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3/5 Features
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4/5 Quality
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5/5 Ease of Use
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3/5 Meets Expectations
Reviewer: william s. from santa barbara, ca
User Details: Not provided
Strengths: I have had the Spinlife Prowler 4-wheel electric scooter for about a month.
I am 91. I live in a city with hilly streets, though not as steep as in San Francisco.
It took my handyman an hour to assemble the scooter,starting with opening the box. I could never have done this myself.
It is handsome in appearance and has attracted compliments from onlookers. The seat and armrest adjustments were very suitable for me; I am 5'10”.
How to read the “power lights” describing the level of charge has always been something of a mystery to me: within a few feet of travel on a full charge the yellow light (middle) seems to be the only one lit. This made me wary at first whether the charge was sufficient for my travel; I have since come to ignore this appearance. My greatest distance accomplished so far is two miles. The scooter easily manages the gradients I encounter. I have been pleased to discover that I can travel to several restaurants, to several markets, to my doctor, to a diagnostic lab and to the CVS Pharmacy.
The scooter's shock absorbers are only minimally effective; if you don't take care to go slow over sidewalk bumps, you'll come home with a very sore tailbone. The sidewalks I travel are often slanted toward the street; I've found it safest to ride on the high side and to lean toward the high side when riding these.
Of course when riding on sidewalks, you have to slow at every driveway to be sure an exiting car will not hit you.
I am very pleased to have found that within whatever speed level is determined by the rotating speed selector wheel, one's speed is adjusted by the degree of pressure on the black handle.
A major defect in this scooter is the horn. Its beep cannot be heard ten feet away. The manufacturer should improve this right away. It is not safe if your presence cannot be made known to those in the vicinity.
A major assist in planning my scooter trips is Google Maps. Using the street level function focusing on a selected area with some enlargements, one can see whether street corners are wheelchair compliant. You don't want to try driving over curbs that are not slanted toward the street. In some instances I have found I can go around this problem by driving across a street mid-block between driveways on opposite sides.
It may be of interest that I purchased and had my handyman install a burglar alarm attached beneath the scooter's seat. Of course it comes with a remote. In wheel-lock mode the possibility of theft may be small, but I feel much more secure having this.
Recently a problem arose I find disturbing and as yet is not fully understood.
Having just stopped after exiting a ramp to the street after a “bump,” the scooter's power failed! The forward and back handles produced nothing.
I had provided for this possibility by having a towing company phone listing in my cell phone (which was not on at the occurrence).
The cell phone did not function properly! I seemed to be in a “dead” zone.
To make a long story short a passerby called a towing company for me, which eventually sent a flat bed truck to the scene. The driver put the scooter in “free wheel” mode, then pushed me while on the scooter toward his truck across the street. Before loading the scooter, we discovered it then operated normally! He followed in the truck as I drove home on the scooter in normal manner. The cost: $50.
What had happened? Spinlife phone techs said the “bump” had partially disconnected the electrical connections beneath the wheelcover, but had reconnected later to enable my return home. They agreed with my supposition that the cell phone deadening was only coincidental and had no bearing.
Today my handyman came and inspected the relevant electrical (red, black, white) connectors. They were as secure as originally arranged. As a special precaution I had him tape-wrap them together.
I think Spinlife does not understand what happened and neither do I. Should such an event happen when one is in the middle of crossing a street, the result could be injury or death.
Weaknesses: Not provided
Reviewed on 02/16/2019
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