Mobility Works

We purchased a new mobility van. Yes ANOTHER one! I know we just got one last year, but the ramp was manual and it has become difficult for me to raise and lower since I broke my back. Plus, I wanted Jamey in his wheelchair up front with me instead of by himself in back. I swore we'd never go through the excruciating process of buying another van, but necessity dictated! The process is challenging to say the least.

I'm not gray, I'm dark blue!

I took Jamey down to Mobility Works a couple of weeks ago, to try out several van configurations to be sure his chair would work. Since the closest MW to us in Sacramento it takes a good hour and a half to get there. We have a wonderful sales guy, Joe, who had everything set up for us before hand. Jamey tried 3 different vans. The VMI had the most room in it for easy turning (he needs to enter up a side ramp, turn the power chair in a tight circle, back up slightly, and drive into the front passenger's side, to be locked into place). But it had some issues that would cause problems down the road. The other two brands, Toyota and Dodge had comparable interiors but they each offered something different. After some discussion, we decided on the Dodge Grand Caravan. We have had those as conversions in the past and they have served us well.

Aside from the obvious wheelchair issue, it's more work for us to purchase a van than it is for the average person. First of all, I cannot do a test drive because I require hand controls to drive a vehicle. That makes it a bit of a crap shoot. In addition, once we decide on a van (a job in and of itself), we must mentally add to the price to have the hand controls installed. The installation takes about 5 hours (this time it took 7) because they take the controls out of our old van and install them into the new van. That saves us a little $.

Accommodations for the wheelchair are almost as complicated. If we decide we want to lock in Jamey the most secure way possible, we need to have an EZ-lock system put into the van.That takes about 3 hours and can't be done the same day as the hand controls. In addition, every power chair he owns (he has 2 currently) will have to have a special apparatus attached to the bottom, to catch the EZ--lock and snap it into place. That system is additional too.  We've opted to wait for the new power chair before installing it. Meanwhile, we will lock him into place with straps that attach to the floor. (Don't tell anyone he's into this bondage thing).They did take the EZ-lock out of our old van and gave it to us in case we want to put it in later. That will save us some money in the long run too. Always a good thing. 😉

So, the next step was to find a used van that had everything on it we needed. I also wanted something NOT WHITE. I know it seems like a silly request and shouldn't even be considered, but really, I'm just tired of white. The last two vans we've had have been white. Unfortunately, the converted van availability is 98% white, so Joe had some searching to do.

It didn't take him as long as we thought it would! So we are the proud new owners of a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan with everything automatic (that was the point after all). It was half the price of a new one ( the trade-in helped). Let's just say the quote for a new one was 6 figures. I saw that first quote and thought, 'Used is good. Yeah, let's go with used.' It's still an outrageous amount for a mini van, but when you're in this situation, you have to go with what works.

All in all, the process took us about 3 weeks, and several trips to Sacramento, but we survived (although Jamey as been asleep since we got back 5 days ago LOL). I will never go through the excruciating process of buying a van again.

I know...Never Say Never.