Used Disabled and Wheelchair Cars For Sale Bristol and Somerset
Buying a used car to carry a wheelchair for the first time? For many people buying their first wheelchair accessible vehicle can be a very daunting prospect so I have come up with 5 key items you should consider and hopefully get you pointing in the right direction.
Buy Your Used Disabled Vehicle – UK Nationwide, Bristol and Somerset
By far the best and easiest way to transport a mobility scooter is to buy a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Just because the vehicle is called a wheelchair accessible vehicle or wav it does not mean it cannot be used for other purposes. Read more about the Click and Collect a WAV Car offer that’s currently live, call for details and free, friendly advice on 01934 820077 or send a message online today.
Sell Your Used Wheelchair friendly cars – Part Exchange UK Nationwide
If you have a WAV that you’d like to sell or part-exchange get in touch. At Michael Harraway Cars we are always on the lookout for quality low mileage wheelchair accessible vehicles. We can offer a quick and easy transaction and save you the time and hassle of selling privately. If you have a vehicle you’d like to sell or part exchange, even if it’s not a disabled or Wheelchair accessible car you can find more details and a quote form here. Sell my car
What Size Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle
Probably the most important decision you will have to make is how big a vehicle you will need. This will primarily depend on how much space the wheelchair passenger will require to be comfortable inside the vehicle and how many additional passengers you will need to carry. It is also worth considering if any additional equipment will need to be carried within the vehicle if any.
So, the obvious choice might be to buy a wheelchair accessible vehicle bigger than you need and yes having a little bit more space can be a good thing but remember that a bigger vehicle will require a larger parking area and will be more awkward to manoeuvre in tight spaces. Additionally, it will be more expensive to purchase than the equivalent age smaller vehicle and will have increased fuel and maintenance costs.
On the flip side Buying a wheelchair accessible that is too small for your needs will not only be less comfortable for the wheelchair passenger but will make the whole experience of owning a wheelchair accessible vehicle less enjoyable and may even prevent you from using the vehicle to its full potential.
A very popular sized wheelchair accessible vehicle that we sell is the Peugeot Partner and the Citroen Berlingo. These seem to offer a good balance between being easy to drive and manoeuvre yet still offer enough space for most push along wheelchairs and some electric wheelchairs. However, if you have a large electric wheelchair a larger vehicle such as a Peugeot Expert, Peugeot Boxer, Renault Master would be more suitable.
How many people do I need to carry in the vehicle?
The next item to consider is how many additional passengers you need to carry within the vehicle and how often you will be transporting a wheelchair passenger. This is necessary because there are a lot of different wheelchair accessible vehicles available in a variety of different seating configurations to accommodate additional passengers. There are even some that offer a flexible seating arrangement whereby you simply fold up some of the seats when you need to carry a wheelchair passenger. This can be very beneficial to someone who only needs to transport a wheelchair passenger occasionally, but the rest of the time requires a normal car.
It is important to be honest and differentiate between how many people you would like to carry, and how many people you need to carry in the vehicle. Let me explain if you opted for a popular wheelchair accessible vehicle such as a Peugeot Partner or Citroen Berlingo these can generally seat up to three people including the driver plus the wheelchair passenger. However, if you decided that occasionally you might like to carry five people plus a wheelchair passenger you may have to consider purchasing a Volkswagen Caddy Maxi that has two seats in the front, three seats in the middle and the wheelchair Passenger sits behind them in the rear. This works well while there are five people in the vehicle but if 99% of the time there is only the driver and the wheelchair passenger in the vehicle then they might feel very separated with the driver up the front and the wheelchair passenger sat alone in the rear behind a row of empty seats. While if you sacrifice occasionally not having the additional seating and purchased the Peugeot Partner or Citroen Berlingo then the wheelchair passenger would be sat just behind the driver which might be the preferred option.
Position of the Wheelchair Passenger
Wheelchair accessible vehicles are designed for the needs of wheelchair passengers and are available with a variety of different locations to where the wheelchair passenger is positioned within the vehicle. The most common is what is known as a rear wheelchair passenger. This is where the wheelchair passenger is positioned somewhere behind the front seats. However, you can also have upfront wheelchair passenger this is where the wheelchair passenger sits in the front alongside the driver. For those wheelchair users who can drive and drive from wheelchair, conversion is also available.
There are no rules to which one is best it is just down to personal preferences and what works best for you. It is worth noting that generally, any upfront wheelchair passenger vehicle will be more expensive than the equivalent rear wheelchair passenger this is because of the additional conversion costs.
Do you need a winch
Some wheelchair accessible vehicles are fitted with an electric winch. The electric winch is used to pull the wheelchair and wheelchair passenger into the vehicle. These can be essential for someone who finds it difficult to push the wheelchair up an incline, remember that to load the wheelchair into the vehicle involves pushing it up a ramp and into the vehicle. If you have an electric wheelchair a winch isn’t necessary because the wheelchair can drive up the ramp.
Can I operate the Wheelchair ramp?
This is an important consideration when buying a wheelchair accessible vehicle. Different wheelchair accessible vehicles have different styles of ramps, some are longer than others but offer a reduced incline that can be helpful when pushing the wheelchair passenger into the vehicle. But these longer ramps are often heavier than the shorter equivalate. Fortunately, many ramps are fitted with a hydraulic strut very similar to those used to keep the tailgate open on a vehicle these make the ramp much lighter and easier to manage.
The List of requirements for your used disabled and wheelchair cars
I often recommend to my customers that they write down a list in order of importance of the requirements they are going to need from a wheelchair accessible vehicle and then highlight the items that are must haves. For example, if you can only drive an automatic then this needs to be highlighted at the top. The reason I ask my customers to do this is because sometimes as you get down the list it can be a bit of trade off of features when looking for the right vehicle
Used Disabled and Wheelchair accessible cars for sale Bristol and Somerset
If you are in the market for a used wheelchair accessible vehicle or have a question regarding a WAV vehicle, please do contact us. At Michael Harraway Cars we always have a large selection of wheelchair accessible vehicles available in stock and are always on hand to offer help and advice and to discuss your individual requirements. We are based on the outskirts of Weston super Mare in the small village of Banwell. Situated on the main A371 and less than 10 minutes from Junction 21 of M5.
