[E-DOG]

All righty then.
Now that I have everyone's attention, let's get started.

The time has come for the dawg to get mobile. I have a '97 BMW 5 series, but being where as I've gained a pound or two since tragically loosing the use of my legs I'm thinking a van might be easier to get in to, operate etc.

Ah, but which van. I have a rather wide electric chair. A quickie P222se. At least 32 inches wide. So I'll need a van with a wide side door and a ramp or lift big enough to propel my heavily burdened carcass up and into the damn thing.

If I buy the vehicle, before any conversion the VA will do most all the work, lowering this raising that, hydraulic hoozits, electric whatzits.
Everything but the hand controls. And in the end I think I can finagle those out of some unsuspecting fool with to many credit cards.

Can you, the peripatetic paralyzed tell me which would be the best bet? Van. Minivan. Ford or Chevy. Citroen, Dodge, Harley Davidson.
I'll spend as much as 4-6 grand on the van it'self. But I want something reliable, comfy, and with room enough for my porn collection, should I need to boogey on down the road right quick.

Please people. Help me. I cannot do this alone. Try as I might, the odds are stacked against me in so many ways.
Thank you for your time and effort. The one you save, may very well be one of your own.

E

[Yasko]

E-DOG, on Sep 2 2009, 07:17 PM, said:

All righty then.
Now that I have everyone's attention, let's get started.

The time has come for the dawg to get mobile. I have a '97 BMW 5 series, but being where as I've gained a pound or two since tragically loosing the use of my legs I'm thinking a van might be easier to get in to, operate etc.

Ah, but which van. I have a rather wide electric chair. A quickie P222se. At least 32 inches wide. So I'll need a van with a wide side door and a ramp or lift big enough to propel my heavily burdened carcass up and into the damn thing.

If I buy the vehicle, before any conversion the VA will do most all the work, lowering this raising that, hydraulic hoozits, electric whatzits.
Everything but the hand controls. And in the end I think I can finagle those out of some unsuspecting fool with to many credit cards.

Can you, the peripatetic paralyzed tell me which would be the best bet? Van. Minivan. Ford or Chevy. Citroen, Dodge, Harley Davidson.
I'll spend as much as 4-6 grand on the van it'self. But I want something reliable, comfy, and with room enough for my porn collection, should I need to boogey on down the road right quick.

Please people. Help me. I cannot do this alone. Try as I might, the odds are stacked against me in so many ways.
Thank you for your time and effort. The one you save, may very well be one of your own.

E

Hey brother from another mother; Semper Fi.
Currently I own Honda Odyssey 2001 and I love it a lot. It has 115,000 Miles on it and has never been broken so far! I'm not sure is it gonna fit your ass or not, but it has plenty space for 7 people, so having said that, it might be OK fer ya bud.
I used to have Dodge Grand Caravan LE version, big and strong but not reliable at all. I had to fix its freaking transmission two times and was tired of it so I sold it and than bought Odyssey. The Only what I can say now is that my next car is gonna be Odyssey again! These are not cheep but are an awesome cars, so choice is yours brother. Good luck and keep on keepin' on!

[Courtney]

My husband has a 2009 Toyota Sienna....we just got it in June and the VA and voc rehab did all the modifications (floor drop, ramp, locking system etc)......It has all of the bells and whistles-GPS, bluetooth, etc ----plus the dvd player for your porn We absolutely love it! The van came from Superior Van and Mobility and the ramp system is Braun.....Good luck and happy hunting!

[greybeard]

E - Your title scared me so much I was frightened to read any of the messages.
What happened?
You had to buy your own beer?
What?

[Texas Angel Ang]

Courtney, on Sep 3 2009, 09:14 AM, said:

My husband has a 2009 Toyota Sienna....we just got it in June and the VA and voc rehab did all the modifications (floor drop, ramp, locking system etc)......It has all of the bells and whistles-GPS, bluetooth, etc ----plus the dvd player for your porn We absolutely love it! The van came from Superior Van and Mobility and the ramp system is Braun.....Good luck and happy hunting!

Toyota Sienna 2004... haven't had any problems with it (knock on wood) of course I don't drive I have a space opened for my passenger side. My friends all pile up and we call it the party bus. Rockin the minivan!

Now I want a truck but not sure Chevy is adaptable for passenger side lifts. Good luck E and nice title!

[Nia]

Hey E!

I owned a buggy before, my comment is it is not really convenient since the maintainance is almost as high as a car, and what the hell, you never know when it's going to rain.

Well, after thinkin several month, because I was too lazy taking off the damn wheels of my wheelchair (my wheelchair is Japan OX, weight 9kg), I bought myself a '94 BMW 318 cnvertible. It's cheap, and I can put in my wheelchair. It's a cabriolet, so you have plenty of room to lift you wheelchair and throw it wherever in your car, and close the roof, or dont if you dont need to. (I like the feel when everybody sees a young driver in a BMW with a wheelchair, and obviously the driver is a papraplegic ^_^ )

[edlee]

As far as I know, E, the side lifts only have 30 inch wide ramps,, I know my Braun single post lift is that width,, and a friend's double poster is the same. Mine is rated for 450 pounds,,, his for 650.

They make some that are placed in the rear that are wider, but that would mean a raised roof instead of a lowered floor,,, not realy a bad idea. Without the back seats, you could easily roll forward to transfer into the driver's seat,, or possibly drive from your chair.

It would mean a full sized van,,,, and lousy mileage,,, but cost less than a drop floor.

Good luck bro
ed

[Quad65]

I had an '87 GMC conversion van. It died after about 200K miles. During that time, it went from Minnesota to the Black Hills twice, down to Texas and back in mid-summer, and all over the midwest. During its 15 year life and eight years of driving to and from work, it had the tranny rebuilt once, two alternators, a water pump replaced, a radiator replaced, the front suspension re-worked, and several batteries and tire replacements. Oh, and the serpentine belt replaced.

Sounds like a lot of work. But I liked that van.