Car boot storage for power chair

[Griffin]

I am thinking of getting this wheelchair. In many ways I'd be happy with a self-propel chair, but there's a problem of no energy to propel it. Total weight of the power chair is 49 kgs, but can reduce to 20 kgs by taking bits off. Even at 20kgs I won't be able to lift it myself. My car is a Clio and the boot has a sill, which is a nuisance. Someone has offered me a hoist, but I am having trouble finding a mobility adapter company that would fit it, rather than buying one of theirs for fitting. Also, it seems very expensive; I can't really afford the chair. The other option I've been exploring is a ramp, but again these seem very expensive and I am not sure how they would work with the sill. I've been trying to resolve this with a working solution I can afford but not really getting very far with any of it. Anyone got any ideas?

[redrobblue]

I am thinking of getting this wheelchair. In many ways I'd be happy with a self-propel chair, but there's a problem of no energy to propel it. Total weight of the power chair is 49 kgs, but can reduce to 20 kgs by taking bits off. Even at 20kgs I won't be able to lift it myself. My car is a Clio and the boot has a sill, which is a nuisance. Someone has offered me a hoist, but I am having trouble finding a mobility adapter company that would fit it, rather than buying one of theirs for fitting. Also, it seems very expensive; I can't really afford the chair. The other option I've been exploring is a ramp, but again these seem very expensive and I am not sure how they would work with the sill. I've been trying to resolve this with a working solution I can afford but not really getting very far with any of it. Anyone got any ideas?

Have tou looked at this website ? http://www.rica.org.uk/

This should help you with measurements and other possibe wheelchairs available. What about a folding mobility scooter that can fit into the boot of a car?

[PaulG]

I am thinking of getting this wheelchair. In many ways I'd be happy with a self-propel chair, but there's a problem of no energy to propel it. Total weight of the power chair is 49 kgs, but can reduce to 20 kgs by taking bits off. Even at 20kgs I won't be able to lift it myself. My car is a Clio and the boot has a sill, which is a nuisance. Someone has offered me a hoist, but I am having trouble finding a mobility adapter company that would fit it, rather than buying one of theirs for fitting. Also, it seems very expensive; I can't really afford the chair. The other option I've been exploring is a ramp, but again these seem very expensive and I am not sure how they would work with the sill. I've been trying to resolve this with a working solution I can afford but not really getting very far with any of it. Anyone got any ideas?

Hi,

I had vaguely similar problems last year of finding a car and hoist combination to lift my powered wheelchair into/out of the boot.

I rang a number of adaption/hoist manufacturing companies listed on this page from the Motability website:

http://www.motabilitycarscheme.co.uk...in-car-systems

and posing as a potential customer, I asked what combination of car and hoist would be suitable for my (named) powered wheelchair. I found a couple of companies to be very helpful, including Autochair who were probably the best as they are quite popular and they were able to tell me which car and hoists would be suitable for my wheelchair.

I do have to say though, if your car has a high boot sill, you may have problems when trying to lift the chair out of the boot. The hoist arm (which needs a balance beam below it to lift the chair level) has to lift the chair to a height to clear the sill before it can swing the chair out. If your current car has low headroom then it may not be possible. Also will your boot be big enough to take the chair and hoist and is the boot floor strong enough to take the weight of the chair?

To give you an example, albeit my car does not have a sill, my powerchair with the seat folded is 80 cms in height but I had to add the height of the hoist arm plus its balance beam onto the height of the folded chair (in my case it made it 96cms). So I needed a car with a boot to ceiling height in excess of 96cms as it has to lift the chair up slightly before swinging to out. As you have a sill, you will need to include the height of the sill into the calculation, as the hoist has to lift the chair over this sill before it is able to swing the chair out of the car.

Another thing to remember is that the hoist needs to lift the chair up level. So you will need brackets fitted to your wheelchair in order to correctly connect the chair to the balance bar of the hoist and lift it up level.

You will also need a restraint mechanism for when the powerchair is in the boot, as if involved in an accident, it is a very heavy projectile that can be thrown forwards in a shunt. Mine has a sort of inertia reel seat belt fitted in the boot which engages with the powerchair to keep it secure, even if the car were to roll over.

So its not an easy job, plus you also need to get at least a 20amp fused power supply into the boot to power the hoist.

As for companies willing to take on the work of fitting a second hand hoist to a car, I know of one independent mobility adaptor in Darlington who generally subcontracts for the major hoist manufacturers, but that's about the only one I know of. If that's any good I can pass on the details.

Paul

[Happyhamm3r]

We only just had room for an hoist in our car. It is the new ford Kuga, we also have a lip, after many adjustments by the hoist installer it went in. Then wheelchair had to go back to LLoyds Healthcare for repair. They lost wheelchair, including the bracket for hoist. They replaced the wheelchair with another model, I had to pay more money for a different model. Then I had to pay £90 for the hoist company to fit new brackets. I did get £65.00 in compensation from the company though.

[Griffin]

Thanks for replies. Still wondering what's best; whether to buy the chair at all.

Happy, that's a sorry story. I don't think they should have made you pay extra for a different model.

The chair would fit in my boot easily in pieces, it breaks down easily into back and seat (folded), chassis, battery. I'm wondering if I had a small platform half the height of the boot sill, maybe I could lift the chassis onto that, and then from there another lift into the boot. Idea being it's easier to lift in small doses. I think I may have found a company that will do a home visit so one can try the chair before buying. I'm going to phone them and see.

[Capt billabong]

Hi.
I have a berlingo with a hoist that picks up my power chair and theres plenty if room for it.

If you're going down the motability route then ask them what car would suit you as the dimensions of your chair makes all the difference.

[basil brush]

I have a new Kuga and have had an Auto Olympian 100kg hoist £350, which easily hoists my Invacare Spectra electric wheelchair in the back no problem, but i do have to remove the back off the chair but i dont have to lie the back seat down.

[Griffin]

The berlingo looks as if it is the right shape boot for a power chair! The Kuga looks as if it doesn't have a particularly big boot but the opening looks a lot bigger than a Clio. My Clio is quite old and really has a pretty small boot with quite a small opening. To get a chair in whole, I think would mean having the back seats down, which I don't want to have to do as a permanent feature. I'm not sure folding the back of the chair down would be enough to avoid this. Buying a different car would of course be the ideal, but not possible right now. Thanks for examples.

[sea queen]

We have used telescopic ramps for years to get daughters chair into back of the car.
Recently changed car and had a hoist fitted (currently now got two sets of ramps to sell)
http://www.autochair.co.uk/
It was paid for by mobility under adaptations and our contribution was minimal.
The company ask what type of chair and car you are wanting to put it into.
From this information they will know the size of chair and if it will lift into your car.
Also there are different sized hoists depending on the weight of your chair.
Once fitted in the car you get a demonstration how to use it.
They really are good but may be restrictive to what else will go into the boot.
We currently have a Vauxhall Estate, but the chair would have gone into a Ford Estate we were told.
I have posted a picture of the new car/hoist on here in this section.

[Chris_Rica]

Rica, the consumer research charity, has useful information that can help:

Once you know your wheelchair/mobility scooter and the size of the largest part you can search the Rica car search
There are measurements for over 1000 cars and you can find cars that meet common access requirements and you can search by specific measurements and features. For example, you can search for boots that have no sill ie are flat and so make it easier for loading.

The Rica guide Getting a wheelchair into a car looks at the equipment that can help get a wheelchair into a car and transport it safely. It includes information about different types of hoists, lifts and stowage systems.

Once you know know your wheelchair can fit into your car and the type of hoist - contact the hoist fitter to double check what on paper is what can be carried out in reality.

Rica also has useful print guides available free of charge except for a postage charge