Rascal 320 Mobility Scooter

[goodferry]

My husband is temporarily disabled, and our trip to Disney is falling in between seeing his surgeon and his surgery. He is able to get around some, he just can't walk a lot. We had planned on renting a car and then renting a scooter for him in the parks. Since then we have found a new Rascal 320 for sale near us for $400. My husband is thinking about buying it, bringing it on the flight down with us, using it in Disney and during his recovery, and then either selling it or donating it to someone in our community who needs it.
It seems to us that this would be smarter than renting one from Disney (we will be there 10 days) or even from a rental company as long as it will work out getting it on and off the plane etc.
Any tips/ideas/things I may not have thought of?
Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[peemagg]

You can fly the scooter for free. I don't know about what your rental car is (size), or how easy that scooter comes apart as for ease of transporting in your car. It will be quite easy to transport on Disney transportation if you use that.

Just as an FYI, Apple Scooters, rents for 7 days at $125, and it is $10 a day more for longer rental. So for your 10 days you are talking about under $200, if the only time that he is going to use the scooter is at Disney, then I would rent.

If your husband needs and is going to use the scooter at home too, then I would buy that one. If not, it doesn't seem to be that great of a deal.

You also might check with your health insurance and see if they cover the cost of the rental if you have a prescription from your doctor for the scooter. It might be another option for you. Scooters are usually covered under Durable Medical Equipment.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Be careful.

The Rascal 320 is a Power Chair, it is not a scooter. It is controlled by a joystick and normally has a lot of settings that should be professionally adjusted for a specific user.

Also, I think that Electric Mobility, the manufacturer, has had quite a bit of FTC activity and may not be in business at this time.

 

[Michigan]

Not to mention there is no way you are going to lift a power chair and put it in a car. A scooter yes but not a power chair.

 

[goodferry]

Thanks for the replies! We are going to look at it. It weighs 110 pounds, so very doable for DH and I, and that's assembled. I have been trying to research that brand specifically, but I can't find a lot of info on it.
I will definitely take the information on rental costs into account, thanks! What I have seen has been like $40-$50 per day, so I will investigate further!

 

[Michigan]

here is the owners manual http://www.scootaround.com/resource...ity Rascal 320 Power Chair Owner's Manual.pdf

 

[goodferry]

Thanks!!!

 

[stitchlovestink]

Thanks!!!

just be careful!! because sometimes people sell them for a really attractive price when they know they need work and the work is going to be costly. And the original owner knows it is more cost effective to replace it than to fix it. Sometimes, they can actually be dangerous depending on what type of work they need, especially if the braking system is not functioning properly or slowly. It may be starting to go bad and not actually malfunctioning ALL of the time but has malfunctioned on the owner. just an fyi or a let the buyer beware service announcement...

 

[SueM in MN]

Before buying it, I would make sure there is someplace nearby where you can get it serviced, new batteries, etc.

Also, power wheelchairs are more difficult and take more practice to drive than a scooter. There is a single joystick that controls everything - speed, turning, direction front or back ALL at the same time. It usually takes a lot more practice to learn to drive one than to drive an ECV. So, you want to make sure he will be comfortable driving it - otherwise, you will have spent $400 and still have to rent an ECV.

And, even if it is only 110 pounds, it would be an akward 110 pounds to lift.
That's also a light duty power wheelchair for a weight load of 225 pounds. By comparison, my DD's power wheelchair weighs over 200 pound without batteries and has a weight load limit of 125 pounds.

I agree with the suggestin to check out renting from one of the offsite companies listed in post 2 of the disABILITIES FAQs thread. It would be cheaper to rent for the time you are there than to buy the Rascal.

 

[goodferry]

Thank you all so much for your help and comments! My concern is that DH may very well need something during his recovery and this may help out. I will let you all know what we find out!
Sue, it is a very light power chair. Luckily my husband is under 200 pounds and doesn't require something heavier duty.

 

[peemagg]

Goodferry,

Talk to your doctor and look at your health insurance before buying one. With a prescription, some insurances will pay for the cost of a rental one that you could get from a local supplier. They probably wouldn't pay for one to just rent at Disney, but they might for a person needing one for a longer length of time. They also might just buy one for him. A scooter or powerchair is considered durable medical equipment, just like crutches or a walker. I would check into this option before I did anything else.

 

[goodferry]

Thank you! I did ask about that about that when we knew that our trip would fall before his surgery. We were told that because he is expected to make a full recovery within months of his surgery he would not qualify for the chair.

To be honest, all along I had just planned on renting one for him in the parks. We have never had to rent one before, so of course I knew almost nothing about it. We do not use the bus system, so I hadn't even considered renting one to have all the time from an outside vendor until I was researching the costs and I read that some of the scooters were actually able to be folded up and loaded into a car. That was when I looked into Buena Vista Scooters and it looked like a regular scooter would cost us $300 ($30 a day for 10 days). DH then started looking at scooters for sale, so that's our whole story. I never considered researching further the cost of scooter rentals (why I don't know, I obsessively research rental cars)

 

[SueM in MN]

Thank you all so much for your help and comments! My concern is that DH may very well need something during his recovery and this may help out. I will let you all know what we find out!
Sue, it is a very light power chair. Luckily my husband is under 200 pounds and doesn't require something heavier duty.

I should have clarified light duty a little more.
Light duty chairs are generally meant for light duty - someone moving around in their house, occassional trips to the store. Things like that.
A trip to WDW is more intense and a light duty chair might not be up to the challenge. Even though the specifications may say 15 miles per charge, light duty chairs are not usually not meant for going many miles a day, many days in a row.

If it comes apart for transport, you might be able to take it apart and put it into a car trunk. If it doesn't , you will need a van and and it would need to fold down small enough to not be too tall for the van. 110 pounds may not seem like much, but you have to think of how high up you have to lift it to get it in and how difficult the getting it out would be.

If his disability is temporary ( a year or less) insurance is not likely to buy a wheelchair or scooter for him, but with the doctors prescription, they would be more likely to rent one for him.
You could rent one at home and take it along with you; but make sure that the rental company is okay with you taking it on an airplane. You can also rent at Walt Disney World from one of the off site places. Most will not bill insurance, but you can take the bills ( with a prescription) and submit them to your insurance yourself.
Whether or not they will pay is up to the individual policy. It's worth a try though.

 

[Michigan]

Be sure you ask them to take it apart and then try to lift it to the height you would need to put in a trunk. While the heaviest part may only be 58 pounds it will be like lifting 200 pounds because of size.

 

[goodferry]

I should have clarified light duty a little more.
Light duty chairs are generally meant for light duty - someone moving around in their house, occassional trips to the store. Things like that.
A trip to WDW is more intense and a light duty chair might not be up to the challenge. Even though the specifications may say 15 miles per charge, light duty chairs are not usually not meant for going many miles a day, many days in a row.

If it comes apart for transport, you might be able to take it apart and put it into a car trunk. If it doesn't , you will need a van and and it would need to fold down small enough to not be too tall for the van. 110 pounds may not seem like much, but you have to think of how high up you have to lift it to get it in and how difficult the getting it out would be.

If his disability is temporary ( a year or less) insurance is not likely to buy a wheelchair or scooter for him, but with the doctors prescription, they would be more likely to rent one for him.
You could rent one at home and take it along with you; but make sure that the rental company is okay with you taking it on an airplane. You can also rent at Walt Disney World from one of the off site places. Most will not bill insurance, but you can take the bills ( with a prescription) and submit them to your insurance yourself.
Whether or not they will pay is up to the individual policy. It's worth a try though.

This was very helpful! Thanks