Thinking of buying (or selling) a stairlift online?

Here are a few important things to look out for. 

Stairlifts can be divided into two distinct categories, straight rail and curved rail.

Straight rail units are usually pretty straight forward to fit as long as all the parts are included. Be carefull to ensure the rail is long enough, you need a rail which will reach from the top step nose to the lower floor and then add about 4" to ensure you can get a correct seat height at the top. If your steps are not all in line and of similar tread and riser dimensions be carefull, there is not a lot of adjustment on the stair fixing brackets, if you think you can miss a bracket out, think again. If you do then the seat will lean forward and, if the rail is jointed at the middle, the joint will deform and you will end up with a seat drive unit that sticks in the middle. Modern units have a safety brake and overspeed governor. If the unit is removed or transported with the drive still mounted to the rail there is a good chance one of these will be activated, dont panic, on the vast majority of lifts you only need to manually wind the drive upwards for about 4" to re-set it (make sure you get the winding handle, ALL straight stairlifts have one). Some units out there do not have an overspeed governor, if so it does not comply to British Standards. This is not a legal requirement, however it is a cost cutting excercise by some manufacturers when selling to "private" buyers (local authority buyers will only buy B.S. compliant lifts for insurance purposes). Older units will be driven by a 240 volt mains supply and will have a trailing cable from the control box to the seat, avoid these like the plague. Even stairlift engineers hate working on them, if the cable is damaged you are looking at several hundred pounds for a replacement, many are fitted to a sprung cable drum which you cannot buy separately and fault finding can be a nightmare. A battery driven unit is the better option which recharges automatically at the top and bottom of the rail. Plus you can get new batteries from third parties at sensible prices, if the need arises. Beware of battery units that have not been used for some time, if the batteries are allowed to fully discharge then they might not charge back up properly, and if they do then their operating life will be reduced substantially. The good news is that competition between stairlift manufacturers in the U.K. is very keen (most of the worlds big names are U.K. companies) so this in turn means that modern units are extremely reliable and there are some good prices available to cash buyers. 

Curved rail stairlifts are a completely different kettle of fish, the chances of taking a curved rail out of one house and refitting it in another are extremely thin, even if the houses are in the same street with "identical" stairs. If the dimensions of the new staircase varies by as little as 25mm then you have potential problems, if the angles of each flight dont match exactly then forget it, even if the rail can be forced and packed into place the seat will lean one way or the other. Also many modern units run on a memory chip or flash card that is programmed to make the lift change speeds on corners and tell it when to stop. If you cut the rail the lift doesn't know you have, and it will continue to operate as if it was on the original shape and size rail. You can get the manufacturer to change the programme (if you are lucky) but it will cost you, charges can be around £150 upwards for this service, as the manufacturer sees this as a potential lost sale of a new lift.

Also servicing and spare parts for any stairlift can be daunting. Manufacturers will often only supply parts to Authorised Dealers who have been product trained, this is quite understandable as an untrained amateur can cause hundereds of pounds worth of damage just by touching the circuit boards (many dont like everyday static). The Dealers will often only agree to repair a lift if they have fitted it, or if they service and inspect it first (cash register kaa-ching again)!

Finally, remember, you get what you pay for. If you pay a couple of hundred quid for a stairlift don't expect a repair, service or warranty from the seller, it isn't going to happen. If you pay upwards of £600 for supply and installation then make sure you get at least 3 months warranty (if it's going to blow a board it will usually happen within a month or two). Check it's age, all lifts have a manufacturers label and a serial number, some also have the month and year of installation. Phone the manufacturer, they will be able to tell you how old the unit is. The older the lift, the more difficult to find spare parts AND someone who remembers how to fix them.

It's not all doom and gloom, there are some genuine bargains out there, just ensure you see the lift working before you pay, try it empty and with weight on it, and try to rock the seat from side to side and back and forth, if it moves about more than the wife on pay day, give it a miss.

One last fact, most people can get a grant for a new stairlift, it's called a Disabled Facilities Grant, if they have a recognised disability or mobility problem. Contact your local Social Services for information, you could end up getting a new stairlift for free.