Britax Child Seat

Britax is recalling about 2,698 vehicles over a problem with the child seat. In the event of a vehicle crash, the carrier would rotate beyond the limit required by law, possibly resulting in serious injury or even death to the child.

Campaign
06C002000
Manufacturer
BRITAX CHILD SAFETY, INC.
Reported
12 September 2006
Vehicles
2,698
Built between
Not published
Models
1
Recall type
Child restraint
Initiated by
Manufacturer
Owners notified
29 September 2006
Repaired
Not reported
Unrepaired
Not reported

Does this affect my vehicle?

The manufacturer did not publish a build-date range for this recall, so the model and year list below is the only way to tell whether your vehicle is covered.

  • Britax Companion

What the defect is

Certain britax companion rear facing infant only child restraint systems, model E9L14, manufactured between october 27, 2003, and june 6, 2004. Due to an incorrect assembly of some of the infant carriers, tabs on the bottom of the carrier may not be properly seated. These child restraints fail to conform to the frontal impact crash requirement of federal motor vehicle safety standard no. 213, child restraint systems.

What could happen

In the event of a vehicle crash, the carrier would rotate beyond the limit required by law, possibly resulting in serious injury or even death to the child.

What gets fixed

BRITAX WILL NOTIFY ALL REGISTERED OWNERS AND INSTRUCT OWNERS TO INSPECT THE BOTTOM OF THE CARRIER FOR INCORRECT ASSEMBLY. IF THE CARRIER HAS AN INCORRECT ASSEMBLY, BRITAX WILL REPLACE THE CARRIER AND THE BASE FREE OF CHARGE. IF THE CARRIER HAS AN INCORRECT ASSEMBLY, OWNERS ARE ADVISED THAT THEY MAY CONTINUE USING THE CARRIER WITHOUT THE BASE UNTIL THEY RECEIVE A NEW RESTRAINT SYSTEM. PROPER INSTRUCTIONS ON INSTALLING THE CARRIER IN THE CAR WITHOUT THE BASE ARE PROVIDED IN THE PRODUCT USERS' GUIDE. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ONLINE AT WWW.BRITAXUSA.COM. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2006.

Timeline

  1. Recall reported to NHTSA12 September 2006
  2. Owners notified29 September 2006

Your rights

A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.

That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 12 September 2006.

To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.

Manufacturer contact

Owners may contact britax's toll-free number at 1-888-427-4829.

Official source

Manufacturer's recall number
BCS #090601
Recalling manufacturer
BRITAX CHILD SAFETY, INC.
Safety standard
FMVSS 213
Recall initiated by
MFR

Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

Additional notes

Britax recall number bcs #090601.CUSTOMERS may contact the national highway traffic safety administration's vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (tty: 1-800-424-9153); or go to http://www.safercar.gov.

Check your own vehicle

This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.

A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.

Same component

Same brand