If you have the need to purchase a wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) we will be there to help and guide you. We will be there all the way to ensure you make the decisions to fulfill your requirements.
What to think about…
To start you on your way, here are a few of the initial decisions.
Different WAVS
Model variations of wheelchair accessible vehicle give a wide choice of options, petrol or diesel, manual or automatic, leather or fabric interior and all the other options associated with normal vehicles.
How many seats?
How many seats do you require besides the wheelchair passenger? There are numerous seating combinations that can be obtained but always think of the wheelchair passenger first. You will also have to remember that the more seats required the larger the vehicle will be.
Is this your main vehicle?
Consider whether the vehicle you are buying is going to be your primary family transport or just for occasional use of taking the wheelchair occupant out. Vehicles bought solely for a disabled person’s use, depending on the allowances that the person receives may be eligible for zero road tax or a reduced rate. We will provide you with information to assist you with establishing eligibility.
Ramps and winches
Most WAVs are fitted with access ramps at the rear of the vehicle. With these vehicles you are required you to wheel the person in the wheelchair up the ramp and secure them within the vehicle. If you feel it may be a struggle to push the user up the ramp we would advise that you purchase one of our vehicles that have an electric winch fitted. We do have the facilities to fit electric winches to vehicles, meaning that if you see a vehicle you like but it does not have a winch we can adapt it accordingly.
The ramp width on vehicles varies, this is why we supply the following in our listings.
- the wheelchair access width
- the access door height
- the wheelchair length (this dimension can vary because often the footrest on the chair can go further forward than our measurement indicate)
- the height when inside (you definitely don’t want your passenger having their head touching the roof!)
Lifts
With some of the larger vehicles an alternative option to the ramp is a wheelchair lift, this means you push your wheelchair passenger onto the lift, take them up and push them straight in. These lift are mainly fitted to van based conversions.
Passenger up-front
One of the options that you may not be aware of is to have your wheelchair passenger alongside you whilst you’re driving, there are a few adaptions called passenger up-front where this is possible. We try to keep at least one of these in stock, however if we do not have stock we can always source one for you.
Can you still drive it yourself?
Just because a person is in a wheelchair it does not necessarily mean that they cannot drive. There are several conversions available where they can drive from their wheelchair.
What’s next?
With all these considerations to make we like to provide a personal service to ensure that all questions are asked and combinations tested, it is never a problem for use to make a home visit and demonstrate a vehicle in the privacy of your home, sometimes we don’t come up with the ideal vehicle first visit but we normally have all your requirements sorted by the second.
For more help and advice on purchasing and hiring a wheelchair accessible vehicle, please contact us.
