Vehicle recommendation for aging parents

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

How tall are your parents? That will be a major deciding factor.

[Earl Sullivan]

My lupus&arthritis ridden sister does well with a subaru outback.

My grandma, however, made sure to buy a house near the university my family traditionally goes to. Us grandchildren just park at her house(faster than finding parking on campus), and drive her around as needed.

[Mac McQuinn]

Entry level, door size & weight plus step over height are all items to be concerned about. That said as mentioned the Scion XB is excellent for all of the above. Other vehicles to look at would be Mini vans, Buick Rendevous, etc. I dealt with a hip issue several years ago and found the "step over" to be a strong factor in entering and exiting a vehicle. A sitting position with commanding view also gives a person more confidence when driving. The angle a dashboard projects into door opening also can make entering a vehicle a breeze or pain(literally" on some vehicles. Before retirement, I use to enter or exit a vehicle 120 times+ in a 8 hour shift, different vehicle every (6) entrance/exits, you learn relatively quick what works and what does not.
Good luck,
Mac

[Greg A Jones]

Charles,

This may be off-base, and I certainly don't mean to offend, but am writing this out of genuine concern for the safety of your parents and others who may be affected. A 3,000 pound car is a potentially dangerous machine and should only be operated by people who have the physical and mental capacity to do so safely. I happen to be an Elder Law attorney and constantly advocate for the rights of seniors to retain their independence. But driving is not a prerequisite to remaining independent. I know it is very difficult, but please try to be as objective as possible in assessing whether it is safe for your father to still be driving. Unless they live in a very remote area, there should be tons of senior services available, including transportation services for your parents to get around. The primary concern is safety, but the cost of a driving service may actually be less than the cost of buying, maintaining, and insuring a car.

Again, no offense intended and it may be that your father's physical limitations have no impact on his driving ability. Based on your description, my intent is merely to raise awareness about a potential safety concern.

Good luck,

Steve

Please forgive me also for taking the same track. However, as my 81 year old mother died this past February in a car accident, this is a subject near and dear to me. She was driving a Mercedes E350 at the time and I doubt there are fewer safer cars on the road. However, she simply failed to see a car coming and was T-boned at 60 mph. Thankfully she never knew what hit her and the folks in the other car suffered only minor injuries. Had she survived, her life would have been unbearable. So, I guess my comment is that before the type car is decided, the big decision is whether the elderly should even be driving in the first place. We knew she was coming to the point where we would have to take her keys - not a day goes by that I don't ask why we didn't.

[Charles Wiggins]

Charles,

This may be off-base, and I certainly don't mean to offend, but am writing this out of genuine concern for the safety of your parents and others who may be affected. A 3,000 pound car is a potentially dangerous machine and should only be operated by people who have the physical and mental capacity to do so safely. I happen to be an Elder Law attorney and constantly advocate for the rights of seniors to retain their independence. But driving is not a prerequisite to remaining independent. I know it is very difficult, but please try to be as objective as possible in assessing whether it is safe for your father to still be driving. Unless they live in a very remote area, there should be tons of senior services available, including transportation services for your parents to get around. The primary concern is safety, but the cost of a driving service may actually be less than the cost of buying, maintaining, and insuring a car.

Again, no offense intended and it may be that your father's physical limitations have no impact on his driving ability. Based on your description, my intent is merely to raise awareness about a potential safety concern.

Good luck,

Steve

Steve,

I appreciate your concerns, and I share them. I am not offended (nor would my father be).
I'd like to point out, that I never said who would be doing the driving. We face the same problem regardless.

[Brian Elfert]

I think that it would be natural for most of us to assume that you are looking for a vehicle for your parents to drive based on the original post.

If you parents won't be driving the vehicle that could change the recommendation. Do both your parents have issues getting in and out of vehicles? Do you need easy access to the rear seat? Many of today's vehicles may be easy to get into the front seats, but the rear seats often have small doors and little leg room. The assumption in a lot of vehicles seem to be that the rear seat is for kids. A minivan might be the best answer if you need easy access seats in the rear of vehicle. I would look for one with power doors as someone with limited mobility is going to have issues with the doors most likely. Luckily, power side doors are almost standard in recent years.

[Jim Becker]

It wasn't clear to me from the OP about who would be driving, but in the end, that's not really the question.

I will say that my parents, who are 82 and 83 respectively and both have some ambulatory challenges due to knee and hip replacements, seem to be able to navigate in and out of Professor Dr. SWMBO's Subaru Outback well. They surprisingly are also able to get in and out of my 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit with just a hair more effort as long as I lower the air suspension to the "park" setting. For my mother, the front passenger seat is the best because of her knee difficulties. My dad also appreciates having an overhead handle to help with entry/exit from vehicles. The net of this is that something that's not way down low is generally better. The seats in many mid-sized SUVs and captains chairs in many crossovers and minivans are also more comfortable because they are a lot more like chairs.

[ray hampton]

. I would look for one with power doors as someone with limited mobility is going to have issues with the doors most likely. Luckily, power side doors are almost standard in recent years.

What do you mean standard, NOBODY mentioned them to me beFORE