I thought I would update you on the situation regarding my Permobil. I've already mentioned that I received a letter from the UK supplier of Permobil informing me that Permobil would no longer be providing replacement PG8 joystick controls. It seems the letter jinxed me as my existing joystick which was only replaced in September has developed a fault yet again. Thankfully I have got another a wheelchair I can use but that wheelchair is not equipped to use in my van so if I have to rely on it, that screws my driving up completely.

I purchased my Permobil in 2000 which isn't really that long ago. I think this is grossly unfair of Permobil to suddenly stop providing vital components for older models of their wheelchairs. If you purchased a vehicle at the same time wouldn't it be fair to say you would expect spare parts to be available for it for considerably longer than 10 years? Blimey, you can still find spare parts for cars that are 40 years old. My wheelchair cost £13,000, I was expecting to be able to maintain it for at least 20 years but it seems Permobil have put a stop to that.

Ask yourself a question "if you purchase a Permobil in 2010, will vital components still be available in 2020. 10 years may seem a long time, but when you're spending in excess of £10,000, that really isn't a very long time.

As far as I'm concerned Permobil are still responsible for providing me with spare parts and you can rest assure that I am not going to let this matter to rest.  If you own a Permobil Chairman, or any other Permobil wheelchair that you bought 10 years ago then you may well be looking at the same problem I'm having. Don't just ignore the situation because your joystick is working okay, you will be screwed if it suddenly goes wrong, we need to take action now and try and appeal to Permobil that they still have a responsibility to older customers who rely on their wheelchairs.

This is a direct quote from Permobil's own website

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