GRACO EXTEND2FIT Complaints

The foam is showing through on the child’s headrest. It’s the fabric does not fully cover it, and it can be accessed by the child. The bottom part of the cushion my child is able to grab it and pull it off of the car seat while he is riding in it, it is only secured by two little pieces of Velcro so he ripped up the Velcro and exposes the harness tightening strap, and the button in order to loosen his harness he can reach the button and loosen the harness on his own, becoming a safety hazard while I am driving in the car because his stripes are no longer tight to fit, and he could slip through them and become projected from the car seat in the event of an accident

After my child had thrown up all over the car seat her father had taken her inside to clean up and I took the car seat apart to throw the pieces into the washer to clean them. The harness strap did not come out fully clean so I contacted Graco for a replacement piece and I was told that they don’t replace those and that the strap being removed totaled my car seat. It has a woven material tab that goes up through the hard plastic base and locks in by opening itself. It’s essentially a T in the material so it can be folded to go back through the hard plastic base. I was told that since the manual doesn’t provide instructions regarding that piece that I should know it’s not to be removed. No where in the manual, on the car seat or on the strap says it’s not to be removed. I did not damage/break/cut any pieces to get it in or out of the car seat. I was a mom in a panic trying to clean the car seat as quickly as possible so I could tend to my sick child. There were no warning signs telling me anywhere not to remove it. I don’t want other parents to do what I did and have a totaled car seat that they continue to use. I did not have the manual at the time of removing the pieces for cleaning but I have since located the PDF and read through all 96 pages.

I belive the manual of the Graco Extend2fit 3-in-1 Trueshield and possibly other Extend2fit models is in need of revision-specifically in the section that instructs how to measure for one inch of appropriate head clearance within the shell. I will attach two photos. One photo is a graphic from the manual, the other is a photo of my carseat, on which I drew two lines, one blue and one red. The graphic in the manual seems to show that one should measure for one inch of head clearance starting from the blue line I drew onto my photo. If you compare the fabric stitching in the graphic to the fabric stitching in the photo and identify the line relative to the stitching, the part you measure from appears to match the blue line I drew in my photo. I have always measured from the blue line I drew and I've owned the seat for 6 years. But according to Graco, I have been measuring wrong all this time, which means my child has been unsafe all this time. After talking with CPSTs at Graco, they are insisting that you are supposed to measure from the red line I drew onto my photo. This doesn't make sense because: 1.) That does not match the graphic provided in the manual. 2.) The red line's only physical marker is the fabric cover. The cover can shift, as mine does, exposing more of the headrest adjustment handle underneath, which would alter the measurement point since, according to Graco, the only point of reference is apparently the fabric cover. This will lead to inaccurate measurements everywhere. Fabric covers are not consistent reference points. I have spoken with many respected CPSTs outside of Graco, and none of them know for sure which line to measure from, the red or the blue line I drew. Many are convinced it is the blue line, as I am. If CPSTs are confused, I can guarantee most people are confused. Which means many people are measuring from the blue line, and according to Graco, that is incorrect. Incorrect fits lead to unsafe children, so this needs to be addressed.

The headrest has foam that my toddler can reach his fingers in and pull pieces of the styrofoam out, with the small pieces coming out, this is a major choking hazard! I have contacted graco.

I was backing out of a parking spot and another vehicle and I collided. visually I don’t see any damage car seat. no, the car seat has not been expected by police or insurance representatives.

While checking the harness/tightening I pulled to check for any slack and I was able to pull the loose without using the harness release lever. I had my child get out of the seat to check. I’ve cleaned out around the lever and still have the same issue. Nothing has been taken apart or altered since this issue. Harness straps are in good condition and everything is connected as it should be.

The glue holding the styrofoam headrest on failed and the headrest detached. The child was put at risk because without removing the cover, the headrest appears attached. The child has been riding in the car seat with this failure for up to 2 months because the cover has not been removed in 2 months. The car seat was inspected upon install by CPST. CPST inspected again once the damage was noted and he deemed the car seat unfit with this defect. The car seat has been cleaned following manufacturer cleaning instructions which is how the defect was found. It has never been in an accident and has never had a previous owner.

Extend2Fit will NOT click into recline 6 for forward facing greater than 40 pounds as required by the manufacturer. Because my toddler is greater than 40 pounds and now needing to be forward facing, we can no longer use this car seat marketed toward growing with my child up to 100 pounds. I reached out to Graco and they are claiming it can be from normal wear and tear after just four years of use despite us never using this recline in the past. The extend2fit will recline to and/or past recline 6 but will not click in and immediately slides back to recline position 5. They also claim the seat is still safe to use up to 40 pounds forward facing when the seat requires recline level 6.

Extend2Fit will NOT click into recline 6 for forward facing greater than 40 pounds as required by the manufacturer. Because my toddler is greater than 40 pounds and now needing to be forward facing, we can no longer use this car seat marketed toward growing with my child up to 100 pounds. I reached out to Graco and they are claiming it can be from normal wear and tear after just four years of use despite us never using this recline in the past. The extend2fit will recline to and/or past recline 6 but will not click in and immediately slides back to recline position 5. They also claim the seat is still safe to use up to 40 pounds forward facing when the seat requires recline position 6.

When the head height is in the lowest position that I needed it to be in for my daughter, the pull tether to tighten the harness would not pull or tighten properly. Had 3 different people trying to pull on it and it would not tighten.