First foray into getting a scooter

[SpiritedHaunts]

It has been a long time since I have been on the site and an even longer time since I have posted anything.

I will try to do a small recap of what is going on. My mother and I currently live together. She is around 70 and I am still a bit younger than my brother who turns 50 this year.

The family that supports us vhen they are available are 5 hours away. There are also members way closer who seem to put helping old ladies and disabled people, never having us be the old lady or the disabled person, fix up heir fences help with odd jobs all centered around their Church and instragrm. We are also blocked from being able to call them after 10:00 p.m. So there is very little support or care from that side.


Unfortunately, I cannot walk or stand easily or at all. My mother calls it couch surfing and have added controlled falling into the mix. The only places I can go are hugging my bed to the door and crawling along the wall to the bathroom door jamb.
I have several issues that make Mobility the number one problem at least for this question. We had a wedding and that turned into a disaster with two failures of the wheelchair. Talk about feeling useless and a burden.


We just recently purchased a wheelchair with the calf cushions and all. The box came it was very heavy and the entire leg pieces were not included. We have a over 20 year old car where my old Rollator wheelchair type of devices would just be put on the back seat as my mom is the only lifter. The wheelchair is too heavy to get in and out of the car.

So, we are returning it and have done cursorv look at scooters on Amazon. Mom focused on weight to try to get things into the car and out of the car and maybe allow me to get across my house and my needs were how does it drive because my hands do not completely squeeze together and I would like if possible if anybody could look at or have experience with either of these scooters that we have narrowed it down to today
Both have currently been found or Amazon.


Lightweight, folding mobility scooters with 20-mile range, 9.3 mph speed, airline-approved battery, and all-terrain capability. Check it out now!
https://a.co/d/h2itAeO


ZiiLIF R3b Mobility Scooter
https://a.co/d/0jFaAWF

Thank you for any help given.

 

[chrisney]

Weight is a major consideration. So while the first scooter has lots of nice features, the 10 pound difference negates that. The second
scooter seems to tick most boxes, BUT.....
1. 10 mile per charge isn't unreasonable, but is not outstanding. There is no information provided about how expensive a second battery is, nor are you told how long (approximately) a full recharge takes. Batteries for mine are ridiculously expensive and proprietary, but fortunately I know I can go for 12-15 hours and then charge overnight.
2. Speed. Again,certainly adequate but not noteable. At WDW, I find slow is safer, and you're certainly not going to hold your mom back! A MAJOR concern is that I couldn't find any mention of brakes. Some scooters just rely on no hands on the throttle as their brakes, which I personally find less safe. Mine has bicycle style brakes, and I do use them frequently. I also don't remember reading about a horn or bell. Be sure you have one. I don't think it's intentional, but you become invisible. Actually, I think it is because you are below eye level, but people really don't see you.
3. This may be picky, but the storage provided is probably as inconvenient as it could get. Front basket, rear basket work. Basket where you need to practically put your head between your knees to see where things are, and then reach down and behind to get them just doesn't work for me.

I like how it folds. If I were looking, that would be a big consideration. It's too bad that it doesn't fold using a remote control like some I've seen.

There is no such thing as a perfect scooter. Mine is a Travelscoot and it's right for me. It's light and to start off all I need to do is sit on it and raise the handlebars. It's also an arm and a leg., but I think it will outlive me. My son has a scooter which he uses mostly for long outings with lots of distance. It is light, folds, comes with 2 batteries and was only $500. I don;t think it would hold up to frequent use but should work for his needs. Pick what is most important to your needs. When you've narrowed it down, see if there are any Facebook groups established for that particular scooter so you have some practical expert advice.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I have a scooter that doesn't fold, it breaks down into 4-5 pieces (Pride Go-Go). The heaviest piece is 25 pounds, which is about at DH's limit to lift. Do you lift a folding scooter, or is there a way you can roll it up into the trunk?

 

[SpiritedHaunts]

Thanks for your replies. Every bit helps.

Chimney, which of the two did you think better suited for going to the kitchen for water possibly around the block to get the mail driving around museums offices and very rarely on some type of sporting event type of ground? Sorry I got a little hazy on which one you were referring to in your reply. And no unfortunately, Simb's Mom we do not have any ramps of any kind so it will need to fold down and fit in the trunk in the backseat or be able to be broken down and fit in one of those locations. On a funny note when I started to need a chair lift to get out of a chair we bought a starter version one for about $300 at Target we still have it and our chair springs collection I am sure there as more springs than ever were in the chair to begin with.

Going down the pretty flagstone path to the wedding took a wheel off and luckily there were many firefighters at the wedding and it took three or four of them to get me in the Uber (must have made aa great guess what happened today story) and back to the hotel.

Of course this was our first outing that did not include simply sitting in it rolling it to the car riding in the car sitting in it and going into a doctor/hospital environment. So Mom and I had a good long cry about it and decided that even if someone says oh I'm sure you can get in to anything that we are going to Triple check that we can.

It was very hard and when you add on the other illnesses including mental illnesses it was very almost degrading. I used to be the shopper and cleaner upper now I am just 'not'

I would love to be able to move from location to location without needing someone to push me.

The scooters I have used are one rented in the park, rented from off-site and used at various grocery stores. I cannot recall if the grocery carts needed me to grab on to the break like device to stop/ start or if it was all on the handle

I am looking for something that is narrow enough to get to parts of the house that I have not been to in a very long time. One that well let me have free choice of movementm. One that can have items from stores set somewhere that's not in my lap to purchase.

I am looking for something to give my mother a break before she can no longer help me.

So, I gues, what I am basically looking for a cart that can be possibly used in the house that can be lifted and fit in the car and can aid my need of autonomy. I do not plan to use any scooter to go to parks or Disney. All I want is to keep my support AKA mom from needing support that I cannot offer.

I want to not have her drive over to the store pick up, pay for, bring home help me wrap up her birthday gift. When I was mobile I enjoyed spending hours tooling around Target with a trolley then to cart. I have not been able to test my limits on how long I can stay there but I know it would suck if my battery conked out while I was in one part of the store where nobody else ventures and where the cell phones don't work.