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UPDATE 9/13/21: The recall is expanded to include the Pria 70, Pria 85 and Pria 85 Max models made in 2019, 2020 & 2021. Please see: Official Pria 70 and Pria 85 Recall Information
UPDATE: 9/16/21: Registered consumers and those who contact us will receive a free repair kit, including a replacement instruction manual and new labels to apply to their seats. The new manual and labels will update the forward-facing internal harness weight limit of the car seat to 65 lbs. or 49 in.
YOU MAY CONTINUE TO USE THIS CAR SEAT IN BOTH REAR-FACING MODE AND FORWARD-FACING MODE FOR CHILDREN UP TO 65 LBS. OR 49 IN. TALL, CONSISTENT WITH THE UPDATED INSTRUCTION MANUAL AND LABELS INCLUDED IN YOUR REPAIR KIT.
Maxi-Cosi, owned by parent company Dorel Juvenile Group Inc., is voluntarily recalling certain Maxi-Cosi Pria 70 & 85 Convertible car seats. The recalled Pria 70 & 85 models were all manufactured between January 1, 2019 – August 17, 2021. If you own a Maxi-Cosi Pria 70, Pria 85 or Pria 85 Max model made within that date range, please contact Dorel customer service by emailing [email protected] or by calling 877-657-9546.
If you own a Pria 70 or 85 model manufactured before 1/1/2019, or if you own a different Pria model such as the newer Pria 3-in-1 or Pria Max 3-in-1, your seats are NOT affected by this recall.
Why are the Pria 70 & 85 models being recalled?
This recall stems from the findings that this batch of Pria 85 models (approximately 83,000 units), which are rated for kids weighing up to 85 lbs., exceed the maximum head excursion limits of 813mm when compliance testing was done with the 10-year-old test dummy (ATD), and with Pria 85 installed with JUST a lap-only seat belt and no tether. Imagine an oversized test dummy (the size of a 10-year old), crammed into a convertible car seat and the only thing securing it in the crash test is a simple 2-point, lap-only seatbelt. It sounds ridiculous and would probably look even more ridiculous if you saw this setup with your own eyes. Is this real world? Definitely not. However, this is what FMVSS No. 213 requires for any car seat with a harness weight limit greater than 30 kg (65 lbs.), and clearly the Pria 85 struggled to meet this compliance standard.
How can I tell when my Pria 70 or 85 model was made?
To find the date of manufacture on your Pria 70 or 85, look for a sticker label on the side of the shell. Just under the airplane icon, there should be info regarding the seat’s date of manufacture – plus the model number and model name.
Is it safe to continue using my Pria 70 or 85 if it’s installed rear-facing?
Yes. There are no safety or compliance issues (to our knowledge), with these recalled Pria 70 & 85 models when installed properly in the rear-facing position, using either the seatbelt or lower LATCH anchors. According to Maxi-Cosi, “Using this car seat in both the rear-facing mode and forward-facing modes for children up to 65 pounds or 49 inches can continue to be used according to all labeled installation methods.”
Is it safe to continue using my Pria 70 or 85 if it’s installed forward-facing with LATCH (lower anchors + tether)?
Yes. For a child weighing less than 40 lbs. (which is the LATCH weight limit for this seat), there are no safety or compliance issues with Pria 70 or 85 when it is installed forward-facing with LATCH (lower anchors AND top tether). If your forward-facing child weighs more than 40 lbs., temporarily install the Pria 70 or 85 using seatbelt PLUS the top tether (see below) and contact Dorel customer service to determine if it is appropriate to continue using the seat in this manner. According to Maxi-Cosi, “Using this car seat in both the rear-facing mode and forward-facing modes for children up to 65 pounds or 49 inches can continue to be used according to all labeled installation methods.”
Is it safe to continue using my Pria 70 or 85 if it’s installed forward-facing with seatbelt + tether?
If your child weighs less than 65 lbs. and is less than 49″ tall, you can continue to use your Pria according to all labeled installation methods.
Contacting Maxi-Cosi/Dorel
Regardless of how you are using your Pria 70 or 85, contact Dorel and make sure your seat is registered. Dorel customer service can be reached by email at [email protected] or by calling 877-657-9546.
Overall significance of this recall
This recall highlights the challenges that car seat manufacturers face when trying to certify their seats to weight limits above 65 lbs. While it’s not an impossible task, it is very challenging (and expensive) to design and engineer a product that can pass 213 testing with the beast that is the 10-yr old ATD, using a 5-point harness seat installed with ONLY a lap belt. Until and unless something changes in the testing standard, it’s highly unlikely that we will see any new conventional harnessed car seats rated to weight limits above 65 lbs.
10 yr old ATD
UPDATE 9/13/2021: The recall is expanded to include the “Pria 70”, “Pria 85” and ‘Pria 85 Max” models from production years 2019, 2020, 2021. Please see: Official Pria 70 and Pria 85 Recall Information.
UPDATE 9/16/2021: Maxi-Cosi USA and NHTSA have agreed on the remedy to consumers whose car seats are affected by our voluntary recall, which includes Pria 85, Pria 85 Max, and Pria 70 convertible car seats manufactured from 2019-2021.
Why are the Pria 85 before 2019 not included in the the recall?
That’s a great question but we don’t have an answer. Best guess is that there were some running changes made in the Pria platform in 2019 but we have no proof of that. We suggest reaching out to Maxi-Cosi customer service to ask for an explanation. HTH!
Is this recall also for the Pria 85 max? I don’t understand the difference, but it looks like I can still find the 85 max for sale online. It’s the car seat I have.
Rebecca, that’s an excellent question. The Pria 85 Max is based on the same Pria platform but has a different [magnetic] chest clip and slightly different soft goods. If I had to guess, I would say that it is probably included in this recall but since I’m not 100% certain of that please confirm with Dorel and let us know what they say.
I was very upset when Britax got rid of their 85lbs combo seat. It’s so frustrating when big government makes stupid decisions and it feels there’s not much we can do about them. We had these 85lbs seats for a long time, though, was this regulation new? Changed? Any idea who to bug to attempt to change it?
The federal regulation is not new, though it is still difficult to pass with a 10-year dummy that weighs 78 lbs. The combination of the federal standard to pass with lap-belt only and NO top tether, combined with third-party testing that uses much more severe crash test pulse makes it very difficult for any car seat to reliably exceed the injury requirements of these tests above 65 lbs.
Changing the federal standards often requires an act of Congress, so bugging your delegates to Washington D.C. are often the only way to effect change in a reasonable time.
Hi Amy – NHTSA-mandated testing with the 10-year-old ATD for any harnessed seat rated above 30 kg (65 lbs.) went into effect in 2014, at the same time that LATCH weight limits took effect. HIII-10C serves an important role in making sure that car seats and boosters adequately protect bigger, heavier children. The challenge is the mandatory testing protocol which requires passing certain standards with a Type 1 (lap-only seatbelt) and no tether. It would be great for manufacturers if NHTSA would mandate tether usage for all compliance testing but with tether usage rates in the field still so low, that’s not going to happen anytime soon. NHTSA sets minimum safety standards to ensure that children in real world crash conditions have basic levels of protection. Since so many parents and caregivers “in the real world” still aren’t using tethers, NHTSA will continue to require that CR Manufacturers meet certain performance standards without using a tether. Sadly, this is why we can’t have nice things like higher-weight harness seats and a sled with a floor to test seats with load legs. One ray of hope – there is the possibility that NHTSA will move away from testing with type 1 belts and start testing with type 2 seat belts which are 3-pt lap/shoulder belts. Seats would likely still need to pass performance standards without using the tether but it’s possible that the lap/shoulder belt installation (if and when that happens) will provide some additional benefit when testing with larger, heavier ATDs. But I don’t want to offer any false hope since this is outside of my area of expertise and we will have to wait until at least 2022 to know if NHTSA is really going to do away with compliance testing with type 1 belts.
Third party crash testing, such as conducted by Consumer Reports, is another major reason manufacturers have phased out 5-point harnesses rated above 65 pounds.
These tests often use crash pulses that are more severe than used for compliance to federal crash testing standards. This makes it all but impossible for a child restraint with very tall harness height limits to pass when using a 10-year ATD (dummy).
The combination of issues with federal standards and third party, proprietary crash testing has essentially halted development of this important niche of reasonably priced, high-weight harness systems.
Since Darren brought up third-party testing, I just wanted to point out that overall Pria did fine in the more difficult Consumer Reports crash test protocol even when tested with the 10-year-old ATD (a fact that we have confirmed). The Pria 85 received a crash protection score of “Better” in the CR tests. Unlike NHTSA, CR doesn’t test with a lap-only seatbelt and no tether. All forward-facing crash tests performed by CR with the larger and heavier ATDs utilize a 3-pt lap/shoulder belt AND a tether. Clearly, even under more challenging test conditions and with the oversized 10-year-old dummy (35 kg – which is about 77 lbs.), Pria performed well when installed with lap/shoulder belt and tether. That should be reassuring to anyone using Pria 85 for a larger, heavier child. https://carseatblog.com/36420/the-safest-convertible-carseats-new-crash-protection-ratings-and-methods-from-consumer-reports/