Choosing a mobility scooter

Getting your scooter choice right can be the difference between gaining a new best friend or your garage gaining an expensive dust magnet. Mounties Care staff have years of match-making experience, but it doesn't hurt for you to learn some of the facts yourself.

First let's break down the different types of scooter.

Portable Scooters

• Can be folded up or pulled apart into pieces
• Are ideal for taking in the boot. Planes and cruise ships also work
• Are small enough that many indoor venues don’t present a problem. Think cafes, shops, museums, and so on
• Slipping on and off one feels more natural

Large Scooters

• Ideal for getting you all the way from point A to B
• Bigger wheels, suspension and motor to tackle bumps and slopes
• Bigger battery range and carry baskets
• Can be equipped with sun and/or rain canopies
• Replaces some of the uses of a car

Medium Scooters

• A hybrid of the two others
• Can usually be taken in a car, but with more difficulty
• Gets you from A to B, but not quite as smoothly
• Can go inside some indoor venues, but not as many.

Your intended use will tell you which of the three scooter categories you want. If you’re looking to use it exclusively on footpaths, pick a large scooter. If you want convenient transportation, pick a portable scooter. If you want a bit of both, pick a medium scooter. And so on. 

Figuring out the detail

Mobility scooters vary along a number of dimensions. When you reach out to a scooter expert, they'll likely ask you a number of questions. Here are a number of things to consider:

Budget

Mobility scooters range from the very cheap (a few hundred dollars for an old, used scooter) to pricey (over $8,500 for the absolute deluxe builds). Having a rough idea of how much you’re looking to spend helps narrow down the choices.

Body Type

Different body sizes, shapes and weight work better with different scooters. Whether it is leg room, the positioning of the controls, or the power of the motor and sturdiness of the frame, your body type influences your scooter choice.

Distance

Scooters have a travel range from 10km to approximately 40km, depending on the size of the scooter, the terrain, payload, and batteries. So make sure you are clear on your travel plans before sizing up your scooter.

Personal preference

Style, comfort, colour, design, are all considerations. People love different things, and that’s what makes it all so much fun. You can choose from the snazzy to the unobtrusive, from the vintage to the minimalist. And maybe even have a laugh about it when you turn heads at the shopping centre in your scooter that looks like a Harley.

It's time to try

There's no substitute for actually trying out a scooter. Are you easily able to mount and dismount? Do the controls feel intuitive? Is the steering tiller adjustable to fit your needs? How comfortable is the overall experience? There are dozens of questions like this that can only be answered by taking one for a spin.

This can be especially true if your prospective routes are a bit unusual or challenging. If there's a tricky intersection to cross, or a treacherous driveway to summit, we recommend organising a home demonstration with several of the candidate models. This is the best way to find out if a scooter was meant for you.

Good luck and remember you can always reach out to arrange a trial!