Hi one and all, my first post and very late on this thread. Don't buy a mobility scooter here in France, in fact don't buy a new one anywhere is my advice as they don't have much of a value second hand. Have a good look on eBay.co.uk, you wont have to look for long before seeing some serious bargains. I've lived in central Paris for 24 years and now have MS (pp). I'm being very well looked after by the French, and am humbled by how much they help and the generosity in doing what they can - which is not a lot really, not for MS primary progressive, but never mind life is grand. Now electric scooters. An excellent, modern 4 wheeled one will be found in the UK for about £400, vastly less than a new one. I purchased a terrific, as new Pride Celebrity XL8 near Manchester for £400 the other day. I live in Paris.... am I mad? No not really. Flybe flies Paris CDG - Manchester for about €53, and wait for it... If you really are disabled they fly your disability scooter or wheelchair free of charge. I really do recommend them and thank FlyBe for being that generous and for their very helpful, friendly service. So I now have my terrific scooter in the centre of Paris and I feel liberated! Be very careful though, France is a dangerous place to drive at the best of times, we all know that don't we? My own scooter is now bristling with 24 volt high intensity, LED strobing warning lights. You MUST stick to the low speed switch option (4MPH @ 6KM) on the trottoir'. Most French insurers don't seem to have a clue as to what a true disability scooter is, I'm hard on that case now and may yet go through a UK firm. In the meantime I just lovingly pollish it! Don't expect to find a true electric disability scooter that will do more than about !2 mph, or that will take you more than about 15 miles between charges. They are simply not meant for much more than that. Please don't drive one unless you are truely disabled, if you do and are caught by just about anybody you will find yourself disabled faster than you ever thought possible! Road rage has nothing on cripple rage and able bodied drivers will just flatten you (actually they flatten disabled drivers too!) Finally do Google "mobility scooter road accidents" and look at the images - that should put you off the idea forever.
