What To Buy!

[Vic Patterson]

I'm loosing a vehicle this week (wife's car declared salvage by insurance) and need another, I've been looking for over a month, I have gathered a stack of brochures, visited all the consumer websites, been to garages and kicked the tires.

Do you go for style, comfort, practicality economy, resale value or what. Everyone has different advice and each one is has its own merits.

For discussion purposes what do you look for in a car? (we don't get many European cars to pick from) can be SUV, Crossover, car or truck.

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Vic!...just caught up on this one...a bit late in the day,ye'll hae been sorted a few times since,but aam noo in thi syem dilemma!

Aam thinking aboot getting a Vauxhall Zafira,for practicality,cargo space..[two mobility scooters and a dog,and me Wife...oh! and me!],and thi choices of engine and trim levels are mind-numbing!

Has anybody driven one,or sat as a passenger in one,just wondering wat the ride is like,acceleration etc......

Jonathan Scott [Alex Scott's garage in Guide Post] is being very helpful,trying ti source one for me wi low mileage etc,[it's a great garage],but a wud like ti sit in one and suss things oot before buying one.

[Vic Patterson]

Hi HPW, I ended up with a 2010 Ford Escape (I got to know it when working in the jail!) final decision was that it was top of the line with loads of rebates and a retire- your-ride program (designed to get older less efficient vehicles off the road) ($7,000 total) my short list had three similar vehicles. My daughter and grande daughter both have the newer versions. AWD was a must because of our weather and location.

BUT Doreen has only been in it twice! it isn't the most accessible for anyone with mobility issues! So we use the 2001 Ford Windstar van as our primary vehicle as the seats are quite high and the floor is level and no ledge, no foot-well, tailgate opens fully to access her folding walker, again a level floor and no edge to lift over, the floor level is a major factor depending on your wife's mobility! lots of room for the groceries.

The Vauxhall Zafira is not available here,(I Googled it)  but I'd look at it's accessability befor performance (within reason) will you need ramps etc, would a trailer be practical! open/ closed, plenty for you to think about. Are there any government programs you can access?

Vic

[Alan Edgar (Eggy1948)]

9 hours ago, HIGH PIT WILMA said:

Has anybody driven one,or sat as a passenger in one,just wondering wat the ride is like,acceleration etc......

Jonathan Scott [Alex Scott's garage in Guide Post] is being very helpful,trying ti source one for me wi low mileage etc,[it's a great garage],but a wud like ti sit in one and suss things oot before buying one.

HPW - if you drive along the Choppington Road - A196, from Jonathan Scott's there is a Vauxhall garage - Davidson's of Morpeth - Coopies Estate, just before Stobhill where I got my Meriva. They have a 'Mobility' specialist - Alison Owen and they have (according to their web site) New Zafira Tourer & used Zafira & Zafira Tourer. There Motability section normally deals with customers purchasing vehicles via the Motabilty Scheme (DLA/PIP - WPMS (War Pensions Motability Scheme) but naturally they will sell to anyone with the money.

I have looked at many different cars (over the last 10 years) with a view to disability aids fitting in. It's ages since I looked at the spec on the Zafira as it was too big for me, the wife and 1 mobility scooter. What I did find with the Meriva (compared to loads of other makes & models) is that the back seats do not have to be taken out to fit in a complete mobility scooter. I am assuming the Zafira seats will be the same as the Meriva. The back seats of the Meriva fold down flat so there is no 3-4" step, between the book/back floor and the seats. In most other cars the seats had to be removed to get a flat surface that is almost essential to keep the scooter stable. I am assuming that the Zafira spec is very similar to the Meriva spec. I have never been a car 'geek', for me a car is to get me from A to B so I can do things. The son-in-law and two grandsons dismantle cars, soup them up; show cars etc. etc. I used to wind them up by saying I want a blue one next! Anyway I have had no problem with any of the 3 1600c & 1400cc automatic Merivas I have had. Excelleration via pedals or hand controls I have found excellent - not a geek but still like to move easily and quickly away from stationery positions at lights and Moor House Farm roundabout!    

Before the Meriva we used to have to dismantle the mobility scooter to get it into the boot of the car we had then. What Davidsons would probably advise yo to do is talk to Bewick Mobility -  Blaydon Industrial Park, Chain Bridge Rd, Blaydon-on-Tyne NE21 5AB - Phone: 0191 414 0240 about what adaptions can be made. And you will no doubt be aware the adaptions these days are endless, but also costly, and all firms are after your money. I have dealt with Bewick Mobility for 6 years and I can't fault them. Prior to Bewick many local garages gave me advice and suggestions that really were based on sales and not improving mobility experience and I always had to do more later on.

 

   

 

[HIGH PIT WILMA]

Hi Vic and Eggy,many thanks for taking the time to advise me.

I have spent hours googling the specs on the Zafira,Mondeo estate,Skoda Estate,etc,but the hundreds of bad reviews and horror stories have almost changed my mind about the Zafira,which was to be my final choice,for practicality,and a canny performance,cos aam also one who doesn't want be straggling lights and junctions in general.[a wee bit of zip comes in handy sometimes!]

I strip my Wife's scooters easily enough,but I carry one small one for shops which easily manouvres in supermarkets hospital corridors etc,and a bigger one

[not a road scooter!]..just a bit bigger,with four-wheel sprung suspension,for riverside walks on tarmac etc.

So boot space is a necessity,two scooters and a dog in the back!!....my Vauxhall Signum copes,but it's a diesel,and I don't like diesels![hadn't any choice but ti get this one after my last petrol Signum was written off nearly two years ago in the bad hit and run crash we had.]

Jonathan ,at Alex Scott's,guidepost has been in touch again,with vehicles being released from Motobility,but none suitable up ti noo.

Will keep looking and will check out Davidson's,a long time since I looked in there!

Thanks again Lads!

P.S. ......."Escape"!....wat a hoot Vic!!