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Volume 14, No. 1, Winter 2006 |
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Purchasing a New Adapted Van
Carol E. Barnett
My brother Steve and I were in the market for a new accessible minivan in 2004. Steve is an adult who uses a power wheelchair to get around and we found the adapted minivan to be perfect for us. We had purchased a minivan with a Ricon electronic ramp with a remote control and a lowered floor in 1996 and had our share of problems with the electronics that often failed with no warning. There were several times when the lift would not slide out from under the van and my brother was either trapped in the van or he was outside the van and unable to enter. There is no company in Delaware that can repair this type of minivan, so we were forced to go to either Pennsylvania or New Jersey to find reputable mechanics. Also, the van could never be fixed in just a day or two. Any repair took weeks, at best. Often, parts had to be ordered from the manufacturer in California or actually made by a local machine shop since they were sometimes unavailable. I had to arrange for many a friend to follow me for 30-40 miles so I could drop off the van and leave it there for repairs. Also, we were left without the use of the van for all those weeks as none of the repair shops have vans to rent while you wait.
Since we had experienced all that heartache with our first, fully-equipped minivan, we decided to go slightly more low-tech with our second van. I actually purchased the van on the telephone and found my car loan on the Internet, so it made for a very interesting and unique experience. I worked with Mobility Independent Transportation Systems (M.I.T.S.), Inc. in York, PA and we ordered a maroon Chevy Venture minivan with a Braun Entervan System.
This new van requires me to manually open the sliding door on the passenger side and pull down a lightweight ramp that is mounted and hinged to fit against the door when it is not in use. After Steve enters the van, he moves to the front passenger seat area, as the seat has been removed. His wheelchair is secured in an EZ Lock system. A V-shaped device is placed on the underside of his wheelchair and that device fits into the EZ Lock system mounted on the floor of the van. He can lock himself in, and off we go. The EZ Lock system has its own alarm that will sound if the chair comes loose from the device. That has never happened in over nine years of use. One of the other good decisions I made was to forego the carpeting and just have a rubber material installed on the floor of the van. In the rain and snow, it simply gets a little wet and then dries, without any residue left behind. The cost of a new van is about $43,000. We were lucky enough to have received about $5,000 in rebates so the final cost was about $38,000. Hopefully this van will not require very specialized repair work, and the usual maintenance can be done by a Chevy dealer or a local mechanic.
I went to the AAA website, www.aaa.com, to look into a car loan. The website links to Capital One Auto Loans and I filled out the papers online and was approved for a loan within a day or two. Then the company mailed me some forms to complete and sent me a check for the amount of the loan. We were able to secure a six-year loan at 4.79 percent interest, which was a lower rate than the car dealer could offer. Of course, now we have 72 car payments to make, but just in case we win the lottery along the way, I made sure that the loan could be paid back early with no pre-payment penalty.
We drove the old van to York, PA (about a two hour ride through beautiful horse farm country) and drove home about two hours later with the new van. They made an appointment so they could fit the EZ Lock system that was ordered to my brother’s specific model chair. M.I.T.S. was willing to take our old van and sell it on consignment. Within two weeks, the van was sold and a check was on the way. That made one part of this complex transaction very easy indeed! I did have to register the van at the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicle and had to pay the taxes and other costs (almost $800) that local car dealers usually handle. I was glad I had my checkbook with me that day as I did not realize that these fees had not been paid already.
All in all, this was a pleasant experience and we are very pleased, so far, with our new van, which is now one-year-old. I would highly recommend the dealer we used and would certainly check out the Chevy Venture minivan.
Contact information:
Mobility Independent Transportation Systems, Inc. (M.I.T.S. Corporation)
11448 North Main St. Extended
Glen Rock, PA 17327
(888) VANS-4-YOU
DATI was so impressed with Carol and Steve’s management of a complex van purchase and modification that we asked Carol to share their experience with our readers. Thanks, Carol and Steve!
