How to Choose a Mobility Scooter
Choosing a mobility scooter can be a minefield, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the variations available. This handy checklist should help you decide which would be most suitable for your requirements.
Speed: Mobility scooters come in 2 main categories: 4mph and 6/8mph. Legally a mobility scooter is only allowed to travel at 4mph in pedestrian areas and on pavements. However, 6/8mph mobility scooters do come with switches to reduce the speed to 4mph. The main difference is that 6/8mph scooters are allowed on the road whereas 4mph scooters are not.
Travel range: Mobility scooters come with different size batteries which dictates their travel range. For example, the smallest scooters with 8AH batteries may only travel 5 miles on a single charge. The largest models with 100AH batteries could reach in excess of 35 miles, depending on the terrain, weight of the user and other variable factors.
Portability: Many smaller scooters disassemble into 4 or 5 pieces which can easily be lifted into a car boot. The larger the scooter, the heavier the batteries so please be aware that those with longer travel ranges will probably be more difficult to lift.
Manufacturer: Just like when buying a car, there are lots of makes and models available ranging from lesser quality low end options to expensive premium mobility scooters. We recommend manufacturers such as Pride Mobility who provide a good balance between cost, reliability, durability and reasonably priced replacement parts.
New or used: New mobility scooters come with a manufacturer’s warranty which protects you from any potential problems. Privately bought used mobility scooters can sometimes turn out to be more expensive in the long run if, for example, the previous user has not looked after the batteries or if there is any water damage – one of the reasons to buy either new or used from a trustworthy shop!
At A6 Mobility Shop Stockport, we offer both new and refurbished models. Our qualified on site engineers fully refurbish our used mobility scooters to ensure they are in great condition before sale. Whilst our preowned scooters may have small signs of cosmetic wear and tear, they are technically refurbished to a high standard using authetic parts. We even provide our own warranty on used scooters.
Where to buy: We recommend buying from an established shop within an hour of where you live. This way if something goes wrong they can get out to you quickly and resolve the issue. Be careful of online sellers if they do not set the scooter up for you or if they don’t have local engineers who will attend to issues in under 4 working days. At A6 Mobility Shop Stockport we usually attend to mobility scooter call outs within 2 working days.
