Clutch adaption for manual cars

craftygran

My husband has just had the dreaded PIP assessment result and we were presently surprised that he got standard rate care and mobility, however this means we lose the mobility car.
He will get the £2000 so we have started looking for suitable cars. We were going to get an automatic because he has problems using the clutch but this limits the choice of car we can afford if buying.
Has anyone experience of adaptations so he can operate the clutch with his hand and if so what sort of costs would we be looking at to get one fitted onto a manual car.
Thank you

rockingbilly

craftygran wrote: »

My husband has just had the dreaded PIP assessment result and we were presently surprised that he got standard rate care and mobility, however this means we lose the mobility car.
He will get the £2000 so we have started looking for suitable cars. We were going to get an automatic because he has problems using the clutch but this limits the choice of car we can afford if buying.
Has anyone experience of adaptations so he can operate the clutch with his hand and if so what sort of costs would we be looking at to get one fitted onto a manual car.
Thank you

I have never come across a hand operated clutch adaption - foot brake yes. I wonder if they could use the footbrake lever and connect it to the clutch thereby having two levers?
As you say an automatic is best if you can find one.

Try Autotrader.
There are 6665 automatic cars on there for under £2500

teddysmum

There are some lovely older luxury cars (so often automatic) about , that sell for peanuts. My son bought a lovely BMW convertible for £1000, a few weeks ago, and all it needed was a small panel replacement (easily colour matched and well under £100 to fit).

rockingbilly

teddysmum wrote: »

There are some lovely older luxury cars (so often automatic) about , that sell for peanuts. My son bought a lovely BMW convertible for £1000, a few weeks ago, and all it needed was a small panel replacement (easily colour matched and well under £100 to fit).

An excellent buy provided that it has a good service history record.

B_G_B

Call one of the car adaption places. Here is a random one as an example.
http://www.mountsidemobility.co.uk

teddysmum

rockingbilly wrote: »

An excellent buy provided that it has a good service history record.

Very good. A lady who had two cars and wasn't using this one enough. Leather seats in lovely condition, hood with no damage, but the car is too low for me as I struggled to get out.

rockingbilly

teddysmum wrote: »

Very good. A lady who had two cars and wasn't using this one enough. Leather seats in lovely condition, hood with no damage, but the car is too low for me as I struggled to get out.

When the Z4 came out I was invited to take it out for half a day as a test drive. Got in, fantastic drive but as you say, getting out was impossible. I ended up in a less than dignified way - had to crawl out on all 4's!!
That put paid to my mid (well late) life crisis. Decided on something more us - a new 530d.
Then that went earlier this year to a new XE Porfolio - mind you I loved the F Type all £96,000 of it!!!

Savvy_Sue

craftygran wrote: »

Has anyone experience of adaptations so he can operate the clutch with his hand and if so what sort of costs would we be looking at to get one fitted onto a manual car.

There is a part of me thinking KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

Not that I'm suggesting you're stupid, just that as a general policy, it's generally best to go for the simpler solution over a more complicated one.

If you had the mobility element of DLA, then Motability would work with you to get the best adaptations for you, and IF a hand operated clutch was for some reason a better solution than an automatic that's what you'd have. Moreover they would ensure that this was safely maintained and if anything went wrong they'd fix it.

Without Motability's involvement, I believe you'd be responsible for funding the adaptations, financing their servicing, and sorting it out if anything went wrong. It's not a position I'd want to be in, personally.

Worth getting in touch with one of the companies who specialise in adaptations, as suggested, but ...

BTW you say you'll lose the motability car - do you currently have a manual which he's having more difficulty using?

And do others know if it's worth looking at motability garages to see if they sell off returned cars at a reasonable price? Sadly I suspect there will be a lot going back ...

rockingbilly

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

There is a part of me thinking KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid).

Not that I'm suggesting you're stupid, just that as a general policy, it's generally best to go for the simpler solution over a more complicated one.

If you had the mobility element of DLA, then Motability would work with you to get the best adaptations for you, and IF a hand operated clutch was for some reason a better solution than an automatic that's what you'd have. Moreover they would ensure that this was safely maintained and if anything went wrong they'd fix it.

Without Motability's involvement, I believe you'd be responsible for funding the adaptations, financing their servicing, and sorting it out if anything went wrong. It's not a position I'd want to be in, personally.

Worth getting in touch with one of the companies who specialise in adaptations, as suggested, but ...

BTW you say you'll lose the motability car - do you currently have a manual which he's having more difficulty using?

And do others know if it's worth looking at motability garages to see if they sell off returned cars at a reasonable price? Sadly I suspect there will be a lot going back ...

Mobility cars handed back go the regular specific auctions that is unless the person handing the car back buys it off Motability. But £2000 is not going to buy an ex Motability car which ever way you look at it.

easy

Seriously, it really isn't worth trying to adapt a manual car. I suspect your husband would find it quite difficult getting used to some sort of manual clutch control.

These days there are always plenty of second-hand automatics about, of all sizes. Generally speaking, by the time they get to more than 5 or 6 years old, the price isn't much different at all to similar models with manual transmission, and quite often the auto's have travelled fewer miles.

Will your budget be restricted to the £2000 that motability are able to contribute, or can you add some money to that for your car purchase?

craftygran

Thanks for the replies.
I will call a car adaption place and see if I can get any info.
We could add about £500 to the budget which will help but also need to think about the height of the car because he can't bend.
We have a manual motability car at the moment and were looking at an automatic next time because he has problems using the clutch.
He has been told he can buy the car we have for £6300, the £2000 is already taken off the cost, but the cost of a loan is more than his award and with insurance, tax and aa to pay for is not something we can afford.