to Image “h” to the right)
- Press in at the top of the red button (refer to Image “i” to the right)
- Pull tongues out of the buckle (refer to Image “j” to the right)
Also, we have found that sometimes the buckles don’t function as expected because they need to be cleaned. To clean your buckle, turn the restraint over and push the retainer through the harness strap slot. Place the buckle in a cup of warm water and gently agitate the buckle, pressing the red button several times while it is in the water. Do not submerge the harness webbing and do not use soaps or lubricants, only rinse the harness buckle with warm water. Shake out the excess water and allow the harness buckle to air dry. Reattach the harness buckle into the same slot and re-check harness for correct installation according to the car seat manual before use.
And last, but definitely not least, Graco adds:
After extensive usability assessments and valuable input from some of our consumers, Graco is converting the harness buckles used on some of our car seats. Graco is committed to an ongoing pursuit of the safest, most effective and easiest to use product technologies. The new harness buckles reflect this commitment.
If you are experiencing difficulty with your current harness buckle and cleaning it has not improved its performance, please contact our Graco customer service team at 800-345-4109.
The competing Graco product was nixed from the list in our most recent two seat purchases because of that old buckle. Our son simply couldn’t do it without struggling. The rest of the seat was fine and might very well have won the bake-off but due to that buckle we did not purchase it. It turns out all the finalists on our list had the same IMMI buckle.
Would love to win this for my son!
I just got a new replacement buckle for a 2011 nautilus and it is the new style buckle and it is grey. It is so much easier for my mother to use and my 5 yr old can actually help buckle and unbuckle again. We are thrilled! Thank you Graco!
That’s frustrating they’re not free. I purchased my seat Sunday with hopes of getting a new buckle when they’re available. I will just return it I’d that’s the case.
When will seats with the new buckles be available? I need a S4M and a Nautilus in the next month or so.
YAY! I am so glad they are updating their buckles! My husband and I and our family members get so frustrated any time we get our oldest son out of his nauiltus because it takes like 10 times of trying to get the buckle undone. We love the seat but hate the buckle.
Hi Sarah- Thank you very much for mentioning that! I completely forgot to ask what the cost would be for replacements to be shipped, sorry!
Soygurl- We agree! And we know it can take a long time to verify problems and then design and test changes, even ones that seem very simple. I know we provided feedback on the new buckles over 2 years ago with the launch of the SmartSeat and the Argos later that year. I’m very glad they did it in a reasonable time frame and offered inexpensive replacements as well. They definitely did hear advocates and consumers alike! Not all manufacturers would do that, and other companies do use essentially the same buckle system!
I just called and asked about replacing my buckle.
Just FYI, it’s not a free replacement. It’s 10.95 (price of buckle and shipping) But i’ll have it in less than a week hopefully
I wonder why they are only doing this on convertibles and up? I know a number of people who hate the new buckles on the baby buckets as well. Hope to see them go back to this sort of buckle on the buckets in time – this is what they used to use, before that unique circular Graco buckle. I loved that round buckle but these worked just fine, so good to see them make this change!
Wooo! I’m going to call and see if I can get one of the new buckles for the BRAND NEW My Size 70 I have. It’s a huge pain to unbuckle because it’s rear-facing in my 2-door car, so I used to just lean down over the back of the seat to unbuckle, but can rarely make that work with this new seat. It really is great when manufacturers listen to their customers! 😀
Hi Stephanie- My Argos 70 was difficult to release from the day I received it, but seemed to get a little easier with use. So I agree that there were clearly other issues involved and this feedback was sent to Graco very quickly after the change, not only by me of course, but by many parents and advocates. Kudos to Graco for making the change! Such changes aren’t necessary, so it’s great customer service when they are made on new products, and even better when they can be updated on previous products.
I have clarified with Graco that replacements for most problematic buckles will include the new (black) buckle design and new harness buckle tongues. The harness itself will not be replaced and the straps must be removed to replace the buckle tongues. This may vary with the model, for example, this type of replacement is not possible on the SmartSeat.
Hmmm…certainly cleaning the buckle can’t hurt, but given my experience (a seat that had been used for barely 15 months and not eaten in all that often), I doubt dirty buckles account for all the problems people have had in the last couple years. I think Graco made a good call deciding to change the buckle design on new seats.
On the bright side, I have nothing but good things to say about Graco’s customer service.
Thank you, Graco!!
Now just a new chest clip that one year olds cant get undone would be great!!
Woot! I will be buying a nautilus now!
Yeah! Glad to know some manufacturers DO listen! 😉
This seriously just made my entire week! I’m thrilled to be able to recommend these seats without that huge caveat any more! I mean, it would be great if they didn’t treat users who have problems like they’re probably all idiots, but hey, they’re changing!
Thank you Graco! 🙂
THANK YOU, GRACO!!! XOXOXOXO