When buying a used carseat, please make sure to ask the following questions: 1. Has the car ever been in an accident? 2. Have the harness straps ever been soaked in water (including the wash)? 3. Is the car older then 6 years old? If any of these questions are "yes" you need to stear away from purchasing that seat. Frankly, it is your children's safety - it is worth buying a new seat. If you want a cheap safe seat that will protect your child that you can be sure would have a "no" answer to all of the above, then buy a cosco Scerena - they are about 49.00 and go on sale all the time for 39.00. They actually have a very long rear facing limit. Carseats do fail. If you do a quick search online, you can find the failure video - car-seat . org go to forums and you can find the video of the 10 year old britax carseat failing. I don't know about you... but the $200 I spent on my britax is well worth saving my child's life. I have a new cosco scerena in my IL's car. Just make sure you aren't bidding on just a name... a 7 year old britax is honesty worth nothing... other then the cover (you can buy a cover of any age).