Have you heard the latest news? Graco has to recall 43,994 “Frazier” ComfortSport convertible carseats because of an insert cushion “that partially obscures the child airbag warning label”. I’m working on saying that without laughing but so far I haven’t been successful. Honestly, it’s really not funny – it’s ridiculous. If you’ve read my previous blog post “Recalls – the good, the bad and the ridiculous” you know how I feel about the subject.
In this case, the recall “fix” is to stop using the extra pillow insert that came with the seat. I wonder how much money this recall campaign is going to cost Graco? On the one hand it seems unfair that they have to recall all these seats just because the airbag warning label is partially obscured by the insert. I mean really, if some moron is going to put a RF convertible in the front seat with an active airbag – a little thing like a visable airbag warning label isn’t going to stop them.
On the other hand, Graco should really know better. It’s not like they’re new to this whole FMVSS213 thing. Plus, I can’t help but to point out that if they had replaced the ancient ComfortSport (which is now almost 10 years old and wasn’t even their own design to begin with) with a new, improved convertible seat years ago then they probably wouldn’t have this problem now. Instead, they resorted to marketing tactics like cutesy covers, pillows and padding up the wazoo to entice consumers to buy their outdated product.
With all that said, I think there’s actually a bigger issue here. If, as a CPS professional, my job is to take these ridiculous recalls seriously – what exactly are my obligations when a parent shows up with the exact same seat, with the exact same pillow covering the AB warning label but it’s not a “Frazier” cover so it’s not recalled? If NHTSA is going to be serious about this kind of stuff then they can’t stop at Frazier. Not when Alesia, Westcliff, Felicia, Wheaton and Eva ComfortSports all have the same insert. That would really be ridiculous.
“Graco Comfortsports suck. They should be recalled for generally sucking.”
I totally agree! I checked one at a seat check this afternoon and it took me longer to get the crotch strap moved to the closer slot (moving 25 lb infant into big sis’s CS and big sis to combo seat) than it did to rethread the harnesses of both the convertible and combo seats and get them both installed.
With the introduction of the Nautilus, Graco has proven that they can produce decent and usable seats. So why can’t they get rid of this abomination and design a decent convertible??
Oh my gosh that is so ridiculous. Especially when Graco Comfortsports suck. They should be recalled for generally sucking.
Exactly, something like a label violation can be confirmed much quicker and easier than a defect identified by consumers that may be difficult to reproduce.
Both types of issues will be resolved, whether by recall or voluntary repair/replacement.
I wondered the same thing (about the placement of the labels on the different covers) but I couldn’t find any non-stock photos of those other covers to check it out. In the stock photos none of the seats have the AB warning labels. If you find any non-stock pictures or if anyone has a CS in any of those other covers – LMK.
As for which seats NHTSA recalls – it really depends on how the problem comes to light. If they’re buying it off a store shelf for routine compliance testing and they find a problem where the CR clearly doesn’t meet 213 standards – that’s likely to result in a recall. But if it’s a defect complaint from consumers that’s a whole different story. I’m not sure how many complaints they need to receive regarding the same issue to warrent an investigation. But even if they do investigate – the process can take a long time.
Also, I wonder how much of this is NHTSA-directed and how much is Graco-directed. My understanding is that recalls can be voluntary (initiated by the company) or involuntary (initiated by the government). If this is government-led, then yeah, they really need to get on the ball with the more serious issues. If it’s Graco-led, at least I have to give them credit for addressing the issue, no matter how trivial.
Crunchy, I thought the same thing. As ridiculous as this might be, what’s MORE ridiculous are the more serious issues out there that SHOULD be addressed in a recall, but aren’t.
As for that particular cover, I wonder if the airbag label is sewn on in a slightly different place than the other models?
they meaning NHTSA, not Graco in the above post. The harness issue I was referring to isn’t a Graco seat.
I know! I laughed when I saw that recall in my feed reader this morning. Really? They issue a recall for that but not for harnesses coming off splitter plates in way that is consistent and reproducible? okay…