Choosing The Right Boot Hoist For You

If you are a wheelchair or mobility scooter user or you regularly transport someone who is, you will know all too well the difficulty of lifting and storing the mobility device into your vehicle.

A boot hoist is the most popular solution as it allows for easy loading, unloading, storage and transport of your mobility scooter, powerchair or wheelchair without needing to change your vehicle.

However, it can be difficult to figure out what type of hoist is right for you, especially if you are looking to upgrade your mobility device and/or vehicle, as there are hundreds of different vehicle and scooter/wheelchair combinations available!

Within our Smart Lifter range, we have three different boot hoists to lift all types of scooters and chairs, including the most powerful hoist on the market (capable of lifting a 200kg powerchair) so there really is no need to compromise on your requirements. The hoist you will need depends on the size and weight of your mobility device and the vehicle that you want to lift it into.

At Autochair we offer all our customers a free home demonstration with one of our nationwide assessment specialists. It allows you to view the hoist in action and try it out for yourself. This gives you the opportunity to get a real feel for the product and ensures it is comfortable, easy for you to use and meets your individual mobility needs.

It’s also important for us to carry out an assessment to ensure we are recommending the correct hoist for you. Because our Smart Lifter range of car boot hoists fit in over 480 different vehicles and can lift hundreds of different wheelchairs, powerchairs and scooters, it means the combinations of car, vehicle, scooter, and chair are almost endless!

Vehicle models and year of manufacture can all be slightly different too, so we need to check the boot area of your own car to ensure that we have the correct measurements so that nothing would obstruct a hoist being fitted. We also need to measure your mobility device and check there is enough room for it to be lifted into the vehicle.

Alternatively, we may be able to offer you a remote assessment instead, where you can view videos online and speak to an assessor over the phone.

If you feel you could benefit from a boot hoist, then you’ll probably have a few questions that you’ll want to ask before making a decision. Get in touch with the team at Autochair for more information or assistance to make sure you choose the right boot hoist.

This is a question we get a lot, but the answer depends on what device is being lifted into the vehicle and on the users abilities. A hoist can be fitted to pretty much any vehicle (we’ve fitted a boot hoist into a Mini before!) but it all depends on what is being lifted in. Sometimes the seat needs to be removed or arms need to be folded/removed and not everyone is able to do this. Even the year the car was built can make a difference, due to changes the vehicle manufacturers sometimes make to either the shape of the boot opening, or they might decide to change the way they build the underneath of the car between model years (and move something important exactly where we need to put the hoist fixings!). This is why we don’t publish a list of suitable vehicles for our hoists. The last thing we want is for a customer to order a car and then they find out down the line their wheelchair or scooter isn’t compatible.

Our technical team really are happy to help and can advise customers on the different vehicles and devices available. After a quick chat they’ll be able to recommend a number of suitable combinations to consider.