I am 19 years old an in a wheelchair, and I need a car desperately - for school, daily errands, meeting friends and my job. I want to buy a van that is suitable to carry an Invacare electric wheelchair. I will need a ramp and hopefully can use the chair as the driver's seat. Need to keep the costs down, but would like a fairly new vehicle. Is it better to get one already converted or buy new and have it converted? I live in Georgia and am on disability (SSI).
Best answer:
Answer by JMITW
will you be working once you get a college degree? if so contact vocational rehab, they may help with expenses..
a cheap almost new van is at least $ 30,000...usually they are show room specials....nowadays they actually come right off the line with some adaptations such as lowered floor and ramp.....
also, have you looked into insurance costs as well as budgeted for repairs and gas to make sure you can afford it at all?
I use a portable ramp--but its not long enough for the person to be on the chair while it goes in the van (plus the floor isn't lowered).....and you need to be able to get out of the chair to do it...
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I just bought a new Ford Transit Van wagon and had it adapted with a lift for $ 26,000. This includes extra warranties, all service for first 100,000 miles, and tire replacement. I than bought a portable ramp for my moms wheelchair for $ 300. Can't do much better than that.
ReplyDeleteGo to http://www.cars.com and type in "Wheelchair converted Van". It'll be MUCH cheaper to buy one already converted.
ReplyDeleteThe only other option is to find a charity that'll donate $ $ to convert a van and then you can go buy a new one to be converted.
Do you have insurance? Sometimes they'll pay for some (or, if you're lucky, all) of the conversion costs.