ISO Mobility scooter advice, Vroom Vroom! 🛵
2After several years of pondering electric legs I’m finally going to get a much needed mobility scooter. In the spirit of keeping this short I won’t get into my checklist of wants and needs. Instead, I’ll just ask for any things to be aware of when looking for my new ride. I’ve got the weight limit, battery options and other obvious features that are listed in the spec’s of each and every scooter, and I’ve watched endless YouTube videos. What I’m worried about is spending 1-2 grand and getting the scooter home only to realize I should’ve gotten this or that. So if you’ve got anyone in your life who’s got one, and have any advice at all, please help a girl out.
Vroom Vroom! 
Thanks! 
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@medz I don’t know about steering that (or controlling the speed), but of all the motorized mashups I’ve seen online, that one is certainly in the top 5% of reasonableness.
My aunt just had one bought for her… I am Monday morning quarterbacking, but things I would have checked before buying:
if you use an elevator regularly, will the darn thing fit in it? Kinda applies to any other method of transportation tho… Car? Will it fit easily? Ramp?
Watch the turn radius, people get cranky if you run them over…
Do you have appropriate outlet for charging it within reach of where you are going to store it? It is a pain to string across a room if you already have mobility issues.
Have you considered what the salt will do to whatever flooring in whereever you store the scooter? Rubber mat maybe? Just thinking our weather sucks.
Do you need rearview mirrors?
Does it have enough reachable storage?
I think that’s all I have right now… Congrats on your future purchase!
@mikibell And will it fit in your car. Driving around the snowbelt with one on a luggage rack on the back of your car means it will be wet, salty, dirty…
Dad had one. He had a lift for it installed in the back of the minivan (which minivan was dictated by which one it would fit into) that would electrically lift it up, they you manually pushed it into the back, then lowered it and secured it. Make sure you can manage that.
He preferred a scooter over an electric wheelchair. He had some baskets he could attach or take off to carry stuff. He had more than one place in the house that was set up to easily charge it where it wasn’t in the way, he had to buy a metal ramp to get into the house with it. We could move the ramp so it wasn’t in the way of the cars and set it along the side of the house.
The distance from the seat to the handle bars needs to be comfortable. If you are going to park yourself in it for a while then make sure it is comfortable for your back and butt. If not get the appropriate cushions. Dad’s were attached by a fabric strip so that he could retrieve them if he accidentally knocked them off and they wouldn’t land on the ground.
Oh. Make sure the speed can be infinitely adjustable so you can match the person you are “walking” with.
@Kidsandliz @mikibell
Maybe I should’ve included this all in the beginning. 
So these are my considerations that I was leaving out so my post wouldn’t be too wordy.
*4 wheels so I don’t tip it over easily.
*On and off deck charging so I can charge batteries inside.
*300lb weight limit in case my guy uses/needs it.
*I’d like the higher 8-10° incline so I can get to my pool that’s got a steep walkway.
*The handlebar needs to be the oval type, (I forget what the official name of that is) that’s a huge deal due to dexterity issues with one hand. (If needed the throttle can also be switched to opposite side on some models/brands)
*Ground clearance needs to be at least 3.5 to 4" just because I’m paranoid about bottoming out.
*Adjustable (delta) tiller so I can be as close or as far away as possible.
*8 to 9" wheels seems to be better but I’m not sure?
*Suspension, some come with shocks and that’s what I’d prefer for a more comfortable ride.
*Needs to come apart to fit in the back of my SUV.
*One or two of the luxury add-ons are the cup holder and on board phone charger.
*Forearm crutch holder is a important add-on that’s a MUST.
*Price! I’d like not to go over 2k and I think I might be able to get one for almost half that.
I’m planning to use this out of the house so I’ll leave it stored in the car/SUV. It’ll be used for Dr’s appointments, especially when they are in the hospital, (my guys got a lot of appointments and it’s not cool having him push me in the manual wheelchair when he’s the patient) shopping, going to the casino and just out and about.
Spin Life is having a good sale right now and Walmart has several on sale too! Metro is another brand that looks good.
Another question is that I’m not sure if this is something I should even consider buying from Amazon or even Walmart? Should I stick with buying from the manufacturer?
@Lynnerizer @mikibell If you get ones that are designed to be used outside off of sidewalks that will also help going over bumps in sidewalks. I am thinking dad’s wheels were maybe 8" and they were wider than indoor only ones. He could go across the grass even if the ground wasn’t level.
I don’t know what your insurance is, but if it is medicare they do cover mobility devices if you get an Rx.
@Kidsandliz @mikibell
I hadn’t thought about weather/snow being a issue but I don’t usually go out in bad weather anyway. Snow and even rain is too much of a fall hazard for me. I WAS using two forearm crutches until I fell and shattered my RT hand and wrist, now I can only use one. AND… I wasn’t even outside when I fell, I was standing next to my bed, lost my balance and just tipped over!
DUH
@Kidsandliz @mikibell
@Lynnerizer Oh, NO! You need things to start going better for you!
@Kidsandliz @mikibell
About the insurance…
My insurance (Medicare) has MANY stipulations for mobility scooter coverage. I have 5 inside stairs to get into my condo and that alone makes me not eligible for my insurance to pay. My place is so small that I don’t need it inside anyway. You know I hadn’t looked into wether or not they’d pay for “out of the home” use only, I just assumed I was out of luck because of the stairs. As I remember it they only spoke about in-home use. I’ll double check on that. Thanks!
@Lynnerizer @mikibell We had 3 inside steps into the family room and 3 inside steps from the main back door into the rest of the house. All doors had outside steps (thus the portable ramp). Dad mostly used it outside although as he got worse he used it indoors and we also got a ramp so he could get into the family room as his bed was moved there.
@Kidsandliz Your comment about irretrievable cushions reminded me about these folding retriever devices https://smile.amazon.com/Reacher-Foldable-Lightweight-Reaching-Extension/dp/B078RMCFWQ/ that I’ve bought for a couple of the folks in my life who have trouble reaching for things they’ve dropped. Could be a helpful item to attach to the scooter somehow so you can grab things without having to step off the scooter.
@Kidsandliz @Lynnerizer @mikibell This was on Morning Edition on NPR this morning regarding Medicare and mobility scooters. It’s primarily focused on wheelchairs, but seems to cover mobility scooters, too.
Broken Wheelchairs
Relevant part starts around the 2:30 mark.
Basically, medicare severely restricted coverage of wheelchairs and mobility scooters due to scammers about twenty years ago.
Too much is just enough.
http://www.colinfurze.com/fastest-scooter.html
@blaineg I want one.
@blaineg
Yeah but that’s WAY too much!
Lol
When we were teenagers my cousins great aunt died and got all her stuff along with her scooter. We spent countless nights riding it through the garage maze we set up to see who could get the best time, along with doing wheelie contest and riding it around the neighborhood before we sold it at the garage sale I helped them run. I’m surprised it made it to the garage sale after how much we rode it.
@Star2236
Sounds like fun times!
Make sure it’s comfortable to sit on for long periods. I use a super compact folding wheelchair, and it’s great for traveling, but it’s really quite uncomfortable. Now that we never travel, I wish I had something else.
/showme ISO Mobility racing scooter
How are you going to get it into the back of the SUV? The lightest 4-wheel ones I’ve seen are well over 100 lbs if they’re a traditional mobility scooter. I’ve seen some interesting designs lately that weigh about 30 pounds if it’s more of a supplemental, just can’t walk as much as I’d like, type device. They look kind of like the umbrella stroller equivalent of mobility scooters.
My mother-in-law had a scooter called the Stand-n-ride which she used for commuting to work a couple miles away. The design allows for use of a seat or not, hers was a backless type seat but they did have a full seat option available. It broke down fairly easy into battery, base, seat and front wheel/column… the battery could be removed and charged inside if needed. It was a three-wheel design though, but very very stable especially if used seated. Cost about a grand. HTH
Edited to add: There’s a scooter now called eWheels stand-n-ride which has a somewhat similar design, but it’s not the one she had. Hers was the EV Rider SNR Stand-n-ride.
@jester747 There is a L shaped bar that can be attached inside the vehicle that you hook under the seat and handle bars and it electrically lifts it up. Then it pivots and you just pivot it until it is inside. Then you lower the bar until the weight is on the wheels. Even dad, who had post polio, used a walker and wasn’t strong nor all that coordinated, could use it (although we did it for him if we were with him).
@Kidsandliz Ah, cool! That sounds perfect. Figured OP had a way, since it sounds like she knows what she’s looking for, just had no idea what the way was.
@jester747 @Kidsandliz
Getting it into my vehicle…
The ones I’ve been looking at must break down or even fold so I can keep it in the back of my SUV. They weigh around 100-150lbs but the heaviest piece is around 50lbs. I hadn’t seen that bar type thing that kidsandliz mentioned so I’ll look into that. Thanks!
These days my guy usually goes everywhere with me that I’d be needing it for. Chivalry is a huge thing around here, I’m lucky if he lets me carry my own purse! Lol
@jester747
I looked up those scooters that you mentioned and while they look VERY COOL they wouldn’t work for me. I’m surprised more people don’t use them for short trips to work with the price of gas and all. Just curious, what was the reason your mom used it? For me it’s because I can’t walk more than around 30 feet without excruciating hip and back pain. Lately, with the swelling in my legs being so bad, depending on the day, I get shortness of breath and it feels like I’m lugging around 50 pound weights on each leg. So sitting is my only option.
@Lynnerizer The non platform ones shown here are along the line of the one dad had (his drew the power from the car battery and was bolted to the frame - had to drill a hole through the floor of the car):
https://www.bruno.com/scooter-lifts/suvs
Medicare pays with an Rx.
@Lynnerizer Yeah, it sounds like you need something more secure since even the full seat version of the stand-n-ride doesn’t have armrests, just a seat back. My mother-in-law is fully able-bodied and simply used it for commuting because she has never been able to get a driver’s license (gets super nervous with the tests), and she really only needed it to get to work and back turning a 35 minute walk into 10-15 minutes. If I personally had a close commute I’d go for one of the Boosted brand two-wheel scooters. They’re built like tanks, have fantastic range and go way faster than I’d ever need, then just fold it up like nothing. But yeah, for those that want a safer alternative transportation method, those sit/stand ones can be a game changer!
See if you can rent before you buy to try them. Otherwise, do you have an office on aging or rolling start that might have more Don’t do this one
What do you want it for and where are you going to use it. Ie around the house? Small with a good turning radius. Outside? Bigger battery and all terrain (but know that terrain means different things.) We have sugar sand and basically nothing short of a golf cart will get my mom around it.
Go to a nearby mobility place and rent a couple. See what works for your lifestyle.
They have lift devices so you don’t need to pick them up and put them in your car too, so you’re not limited by weight.