They say that the rails are tailored to every staircase, and the manufacture is the main expense. Sounds reasonable. All the same, 12k€ to buy ==> 1.5k€ to take back was a bit of a kick in the teeth.
In which case (and this sort of lack of planning is a bugbear of mine) staircase designs ought to be standardised, for ease of adding such things later. People always assume disability is something that happens to Other People.
The stairlift rails aren't really tailored to the staircase, more assembled out of a range of available parts.
There are many ways that the stairlift companies use to kill the second-hand market.
1) Parts, like odd bits of rail, aren't available.
2) Each stair lift needs to be taught the slope and curves, both changes in slope and direction, and oddities like moving rails. The method of teaching the lift is, of course, considered too difficult to be revealed on websites.
3) Stairlifts run from batteries, and only use the mains to charge the batteries. The charging circuits are crap and overcharge the batteries so they die in a few years but if you turn off the power, and the batteries go flat, the stairlift forgets the slope.
4) The "safety" card can be played at any time.
Add that to the fact that stairlifts are a distress purchase, and have to work reliably, and there's no room for a spare one, and the market for tinkering is just about non-existent.
