Hi Cossie,
Sorry to hear about your mum, sounds like she’s been through a rough time of it
So I guess it depends on what you’re looking for really, the market is heavy with Caddys, Berlingos and Doblos where the wheelchair user
sits in the back like a taxi.
Then there are the same vehicles with a “sit up front” conversion where your mum could stay in her wheelchair whilst travelling beside your dad as he drives and personally if it were me that’s the option I’d want as it’s much more “normal” than being sat a way back in the third row.
The smaller WAVs compromise in boot space - you basically don’t get any as it’s all lost by accessing the vehicle via the tailgate, apart from the
Transit Tourneo Connect and some
Doblos that have a nifty wee side ramp conversion.
The same goes for the larger rear ramp access vans like Transporter, Transit & V-Class though, but there’s a bit more wiggle room to store stuff down the sides I suppose.
Obviously I’m biased in that I’m always going to say a Transporter variant with a side cassette lift is the best option out there but I realise not everyone is as devoted to the Bulli as I lol.
The other option is to go for a
Turny Evo seat - keep the car your parents have and just have a motor installed that brings the passenger seat out and round for her easy access. There are a good few on eBay just now and any auto electrician will be able to help you sort it’s installation.
As for companies and how to source the car, you’re right, Motability isn’t what the general public thinks it is. It’s certainly not the case that you get “a free car” and the ability to have choice over what you get, for how long and how you use it is seriously compromised. So I agree, if you can go for it independently then that’s sensible.
The conversion companies sometimes have ex-demo or cancelled orders for sale, mine was a
Lewis Reed and personally I think they’re one of the better firms out there. (Others are
GM Coachworks,
Brotherwood,
Brook Miller and
Allied) many ex-motability vehicles then also make their way to WavMob, eBay and the big auction houses like G3.
An ex-motability WAV or a Conversion company used approved will be in as good a condition as you could want, often with low mileage and FSH, and then it’s just a matter of knowing how to service your lift/ramp going forward.
For example for my T5.1 the side lift is an AMF K90 and it’s serviced by
Alfa Tail Lifts who come to the house every six months (can’t really be bad to that!) and although theoretically any insurance company will insure it, there are disability specific insurers out there like
Fish who give an agreed value/commitment to replace the adaptations in a loss or damage which is a big deal obviously.
The reason I said earlier that Lewis Reed are one of the better firms imo is because if you look at
This T5 conversion by GM Coachworks, the rear seats they’ve put in to fold up so the wheelchair user can get past aren’t exactly Caravelle spec…!
Whereas
this much nicer example has all the spec you’d expect of a Caravelle but with a discrete lift and anchoring points so a wheelchair user can travel in their chair once in the vehicle.
So it’s up to you, lots of choice but hopefully you’ll find something without too much trouble
.
