What brand of wheelchair do you use ?

Knight, DJ, Do you do your own tire maintenance? DJ, I imagine for you that would be difficult? Maybe not so much for you, Knight. Even pumping, or using the device at the gas station, is becoming harder for me--loss of sensation in hands makes me clumsy, and tendons are shredding from RA and long term steroid use.

wavewolf, the only tire maintenance that's done to my tires is filling up air every 2 - 4 months. I know that a long time to wait between fills but I just get it filled whenever I go to physio and remember about my tires. Coming to think of it, I best fill my tires up today since I filled them last sometime last November!

Good to get perspective from you all, Butiki, DJ, Knight! I may try some pneumatic tires next time--Schwalbe Marathon Plus would probably suit well, and seem very durable if costly. Others have recommended your Kobra tires for snow, Knight--you need that where you live!  Getting help even for small things is an issue for me, so will have to make sure I am able to do the air filling myself.

Well I have a Quickie GT. They OT measured me when I was in rehab. I had just gotten my corset off so wasn't super mobile and not too good balance. As far as I know, we don't have the choice for a chair when you don't have a "paying agent". What I mean is here in Quebec if you have a car accident, the SAAQ pays for your chair; if it is a work related accident Workmans Compensation pays for your chair. Everybody (paraplegics like me) start out with a Quickie GT. If you want to upgrade, you just pay the difference between the Quickie GT and the TiLite. Seeing I don't fit into either of those situations, Medicaid (RAMQ) pays for mine but I can't upgrade. The OT also discouraged me from getting a TiLite right away because I didn't really know my needs/wants in terms of height of back of chair, angle of seat and back...

I would like for my next one to be a TiLite. I know a few people who have one and they wouldn't change it for the world. They say it is the Cadillac of chairs.
The guy who sold me my ski equipment also sells TiLites and he gave me a quote for a TiLIte ZRA for 6800$ !! Don't know if that is a good price and it doesn't inclue a 650$ roho cushion. Will save up my money.
I sent the quote to my insurance company to see how much they would pay towards it. They only reimburse 750$ every 5 years!!!

I have a few questions:
How long have you guys been able to keep your wheelchairs before they need to be changed.

Here in Quebec, I don't pay for any maintenance or repairs to my Quickie GT. I even went back to the rehab centre where the 'garage' is and got them to change my tires to something that has more traction for the winter in the snow. They bring in terrible amounts of dirt and snow though. I suppose I will return for my 'summer tires' once the snow melts. The OT's also told me that if I were to get a TiLite, I am on my own for maintenance and repairs. I would have to pay all that.
Is there much maintenance and repairs needed for TiLIte's?

I have some research to do as I don't know the advantages of one versus the other of the TiLite line.

As for the weight of chairs, I believe that mine is like 35 lbs, could that be accurate? When I return to work I will weight myself and my chair and mark it down this time. ;-)