Hi everyone.

Does anyone have any first hand knowledge on mobility scooters? I need to find something for my aging mother but don't really know anything about them. I've looked at several online and none of them really answer what I want to know.

I need to find one that is not slow. No, Mom isn't going to race around, but it needs to be walking speed. It also has to have a fairly high capacity. I'll come up with a fairly large basket for the front and we'll take it to the grocery store. In fact this is what prompts the idea, we shop a lot at Walmart and the electric carts they have are usually not available, and Mom can't push the cart around the whole store. But it needs to be able to haul her around plus a week's worth of groceries.

My plan is to haul this thing around in my Suburban. Mom can get into it with a step ladder, but I need to be able to lift this thing up and down. Not really interested in the trailer hitch deal, and a ramp would have to be pretty long for it to be usable.

Are there any to stay away from? Any that break down prematurely? Any that outperform the others and are a good buy?

Thanks everyone.

 

Hope you find one that works. When I was reading your post I thought of the scooters available at Walmart, but they are so large they'd need to be transported on a trailer hitch platform. Good luck.

 

Here's the ones I'd be shoppin' for...

 

A lot of them can be disassembled, the seat and steering removes from the base which is the heaviest having the batteries and motor in it. If you can lift 60 to 80 pounds then you have it done!

 

That's awesome Tyroma. Too bad Mom isn't a hot rodder.

I had thought about getting a scooter from the place Walmart gets theirs, but it would be too big for other places she'd take it. I'm in the airline biz, and when I worked on the ramp in the 90s people would check scooters [as a bag] and sometimes people would gate check them, and we'd have to carry those things up the stairs of the jetway. And they were all Walmart sized machines at that time, I almost killed myself several times.

 

For compact size, dependability & maneuverability, I have been very satisfied with my Pride Go Go Elite Traveler. I have beat the tar out of this poor thing and it still works perfectly. I use it for all working endeavors, including most of my under the lift car work, regularly piled hundreds of pounds of landscaping materials, car parts, etc and I put a tiny trailer hitch for a HD wagon that I regularly haul hundreds of pounds in between tools & materials.

That scooter breaks down very quickly & easily, though that doesn’t mean that Mom can do it. The seat pulls up & out, the battery pack pulls off, the rear drive (slightly heavy) disengages the frame with a flip of a lever & handlebars (tiller) fold down via a notched ****. The footboardhandkebars//steering have a little weight & bulk as an assembly. It will all fit in most any vehicle trunk when broken down. I load/unload, break down or assemble in under a minute.

A large capacity basket will only be commonly available for the back, which uses a 1” square receiver, with basket inserted & retained with a hitch pin. You might be able to adapt something on the front but I’m not sure of the balance with more than a few lbs hanging out front. Might be fine, just don’t know, my weight is always on the foot deck and/or out back. Not sure if there are baskets that approach the size of store scooters.

Ground speed shouldn’t be a problem. If I had to guess, my Go Go will do ~4mph, my big one is 11-12mph and that’s haulin for these things.

I suggest a bigger capacity battery pack, 22ah vs 12ah(?), lithium if an option. Lithiums are much lighter, far more powerful, far more capacity and much longer life span. The only down side to lithiums, at least as I have retrofitted them, is that on my scooter, configured for conventional batteries, the “gas” gauge is not reliable because the voltage stays very consistent. Until it doesn’t. Then scooter just stops, like right here, right now, very little warning. No limp home on degrading charge of conventional batteries. I don’t think this would be an issue with a scooter originally configured for lithiums. Charger needs to be configured for lithiums as well. I usually get a week or so out of larger battery pack under frequently demanding use with lithiums & have a smaller pack with conventional for rescue & using while lithiums are charging. I usually charge the big pack before & bring the spare with me to outdoor events, car shows, etc, just in case, but have never needed it.

My older model has ‘handlebars” which I prefer vs sort of “D” shaped steering handles.

I would suggest 4 wheel vs 3 wheel. The demands & ways I stunt drive this thing it’s been on 2 wheels numerous times, but it’s got to be way more stable than a 3 wheeler.

There is no suspension so bumps are felt, like when I drive around at car shows on grass, or whatever, but suspension adds, expense, complexity & weight. With the small wheels, it is terrain & surface sensitive, but for any normal, sensible use it is quite capable.

This is an example of very light use on my part-




Though I don’t see Mom in this market, I later acquired this beast, a Pride Baja Wrangler 2. This is now doing the heavy work. It is very powerful & capable, but not portable. It doesn’t break down & weighs appx 350 pounds. It climbs hills, climbs a 10” step in sidewalk, traverses terrain & loose surfaces without blinking. I blew off a light snow the other day with it (I fabbed a basket that holds a backpack sprayer or backpack blower) as opposed to using the tractor. This will easily do off road terrain, likely the beach, etc. It’s big, comfy, powerful, fast and not meant for tight spaces. You can see the size compared to little Go Go next to it. But what a machine!



I hope this helps you. Ask anything that needs more clarity or that I didn’t cover.

One other thought. I have a cheapo, Wal Mart, rough Go Go knock off at my daughter’s house in another state. I put lithiums in it. It goes, it stops, but it is nowhere near as refined as the Go Go. Herky jerky engagement & speed changes, not as nice feel, but it works and is half the price. Good example of getting what you pay for.

As for my Grandkids, they couldn’t care less, perfectly happy on any one of them! Especially if they get to drive.

Go Go disassembles a fits in trunk of Cutlass. I had to laugh at how dirty scooter is, this thing has honestly done more work than most garden tractors & it just keeps on going. If only there was a loader or backhoe accessory…




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About 22 years ago, my grandfather got a mobility scooter. Unfortunately, he died about 21.5 years ago.

That basically brand new scooter sat in my dad’s garage for probably a year. He tried to sell it with zero luck. He eventually had to give it away. it seems most people who need them can get one thru insurance, there just isn’t a market for them.

Who knows if it’s the same way today. It might be a bit morbid, but ask around senior citizen or assisted living areas.

 

Thanks guys. I looked up the Go Go scooter, and the original one is discontinued, it's now the Elite 2. I was disillusioned. I saw some that were under 500 bucks, and the Elite 2 is 1400. I'm guessing your comment of getting what you pay for would be evident.

While I was pleased that I could get something for 500, I certainly don't want a piece of junk. I've looked at used ones, and maybe this is just my hang up, but I'd hate for the scooter to have the stigma of it only gets passed along when someone dies. That's pretty heavy to be hanging on Mom.

It is cool it can be used as a garden tractor. Hey Mom, I need the scooter to clean out the garage.

 

I don’t think they’re very easy to get via insurance,near as I can tell. Based on my brutal abuse of that little scooter for 6-7 years & its nearly amazing reliability, I would not hesitate to buy a used one. Well, other than wearing dead people’s clothes type of thing. Batteries and wheels (tires) are the only consumables, other than a set of grips but mine have been jammed into a lot of abrasive or sharp obstacles, typically overcome by stubbornness & force.

If buying new, spec for bigger capacity battery pack, lithiums if offered, as I mentioned, they’re 1/3 the weight, far superior performance and last for years instead of replacing conventionals yearly. It’ll hurt a little, but they’re worth it. Buy once & let Mom enjoy the ride, my Wally World special is like driving a Yugo compared to a Camry-A-Go Go.

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