non Volvo car suggestion?
 

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in this section before so please be kind ;)

Both my parents are disabled, and only my Mum can drive as Dad is also partially sighted. Mum's health is also deteriorating and now neither of them can safely lift Dad's mobility scooter - its one of those that comes apart into multiple sections for storage, but each section is still quite heavy, so its becoming more and more infrequent that Dad gets out and about.

So, they're thinking of ...

1) getting a secondhand 4 way hoist to lift the scooter into the boot;

2) exchanging the scooter for a one piece model as the one they have now tends to fall apart (!!!)

3) changing the car for something allowing the installation of the hoist - so something with a near vertical tailgate and plenty of bootspace for a one piece scooter.

Their budget is very small so any car they buy will be around 10 years old most likely - they currently have a 15 yr old Vectra hatch, which of course isn't compatible with a hoist. Sadly, the depreciation is horrendous and its worth around £1000 now, probably half that as a trade in.

So, I was wondering if you could suggest a small, reliable but cheap car that would suit them, given the requirement for the hoist, scooter etc? Mum prefers a petrol engine, but as long as its an auto I'm sure I could convince her to consider anything*.

* I tried to give her my old V70R which I thought would be perfect, but she said all Volvos are too big for her...

Many many thanks for your help

Not a fan of Renault's etc, but have you considered a wheelchair adapted car such as a Kangoo or a Belingo? The ramp should be big enough to drive / winch the buggy in and it's small enough to drive around. Hard to come by though but usually low mileage and well looked after via motability scheme.

I think an ex motability car would be a bit on the high side regarding price.

My ex next door neighbour had a Ford Fusion with a hoist fitted and seemed to manage ok with their smallish scooter. Should be able to pick one up at a reasonable price now.

As said , take a look at a Citroen Berlingo .. lots of these go to wheel chair users and have conversions . Not a bad car, but not much fun :-)

There is a company regularly advertising ( including on eBay), various used hoists at medium prices, but the hoists are inspected & in good condition , usually with some sort of guarantee, and they have contact with a fitter who travels around the country?

Even though they are used hoists the Total may still come to £500 or more inc fitting & with the adaptions for each particular make of car, but is still much cheaper than new, which can run into thousands.

The mobile hoist as mentioned in my post can be bought new for £350 , but will probably be to much of a 'mess about' for your Mum and is limited to lifting only 30
Kilos anyway, so only good for a boot scooter - I have a Pride Quest fold up scooter weighing in at 26 kilos which will carry up to 18 stones., but I have to break up my other scooter to use the hoist ,keeping each piece under 30 kilos.

Prorider sell a fold up lightweight scooter for under £500, and Betterlife/Lloyds Pharmacy sell scooters from under £400 as well as a Solax Genie autofold up for £1499 but with only a small deposit of £150, with 36 months at £50 to pay the balance .

Buying a smaller used scooter needs to be done carefully, get a professional to go over it first, before committing yourselves.

Thanks everyone, appreciate the advice. Had forgotten about the Berlingo tbh - they're basically a Citroen ZX which is actually a great car. Ford Fusion... yep I don't see why not, thanks :)

Thanks also for the ebay tip Mike - its having seen their adverts that got me thinking about fitting a secondhand hoist! Prior to seeing that I'd only seen the companies offering new ones - which is why we haven't bought one yet lol.