Broken wheelchair due to dropped curb not dropped all the way - advice?

Lum

Now we just have to sort out who is paying for it all

rotoguys

Lum wrote: »

We're actually nearer Chepstow than Bridgend. Google says 224 miles, my trip counter says just over 230.

And no her car is the older 1.8 model, with an automatic gearbox. It's also somewhat non-standard, bigger turbo, FMIC, remapped ECU, wider wheels, uprated brakes, better suspension etc. If she were to sit at a constant 60mph for the entire journey, not that this is possible because the second half the trip is cross country, then the car can get 35mpg on LPG, but frankly cruising down the motorway at 60 for a long journey would take up a lot of time and use too many spoons.

I see and understand now.

I know its completely off the subject but you have brought back some very happy memories.
As youngsters in our late teens, we had to drive out of Cardiff towards Newport on the A48 every Sunday to get over the border to where the pubs used to be open - then drive back p***ed as a newt!! That was when it was illegal to sell or consume alcohol in a public place from midnight on Saturday to midnight on Sunday!!

Savvy_Sue

Again, I know this is OT, but given the description you have shared of the difficulty of getting the chair (and herself) in and out of the car, however much she loves the car it may be worth thinking about changing it to something more convenient / fuel efficient. Would that not increase her independence, which is clearly very important to her?

Lum

This particular chair is fine with her current car. She can drive to work on her own, and do the transfer on her own. There is no real difficulty, at least not until the chair broke anyway.

It's only me that has a problem lifting a wheelchair and if that got really bad then it would just mean that when we're out together in my car, she'd have to sit in the back next to the chair and do the transfer as if she were on her own.

I know that it would be a little easier if we got rid of her car and got a Renault Kangoo or something, but her disabilities have pretty much put a stop to her other hobbies such as outdoor photography, cooking and so on. Taking her car away too would be the final straw, especially as she finds driving front wheel drive cars unpleasant and stressful.

Regarding the difficulties filling up, that would be the case with any car. If the muppet doesn't want to come out with the card machine she's going to struggle, though I guess they might be more likely to figure out why she's beeping the horn if she drove a car more stereotypically associated with Motability.

Efficiency wise, even if it does only get 20-35mpg (dependent on driving style) it's LPG so money wise it's the equivalent of a 40-70mpg petrol car. That automatic, modified, 200SX is actually cheaper in terms of miles per £ than my company provided Mondeo "econetic" manual diesel and if I had to pay my own servicing, the 200SX would work out cheaper on that too. Not to mention cheaper than having Motability take away the mobility component of her DLA payment, assuming we ever get DLA.

She'd need the e-motion wheels regardless of chair type, so 2 grand for a chair vs changing cars made sound financial sense as well as a being a better option overall.

Chorlie

I had / have (now use it just in the house) a Kuscall Airlite and to be honest it's not the best chair I've had, it's heavy and not easy to get in / out the car (I do it the same as your other half, over my body onto the passenger seat), but I now have TiLite ZRA which is the best chair I've every had (I've had several Quickie's, RGK's, Cyclone etc) it's the lightest chair I've had and adjustable too, but bloody expensive over £4000 with all the bits.

Like I said I've come out of my Kuscall several time, due to its short frame, but never broke the forks; I ended up putting bigger front casters which helped a little.

daska

I coudn't work out from your posts whether your wife has a servicecall transmitter. The Cribbs Causeway one is a Shell garage isn't it? Quite a few Shell garages have (or at least had - I fill up every 3 months at the moment I think LOL so I'm not exactly abreast of current trends in petrol stations) this system, if this garage doesn't you could contact them, explain the problems she's had and ask if it would be possible for them to install it. And just in case it's something you're not aware of here's a link to it: ServiceCall. It's currently £14.95 including p&p and the website has a search facility by town, postcode etc.

Lum

The problem is, she uses an LPG car and the garages she normally uses for LPG do not have the servicecall system. Cribbs Causeway isn't one we'd normally use.

Personally I think she should have considered driving up to the night payment window when they ignored her beeping and holding up the blue badge. She says she didn't want to because it would have blocked the exit but I think that's exactly why it would be worth doing. Move once she actually has their attention. Not sure if that's a step too far however.

bluelight

Sorry to hear about the incident with the wheelchair. I worked with mobility equipment up until recently, one of the jobs I've had since retiring from the police force, and have come across this sort of thing.

As a matter of interest, what make is the wheelchair? The makes I have had dealings with are fairly robust. The NHS use wheelchairs supplied by a company called Wheeltech, who also supply powerchairs and scooters. In my experience, Wheeltech seem fairly robust. Let me know, would you, please, as the make you have may be one with known issues.

dibuzz

I'm glad you've got it sorted and fully understand why she wants to keep her car.
My cousin was a wheelchair user and had one of those awful blue invalid carriages for years. She hated it and managed to get a Morris Marina van adapted which she loved, she aways liked to stand out from the crowd

Lum wrote: »

would take up a lot of time and use too many spoons.

What does that mean? I have a strange image of a covered in spoons driving down the street

Savvy_Sue

dibuzz wrote: »

What does that mean? I have a strange image of a covered in spoons driving down the street

The Spoon theory explained