Mobility scooter advice…?

[cmatthewbacon]

Figured we might have a few members of the BM hive mind with experience of mobility scooters, either as users or friends and family of people who are. Mother in law, post hip operation, has come round to the idea that she might need one to get round Ilkley without taking the car. She has a lounge chair that lifts to “eject” her, so I think ease of getting in and out of the scooter is an important criterion. She’ll want to do shopping so some basket/“boot” capacity will be important, and my instinct is that larger wheels will cope better with the environment. Ilkley isn’t big and she’s reasonably central, so I don’t think she needs a GT 8mph top speed.

 

I don’t think price is that important, though I do note from browsing some second hand ads that I could buy a pretty nice MX-5 for what they’re asking 😜

 

Any recommendations, advice, questions to ask much appreciated. (And, no, she doesn’t _need_ one that looks like a motorbike…)

best,

M.

[Fifer54]

SWMBO has used a mobility scooter for several years now. She currently has 2 scooters, one a lightweight 3-wheeled "transportable" that dismantles to fit in the car boot for use away from home, and a big 4-wheeler for local use.

If your mother-in-law needs a scooter to fit in the car boot, there are folding scooters, or dismantling scooters. Folding ones can be seriously small when collapsed (think airline overhead locker bag!), but lifting such a scooter into a car boot may require

some muscle! SWMBO's "boot scooter" dismantles into chassis (with folding steering column), seat, basket and battery box. I find that all components are reasonably light for lifting, but the dismantled scooter takes up

rather more space than a "folder". However it be recharged by removing the battery box and bringing that into the house!

The "big" scooter is much more comfortable (and capable!), with a "Captain's chair" seat, adjustable steering column, bigger shopping basket, etc., but is. of course much heavier. Ramps are required for bringing it indoors,

or even for storage in a shed or outbuilding- it's too heavy to lift over kerbs. It has a range of (allegedly) 16 miles, but in hilly Oldham SWMBO does suffer from range anxiety! The battery on this one is NOT (easily)

removable, so it must be charged in situ, which may be an issue- we have to charge it outside our front door in a communal hallway (block of lowrise flats), although we do have a shed to store it, but without power!

Some "top end" scooters are fitted with suspension, others not, some have pneumatic tyres, others solid. Solid tyres are often described as "puncture-proof" in scooter descriptions. Folding armrests and a seat that swivels sideways

for easier mounting and dismounting are things to think about.

If the prices asked for secondhand scooters seem high, don't scare yourself by looking at new ones!

The "mobility shops" that sell new scooters often have used ones for sale as well, Keep looking at secondhand ads, it may seem morbid but "bereavement sales" can yield a bargain scooter! To survey the market, the

Motability website has details of many scooters, also google "mobility scooter" to find scooter sales websites, these can give you an idea of what to look for- I thought a nice automatic-folder would suit SWMBO very nicely

until I saw on a sales website that I'd have to lift around 25Kg (in one lump!) into the boot- not a vast weight, but enough to put me off . . .

I hope this has been helpful, I've rambled on a bit(!), maybe it has given you some points to think about, Good luck finding the right scooter for your Mum-in-law.

 

[Des]

My wife has had one for many years so advice as to specifications is well out of date I am afraid but I would suggest if this has not already been tried to try a trial run through a Shopmobility scheme or the like if there is one in your area or a supervised loan from a friend preferably in an outdoor environment as the quality of the ride in a shopping mall is completely different from outdoors.

 

Over the years several friends who have been considering buying one have come along to try my wife's in the medical centre car park across the road out-of-hours and to date all have gone off the idea after trying it mainly because they have reached the idea too late and as a last resort.     As most scooters work on a dead man's brake principle some older people are not up to applying constant pressure on the tiller to keep it moving nor have the amount of upper body movement required to safely negotiate their way around in public spaces.

 

I have tried them a couple of times while visiting Alnwick Castle Gardens on holiday and even at six foot tall I find the seating position to be  quite vulnerable as it is a lot lower and you are a lot less visible than you might think , the ride on outdoor surfaces can be rough and even the slightest camber or pavement drop is unsettling until you get the hang of it.

 

Don't want to put you off but according to my sister-in-law who was in Social Work an awful lot of them get bought and are rarely if ever used because the intended recipient cannot manage for physical or confidence issues hence my suggestion of a good trial run.

 

On the other hand if the user is able and confident it can be a life changer both around the area in which they live and in revisiting places they thought were lost to them if the scooter is portable.     As regards access on and off most that I have seen or even tried usually have raisable armrests and a swivel action on the seat to turn to the side and with usually a low ground clearance easing off onto the ground or back onto the seat is not strenuous.

[brianthemodeller]

If you want to drop me a PM with a phone number I am more than happy to have a chat with you about scooters... I spent 10 years working for the MHRA testing wheelchairs and scooters and was involved in writing the ISO standards for a good few years. 

[Selwyn]

Dont buy new! They cost a fortune. There are plenty of nearly new scooters out there going for a song.  Motability scooters don't have much of a resale value.

 

Selwyn