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Wilk

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48
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Lost a loved one
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02/2012
Country
US
State
MA
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Winchester
Hi everybody.

I am a tall person (6' 2") and have a Permobil M300 power wheel chair on order and am looking for a wheelchair conversion side entry minivan, buying used if possible. Any advice and experience folks have would be greatly appreciated, especially about three things:
1- will a minivan work for me? I definitely prefer a minivan to a full size van. I also know there are newer 14" deep drop (I hope I am describing this correctly) minivan conversions available, but does anyone have experience about taller people like myself fitting into the regular 10" drop minivan conversions? Seems like there are so many more of those for sale used and they are less expensive than buying new. I do plan to test different minivans, but any experience people have with this would be a great help. If I have to go with the deeper drop I will, but not if a regular 10" drop will work. And anyone with experience with the Permobil M300 working in these minivans?
2 - What about the different brands and styles of side entry conversions, are different conversions better than others?
3 - What experience and insights do people have about buying used? What is the best way to go about buying used, where to look for the best deals, what to expect, dealers vs private parties. What about used vehicles advertised on the internet out of state, and you can’t see it in person?

Thanks in advance.
 
If there is a conversion van dealer near you, I suggest you go and try out the two dropped floor versions and see if the 10" works for you. I have had two Braun side-entry conversions. I've had good experiences with Braun and their service reps. The first was a 1999 Chrysler Town and Country that I purchased over the Internet and recently I bought a 2012 T&C, both with 10" drops. I am 5'9". The early one had considerably more head clearance inside than the 2012 because the new one has added a DVD monitor attached the ceiling. I will likely never use this feature but it drops the clearance by an inch or two.

If you buy sight unseen over the Internet, I recommend you be patient and get what you want at a fair price and have the seller take it to a dealer of your choice to inspect the car on your behalf before buying.
 
I'm 6'4" and in process of getting a used Braun Entervan®XT minivan from a local dealer. Interior ht is 61" in the center and 60" in the driver or passenger seating area. (As if I could drive, LOL) Entry door is slightly higher at 56 1/2. I have a Permobil C300 and have the elevator seat. Normally my seated height is 61" in a pretty upright position. So, I figure that leaned back a little, which I prefer, would be fine. A better choice than some other I think.

Have someone measure your height in your wheelchair and see what you think.
 
My husband was 6'1". We had the 2010 Honda Odyssey with the Northstar conversion. I never had a problem getting him in the van or with the headroom. Excellent vehicle.
 
I can tell you about our unfortunate and extremely embarrassing online van purchase, but I'm not proud of our decision to buy without an independent mechanic going over it prior to purchase. We wanted an AWD minivan with a lift on the side, which seems to be a rarity. There are lots of used full sized AWD vans for sale, but not minivans. Plus we wanted an older, reasonably priced vehicle. After over a year of looking on craigslist for something at home or along the west coast, we bid on and won an AWD Chevy Astro van in Philadelphia. Great idea, huh? (Notice we live in Alaska), Our college age son who is in school in Portland was looking for a car around the same time and we strongly urged him to have it inspected by a mechanic, but we didn't follow our own advice. What were we thinking?! We did get it for a good price, but we have almost doubled the cost with repairs that haven't yet fixed the problems. At least the lift part works well!

I think it is possible to get a good vehicle sight unseen IF you take the precautions that we decided to ignore. There are many things we would do differently.
 
Hey all

Thanks for the advice on the minivan. We're planning to go out now with the chair and test some of these minivans to see what will work.
 
Only slightly off topic.
Has anyone here had any experiance with the Ford Transit (or somthing similar)? My wife was just fitted for a power chair yesterday, and while I was helping the guy put his demo chair back into the van it dawned on me how simple it loaded in. Just a portable ramp up to the rear. The driver kind of raved about it, but theres no question it looks more like a commercial type van. I looked a bit online and the prices seem pretty low, and the avg MPG looks good too compared to most vans. We will be looking into it soon, but if anyone here has any info we would love to hear it.

Gary
 
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