Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this chair in April for my husband to use when we're away from the house. He's the driver of the family, but he can't stand up or walk on his own. Previously we'd been using a Shoprider Dasher (I say 'we' because I'm the one who packs and unpacks the mobility devices and helps him transfer in and out of the car). The Dasher is great, for a scooter, but separates into 4 pieces that have to be assembled and then disassembled to get it back into the car. It's a hassle, so I went looking for a decently solid, folding wheelchair that wasn't too heavy to get into the back of a Subaru Forester. I'm female and barely 5 ' 1.5", so I wasn't looking forward to hefting 56 pounds in and out of the car, but the other options we looked at either had bad reviews, or didn't seem safe enough. And overall, the Forcemech seemed like it might be pretty cool. I won't lie, initially I was extremely disappointed with the purchase (and some things I didn't like I still don't, which is why this doesn't get 5 stars). Because of the nature of my husband's disability, as well as to make it possible, let alone not too difficult, to get him in and out of the car from the wheelchair, the height of the seat from the ground is extremely important (We use a Beasy Transfer Board and a transfer belt). The website said the chair was 19 inches from the ground to the bottom of the chair seat. It is not. It's barely 18 inches to the TOP of the seat, and that's with the cushion. If I'd known that ahead of time I honestly wouldn't have bought a Forcemech. We didn't even use it for weeks because of its size, until we figured out a workaround. Other things I hated (and still am not thrilled with): the footrest folds up and down, yes. It absolutely does not come off, fold out of the way or take up any less space in front up or down. This means that I am stuck with basically climbing over my husband when I'm trying to get him into the car, in order to find a place to put my feet to get any leverage for pulling him into the driver's seat. I've gotten better at this with practice, but it's not easy and it's not fun. I've been considering replacing the screws holding the footrest in place with hitch pins so I can take the damn thing off, but since we've made it work I don't want to mess with it. (We had to take the cloth storage bag off so I could step in the space it occupied behind the footrest, which means we can't carry anything in the chair that won't fit in my husband's lap. Not a big thing, but not awesome either.) Unless I'm missing something, there is no way to keep the chair from unfolding unless you hold it footrest side up, but if you do that, the folded back arms will fall and bang against the ground. It's a fascinating balancing act, and not one I've become terribly fond of. The plug for the battery comes out very easily. Check that it's in securely every time you unfold the chair, or you or your loved one might end up stranded when it pops out. NOT FUN. The fact that you're required to strip the back pad and the cushion off the chair before you fold it. I've stopped taking the back pad off because otherwise I will literally be standing behind the car for twenty minutes trying to get the damn thing back on straight. Luckily you can fold the chair without removing the back pad. It doesn't fold quite as flat, but you don't have to put the pad back on. (It's also remotely possible that the chair won't unfold so easily without the back pad. I can't remember from the couple times I took the pad off initially, because I was too frustrated trying to get it back on straight.) Now, lest you start wondering why I gave this chair as much as four stars since I apparently fear and loathe the thing, not so! I have, over the past several months--and honestly, much to my own shock--come to like it *better* than the Shoprider scooter, which I honestly never thought would happen. Here's why: You have just the chair and the cushions to put in the back of the car. That's it. Not the seat, the battery, the back wheels and the main chassis. It folds very easily (though I wish it didn't unfold so easily when you're trying to lift it), without requiring turning a knob to lower the handlebars. This makes it quicker to get in and out of places, and means there are fewer pieces to forget, something I definitely appreciate. Transferring my husband from the car to the chair is a lot easier than transferring him from the car to the scooter. The reverse with the chair, however is an exercise in acrobatics and hilarity, because of the lack of space for me to put my feet because of the damn footrest. The battery stays charged forever. Seriously. We've started using the chair every time we go anywhere and he needs to leave the car, and the battery is still nearly full. I'm a little concerned I'll have forgotten where the cord is by the time we actually need to use it. The arms rotate all the way back and out of the way. This is ideal to get my husband in and out of the chair, and makes it a lot easier to sit at normal sized tables. So far we've only used this chair indoors and on cement, so I can't speak to how well it might work on gravel, grass or dirt. Nor does my husband trust it on particularly steep inclines or very uneven pavement, but that may be part of the learning curve. We don't mind keeping the scooter for the heavier-duty activities, and the streamlined, much cooler wheelchair for everyday stuff. Bottom line: If you can sit down and stand up from a regular-height chair on your own safely, and you or your faithful companion can lift 56 pounds without risking a hernia, this chair is ideal. If you need help transferring from a chair to a car or other surface, and if 56 pounds is an impossibility, give this baby a pass.