Thinking of getting a mobility scooter. Anyone have one?

I had hesitated before starting this thread..but I am glad I did. I think, now, my plan is to go look at them, see if I am able to lift it into my car easily, and then put a planned purchase on hold for a while. Considering what folks have said, I am not quite sure I am ready for one yet. I think I will go for one of those walkers with the seat. I know I will have to get a wider one, due to that I am not tiny. But the info here is good to know, and have on hand for future reference.
@MarciKS I remember my dad looked into getting one *(this would have been in late 80s) but found he would not have been able to lift it into his car.
 
Marie5656 said:
I had hesitated before starting this thread..but I am glad I did. I think, now, my plan is to go look at them, see if I am able to lift it into my car easily, and then put a planned purchase on hold for a while. Considering what folks have said, I am not quite sure I am ready for one yet. I think I will go for one of those walkers with the seat. I know I will have to get a wider one, due to that I am not tiny. But the info here is good to know, and have on hand for future reference.
@MarciKS I remember my dad looked into getting one *(this would have been in late 80s) but found he would not have been able to lift it into his car.
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Good luck Marie, glad we were all able to help
 
Marie5656 said:
I had hesitated before starting this thread..but I am glad I did. I think, now, my plan is to go look at them, see if I am able to lift it into my car easily, and then put a planned purchase on hold for a while. Considering what folks have said, I am not quite sure I am ready for one yet. I think I will go for one of those walkers with the seat. I know I will have to get a wider one, due to that I am not tiny. But the info here is good to know, and have on hand for future reference.
@MarciKS I remember my dad looked into getting one *(this would have been in late 80s) but found he would not have been able to lift it into his car.
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If you live close to where you need to go and the weather is good and not a lot of traffic you can drive there in said chair but otherwise it's something to consider. I think most of those electric carts would be too heavy to get in and out of a vehicle alone. When you go let the salesperson know that you have to be able to lift it by yourself without getting hurt.
 
If your balance isn't stellar, you might want to rethink the rollator. My mother's doctor hated those things - said he saw more broken hips (including my mother's) when people used those than from any other form of walking-assist device. They easily scoot out away leaving the user completely off balance.

Mom's friend gave her that rollator when when her own mom passed. After my mom's accident I learned why she only used the old fashioned two wheel, two tennis ball walker when I'd take her for doctor's visits - that was what he'd prescribed for her!!!

When he saw Mom after she recovered from her broken hip he didn't exactly scold her, but he pointedly said, "NO MORE ROLLING WALKERS!"
 
StarSong said:
If your balance isn't stellar, you might want to rethink the rollator. My mother's doctor hated those things - said he saw more broken hips (including my mother's) when people used those than from any other form of walking-assist device. They easily scoot out away leaving the user completely off balance.

Mom's friend gave her that rollator when when her own mom passed. After my mom's accident I learned why she only used the old fashioned two wheel, two tennis ball walker when I'd take her for doctor's visits - that was what he'd prescribed for her!!!

When he saw Mom after she recovered from her broken hip he didn't exactly scold her, but he pointedly said, "NO MORE ROLLING WALKERS!"
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don't those have hand brakes??
 
MarciKS said:
don't those have hand brakes??
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They do, but my mother was reaching for something on a shelf as she walked by. She had one hand on her walker, reached up with the other, the walker wheeled away just enough to throw her off balance, and down she went.

People get lazy about setting brakes if they're just going to grab something and keep the other hand on the walker. That's the problem.
 
Laurie made a good point above about whether or not any device is road legal or not; around here, there are all kinds of laws about what is legal on city streets, county streets, suburban areas, even some devices are okay to use on the sidewalk but not allowed to cross a street. (We ran into this when my late father was considering getting a golf cart to take to the store & found out it wouldn't be legal to use to get there. Now how often are these laws really enforced? Depends on the area probably.)
 
Pepper said:
Try not to get used to sitting. I say this with love. Even if it's hard, try to stay on your feet and get about on your own until you have no option.
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I was told this by my doctors, when I can walk, walk otherwise I will in up, a lot sooner, permanently in a wheelchair.
 
Marie5656 said:
Good feedback, so far. Again, it is just a thought right now. And I would have no plans or desire to use it ALL the time, IF I got one. Just to have, maybe more for when we can travel again. Just a thought stewing around in my head. I do walk a lot more within my building, and do want to walk more outside.
The walker with the seat is a good idea. Thing is, I am far from petite...would need to find one that I could sit in comfortably.
That being said, some who have not seen me in a while have remarked I am losing weight..that it is noticable. That may help with my mobility.
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It will help your breathing if you loose weight for sure. At 300 pounds my husband breathes better than at his current 360 pounds where he huffs and buffs just walking across the room. If you do get a mobility chair, make sure your get one that will go 30 to forty miles on a charge. Some just go 10 miles, which is useless
 
Lara said:
Well, Ive read the reviews on the rollator above and the recent reviews were great but the older reviews complained of "questionable stability", not knowing how to adjust seat, one of the brake handles didn't work for one person, and one older review mentioned plastic wheels. It is priced on the lower end so I guess you get what you pay for.

But maybe the company has improved them. They seem to have good customer service. Just do your research before purchasing one.
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You don’t want plastic wheels on a walker, you want rubber. The plastic build up static electricity and you can get a mild shock.
 
Marie5656 said:
OK, after reading your feedback and kind suggestions, I think I will put the scooter thoughts on hold for now. Maybe down the road if my back issues and mobility gets worse.
As for the walkers...many people here use them. I would assume they fold down to put into the car? Thanks.
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Yes, and you can get light weight ones, look on amazon.
 
Glowworm said:
Hi Marie

After using a manual wheelchair for 52 years which is almost all my life I now have problems with my neck, shoulders and back so I’m looking into getting new electric wheelchairs for indoors and outdoors.

The normal type of electric chairs and mobility scooters are far too bulky and heavy to lift into the back of an vehicle. You’d probably need an SUV with a rear lift or side door with a ramp for that which means a big investment in a chair and an SUV. I wouldn’t consider that unless you’re going to be using an electric chair permanently like me.

There are foldable electric wheelchairs that can be lifted into the back of an SUV. There’s one make here in Sweden called Eloflex and there are alternatives in the USA and some can be airline approved if you like to travel, but they come in expensive, around 2,000 US Dollars. This is one I found:

https://www.electricwheelchairsusa.com/products/ewheels-ew-m43-folding-power-wheelchair

If you’re still able to get around without too much difficulty I’d wait on the mobility scooter/electric wheelchair and go for a rollator instead as most can be folded and easily lifted into a car.

Before you spend a lot of money maybe you can check first to see if you can get some help through your health insurance.
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It goes less than 10 miles on a charge, not useful IMO
 
@MarciKS Yes Medicaire will pay a portion of a scooter if I get a doctors order. I will get one if I do decide to go that route. If I go for a walker, I am going to price them out before I decide if I want to get a Doctor order, or just pay outright
 
Marie5656 said:
@MarciKS Yes Medicaire will pay a portion of a scooter if I get a doctors order. I will get one if I do decide to go that route. If I go for a walker, I am going to price them out before I decide if I want to get a Doctor order, or just pay outright
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i would make sure you find out how much it weighs & if you can fold it. medicare being what they are i'm not sure you'll get a very good deal though. so just be careful.
 
Kaila said:
Marie, I would also consider, and think about the space that each option would, or wouldn't, take up in your apartment, when not in use.
Worth it, when needed, and/or, when it adds positive activities to your life.
But would be a part of any decision, now that you're in the small apartment.

I very much, personally,
appreciate all the details and input, that many of these posters gave! :)
including @Laurie and @Glowworm and @katlupe and others, too!!!

Thank you all, for this time and effort. The subject helps others of us, too,
in addition to Marie's future thoughts about the possibilities and practicalities.
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I am fortunate that my apartment as small as it is, had a nice size bathroom That is where I keep "Jazzy", my mobility chair. I move it to the other room or even in my hall outside my door when I take a shower. I have an open floor plan, though only 338 sq. ft. and it is built to easily accommodate a wheelchair.

I wanted to add here that I did not get a doctor's order for the rolling walker or the mobility chair. I bought them myself. My chair was used but looked like new. They both have given me my independence. Actually I was using a cane and that made my knees worse. The rolling walker for me has made it so I can walk more than I was before. Never had any problem with it.
 
Here is a picture of my chair in the bathroom. Now this is not a chair to be folded up and put in a car. It makes the zero turns so I can even turn it around easily in the elevator. The scooter that Sonny has can be taken apart to take in his car. But I would find that difficult to do myself.

bathrrom_jzzy.JPG
 
katlupe said:
Here is a picture of my chair in the bathroom. Now this is not a chair to be folded up and put in a car. It makes the zero turns so I can even turn it around easily in the elevator. The scooter that Sonny has can be taken apart to take in his car. But I would find that difficult to do myself.

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How many miles on a charge do you get? When I finally have to get a chair, I want one that will do at least 30 miles on a charge. Scooters mostly do just 10 miles, not nearly enough
 

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