Thanks to better technology and parts quality, lift chairs have been lasting longer than ever before.  However, no matter how good the device is when leaving the factory, something is bound to break.  Afterall, a Ferrari dealership still has a parts department, correct?  In the same way that your car can break down or needs maintenance, your lift chair can also break down and will also need maintenance.  When your lift chair breaks, where do you go to get it fixed?

If you're good with your hands, you might be surprised to know that you could fix most common lift chair problems yourself.  The most common user-replaceable parts are the entire lift mechanism, the lift motor, remote control, transformer, battery, and power cord.  If your lift chair needs one of these items replaced, you can save a fortune by doing the repair yourself.

For the longest time, when you needed lift chair parts the only alternative was to go straight to the manufacturer.  Coming back to the car dealership analogy, how does it make you feel when you are forced to buy replacement parts directly from the manufacturer?  Often times, the part costs a fortune but you're left with no alternatives.  These days the situation is much different, and you the consumer have options.

You can still go straight to the manufacturer for parts, if you so choose.  There are a few advantages - you get a 100% authentic part that is designed to the manufacturer's quality assurance practices.  Now, pardon the pessimism, but how much you trust the manufacturer should be directly related to how long the part lasted in the first place.  You'll be forced to pay manufacturer prices, which usually amounts to some 30-50% higher than the competition.

When buying from a third party vendor, you'll be faced with one of two choices:  OEM parts, and OEM-quality parts.  OEM parts are parts that are still made by the manufacturer, but not actually sold by the manufacturer.  OEM-quality parts on the other hand are built up to OEM quality, but are not made by the manufacturer.  As a general rule, OEM parts will cost more than OEM quality parts, but will perform better and last longer.  However, that is not always true, and the unfortunate reality is you won't know how good the part is until you try it.  Regardless of which type of part you buy, you will still save a bundle when compared to buying parts directly from the manufacturer.

If your lift chair breaks down, do not wallow in despair just yet.  Repairs are possible and might not cost as much as you think - you just need to be a little handy and know where to get the parts.