Motor scooters and powerchairs have certainly come a long way. And why not? Mobility scooters, powerchairs, even wheelchairs have all seen vast improvements in abilities, weight, portability, looks and durability. The scooter/powerchair focus for the last few years has been on weight and portability for the elderly that face mobility challenges.

Those that require mobility assistance need a scooter or powerchair that they can maneuver. They also need one that they can transport; they may live alone or do not always have a caregiver available. Even though the mobility scooter market has made great strides, there are still going to be those instances where an individual just cannot handle the transportation of the equipment. And for those situations we have the mobility scooter lift.

Mobility scooter lifts have lots of names.  Some call them scooter lifts, some power chair lifts, power wheelchair lifts, exterior lifts or auxiliary lifts. A mobility scooter lift does for the owner what a power toothbrush does for someone trying to brush with their weak hand – it makes life a lot easier!! Alan C. summed it up well; “Ease of operation; easy load and unload of mobility scooter. Easy to remove from vehicle – just lower, unpin and drive away”. Operating a mobility scooter lift is as easy as walking to the rear of your vehicle, putting the key in the key slot and turning it on, then holding the button down to lower or up to raise. Some lifts have strap down options, others have a rotating arm that clamps down on the seat to hold the scooter securely. It’s “easy to operate <with> no everyday maintenance,” says Gerald C.

Now lots of people today have SUV’s, Crossovers and trucks. A scooter lift wouldn’t work very well with those vehicles; the lift would block the rear opening. Most manufacturers offer a ‘swing-away’ option that allows the whole lift to be swung to the side so you can access the rear of your vehicle. And it’s easy – just pull a latch to release. Since the power wheelchair lifts joins your vehicle at the hitch of the vehicle they can be easily removed as well. Selling your car or purchasing a new one is not a problem. You would remove the pin just like you would for a U-joint and the lift comes right out.

You do need to check and make sure your vehicle can accommodate a lift specific to your mobility scooter. We are a proud dealer for the Harmar line of mobility scooter lifts. Harmar provides a wonderful calculator on their website that allows you to get a firsthand look at (1) can you have a lift on your car and (2) which lift is best for your scooter. We do not install vehicle hitches (which is required) but have several vendors that we can recommend. The Harmar 100/100HD  and Harmar AL500/AL500HD are two of our most popular scooter lifts. Harmar is regularly recognized as a Top 10 manufacturer of mobility scooter lifts.

Some vehicles allow for interior lifts. An interior lift allows for the both the lift and chair to be hidden from outside view. Some people have a preference for this mobility scooter lift and we like the Armstrong line.

The operator of an outside life should have the following capabilities:

  • Walk from front to rear of the vehicle and back
  • Stand for two to three minutes while the lift operates
  • Guide the mobility device on/off platform
  • Insert the key and rotate it 90 degrees to turn on and activate the lift
  • Apply pressure to hold the up/down toggle switch while the lift operates
  • For retractors, connect hook to location on mobility device. Pull strap end of turn knob to increase tension (single and dual-hand retractor available.)

We hope this article has provided some good insight and information into the purchase of your mobility scooter lift. To sum up the advantages our customer Marry shared this, “we really enjoy having our Harmar scooter lift. It makes it a lot easier for us to go visit people and bring my husband’s scooter with us.” We could not say it better Marry. Come see us at Affordable Medical Equipment today and we will make your life a little easier too.