FairPrice Mobility Scooters
For 21 years - A Fair Deal at a Fair Price - From Steve and Sylvia
Sadly with Steve’s passing the business has had to close as the know-how has gone with him, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still benefit from his knowledge. The following information was on his business website and I’m posting it here so people can still benefit from it.
Scooter Secrets
What every "Scooter Owner" should know...
Most companies earn money on misfortune, from washing machines to cars to scooters. We are all targets. A few years a go my cooker broke down, the new switch cost me £45…ouch…at that time half a weeks wage. I learnt quickly, phoned around and discovered the switch was £6, easily fitted and I never looked back.
With scooters and people's lack of knowledge and desperation, it can be ten times as bad. Here are a few examples. One lady's scooter stopped dead, nothing would work, a company called out told her it was the motor, scooter won't drive, sounds reasonable, so she paid the £650 repair bill.
All was well? The problem was that when I asked her certain questions, things were not as they seemed. A motor will slow, stink like fish and can take quite a while to die. I asked the lady if she'd got any dash lights and would the lights work. The answer was no, my prognosis a blown fuse, 15p, no wonder they couldn't wait to take it away and repair it.
Motor's cost from £85 upwards and take 15 minutes to replace. If you have a £400 motor, quite often they are repairable anyway for around £100. All to often though people are faced instead with a huge repair bill to encourage them to exchange the scooter. If a company offers a part exchange on a new scooter, think about it…they want your scooter, so obviously it's not going to cost them a fortune to repair it. It doesn't hurt to take advise from independent sources, such as your local garage, people with know how who have nothing to gain.
Scooter repairs are not rocket science!
Control boxes are printed circuit boards and make the scooter go. Companies charge anything up to £800. We repair these successfully more often than not for around £50. I recently bought a new PCB (Printed Circuit Board) for £25. When faced with huge repair bills, be suspicious think logically and don't panic. More often than not problems are very simple to resolve.
Never let your scooter leave your premises for a service. Be suspicious if a company wants to take your scooter away for three days for a 15 min. job. One of my Customers told of how his scooter was returned with lack of power and was quoted £300 for new batteries. He was 90 years old and said he wasn't daft, he'd actually marked his batteries, so he caught them out good and proper! They didn't like, denied it all and that's when he called me.
Anybody can service a scooter, pump the tyres up, check the wiring under the scooter is not frayed, disconnect the wiring e.g. batteries, batteries plugs, spray a little contact cleaner (£2 from Halfords), contacts like to be clean and dry. You're done and you've just saved £75. While ever a scooter is running well, it's best to leave it alone.
And here's the best one, if you get a clicking from the rear end, it sounds like it's coming from the transaxle and some people change the gearbox, in fact it's DRY WHEEL, take the back wheels off, remove the pins from the axle, grease the slots, say goodbye to the clicking.
Scooter Secrets - Tips For Battery Care!
1. Don't pay too much for a pair of batteries, they cost dealers on average £30 a piece, more if larger.
2. When a scooter left parked up i.e. for the Winter make sure you continue to charge it up every 3 to 3 weeks.
3. Avoid interrupting the charge before the end to ensure the battery cleaning process is complete.
4. Give the batteries a good long overnight charge, even for another 4 hrs after the charge complete light shows as they will continue to trickle charge.
5. There really is no need though to charge after short distances. You can charge your scooter every time you use if you want.
6. Be Aware also of Skimming. With the increase in price of lead, some Overseas companies have been decreasing the amount they put in the batteries, thereby reducing their quality & increasing profit.
And
Beware of Cheapo Suppliers!!!
HAPPY SCOOTERING
SYLVIE WRIGHT