Van Os Excel Airide

[greybeard]

Hi guys,

http://www.vanosmedical.nl/en/collectio ... 182/ctx-28

At nearly 72 I'm just starting out on my first dealings with the NHS Wheelchair Service as my shoulders no longer function without pain and I don't have unlimited funds to buy a top of the range powerchair. While I'm waiting for my first meeting with the WCS, I'm spending my time doing as much research as I can. One that caught my eye was the Airide range. I've had a good look through the posts but apart from an occasional mention in passing, the Excel Airide doesn't feature much.

I know they are relatively under powered and they will never come up to the standards of the BMs that Burgerman and others build, but I'm an old fella who just needs something to toodle around the house, garden and village and countryside with my dogs that has large air tyres and soft suspension. These chairs seem to tick those boxes. They also claim to be 6mph which is rather better than the 4mph that the WCS is likely to provide. ( I don't think I could persuade the exceptions committee that I had a pressing need for more speed. ). I like the simplicity of the design but not having seen one in the flesh don't know about build quality etc.

I would very much appreciate your thoughts on this range of chairs. The Van Os site doesn't give much information but all three models are shown on the Careco.com site.

Thanks

[greybeard]

Careco.co.uk - not .com.

[Burgerman]

I think they are likely to be as good as any production chair. They are all much the same.

[ex-Gooserider]

Agreed - nothing jumped out at me as being unusual... Looking at the pictures and description, I'd say the swing-aways are a significant downside, but that could be fixed...

The one thing that did look nice to me is that the frame appeared to run above the rear wheels - which makes it a better candidate for a BM style modification than most. No details about how the battery box / center section is built, frame materials and so on, which would say how good a convert candidate it would be in practice, but might be worth considering...

ex-Gooserider

[greybeard]

Thanks guys. I've just acquired a Puma 40 in the end. Arrives next week. Be good to offload this bone shaking Jazzy 1103 that I've been using temporarily.

[Roger]

Hi, Just wanted to share my experience of the Vanos, for a chair in the cheaper range, I suppose you get what you pay for, its powerfull. fast, quiet, smooth, reasonable range....but....the finish is terrible...the after sales is even worse, basically non existent. I live in the Irish republic and service attitudes differ somewhat here, having said that, in the last 6 months I have had 2 occasions where I have stopped into a Vanos dealer, only to be told, not our problem...in Swansea UK. Is this just my experience ? or is it general ?

[Burgerman]

Seems pretty much what we are to expect.

[Roger]

Even to the point I order solid tyres and it came with pneumatic, I had to track down a pair of black solids in Denmark, or go for short term grey solids, no thank you, stupid things like 2 days old and it let me down as the battery leads had not been secured. As its mechanically generally good, I am putting it into a friends workshop for a custom job, but its the attitude of these companies that gets to me.

[ex-Gooserider]

Remember, none of these companies from the manufacturers down to the dealers are used to the idea of the person sitting in the chair as the "customer..." To them the customer is the insurance company / gov't agency that is usually the one that pays the bill for most users.... As long as THAT customer is 'happy' the person in the chair doesn't matter.... And to get an idea of how much the insurance co / agency cares, follow a bovine around with a large sack.... You will get more of a consideration in quantity, if not in kind!

ex-Gooserider

[Sully]

100% truth Goose all that matters is the sale, and then you are on your own. It is that way in the USA and obviously pretty much the same in the UK. With this caveat OCCASIONALLY you run into a company that lives up to their agreements. Maybe we should compare horror stories including names of vendors from your "True" stories, as well as the same for complying and good guys in the business.