Car Adaptions

Hi Paula

I know of a few car companies that do adapted vehicles although not quite what you want it may be worth ringing them to see if they can help or tell you were to go.

Lewis Reed Group
Allied Mobility
Brotherwood
Automotive Group

The Independant living and Naidex shows are also good to go to and look at cars with adaptations. and you can sometimes test drive the drive from wheelchair conversions.

Just missed the April Birmingham Naidex but the glasgow one is in October and London in September.

There is more Auto wavs this time than what they had out the last time I car shopped. the Kangoo comes with Auto gear box and Ive seen one with a rear electric ramp. The new Fiat Qubo looks nice as well

can t see a date for the Independant living show but they seem to have a virtual show on their main web pages.
the caddy converted by sirus looks good. in this version you can go in via a rear ramp and then transfer to the drivers seat from inside the car. personally this would be a better option for me as my feet and ankles dont like doing ramps. also seen a caddy with side ramp.

http://www.independentliving.co.uk/exhibition/sirus.htm

another option is a rear lift but this is getting more expensive again and I would imagine you would need a much bigger car only seen the joey lift once and it was in either the kia sharon or sedona.

I got a really good demo on hand controls from techmobility but motability opted to go to a different company. techmobility was the only company I could find that had a auto demo car to try handcontrols in. and only one of 2 companies that I could get to come at all. I think I would have been happy with the work had they got the job. they also have a good video of a woman who uses a wheelchair doing a demo of handcontrols on their web pages.

Posted a reply in the “Ask the Team” forum before I noticed it in here as well.
viewtopic.php?f=20&p=4131#p4131

Just one more question… Do I get the car first and the adaption afterwards or get both sorted out simultaneously?

Well… If its a Motability car and you are getting a grant from them you have to order the hoist via the car dealer once you’ve decided on what make and model for both. The car dealer then deals with the hoist company direct to arrange fitting. It can of course be added or changed later in the car contract but you would have to get permission I don’t know if you get help paying for adaptations once the 3 year contract is started. If your asking for a motablity grant put your request in ASAP as they get busy times.

Make sure the hoist guy knows what chair (size and weight) you have and what cars you are looking at. and if you can, try your chair in the boot. not all sales guys are keen on this. grab an able family member and try it when the sales teams not looking. so you have an idea where things will sit.

If your buying the car yourself or getting a preloved car then the hoist can be fitted whenever you decide. But personally if it’s a new car, I would ideally want to order both together so that you can be sure that the car you want will have enough room for your hoist and chair.

C4 and Ford Grand Cmax both good size. I have ordered the Grand Cmax(the sliding doors, heated windscreen and electric tailgate swung it for me) but you could get a electric tailgate added to the C4 as an adaptation. The Citroen C4 was really good value for money regards the up front deposit on the motabilty scheme and is a really good size.

I ordered my Grand Cmax in March and I should have been about ready to collect but it has been delayed due to the Japan thing. now been given a build date of August:?

Hoist fittings….. Ask the guy what other clips they have. I have seen a hoist with a seat belt type clip. So you just need to clunk it in, rather that fight with a metal clasp. I would strongly recommend a 4 way hoist over the 2 way hoist, having used both the 4 way is much better. I couldn’t use the 2 way by the end of my last contract.

:geek: cat :ugeek:

another big long story from the Cat. just as well theres not a word limit

@jumay wrote:

Hi Guys
Read your posts with interest. I am just about to order a Grand Ford CMax. Only yesterday, I was told that I would need to have an electric wheelchair weighing around 85-100kg- unfortunately I am now worried that by the time a hoist is fitted, there won’t be any room for the wheelchair to be lifted into the car. Does anyone know of anyone who has a Grand Ford C Max and is able to use a hoist to lift an electric wheelchair into it. I know this post is a bit vague on the details of the wheelchair but I have no other information and I need to urgently go ahead and order a car.
Many thanks.

hi, I have a Grand CMax with hoist. Fitted by a company called PL Mobility, think the hoist itself is an Autochair hoist. At the Minute my hoist lifts a power scooter (go go elite) with abit of wiggling my mum can also squish in my manual chair if we need the back seats. the hoist can be lowered a bit to allow visibility of the rear window and to allow boot to shut. the hoist fits snuggly to the right hand side of the boot.
TheFord grand cmax comes with fold down seats in the boot. mine had to be removed and a reinforced floor put in boot. The middle row back seats slide forward to make boot bigger. Still room for storage behind hoist that I can reach from behind the rear passenger seat.

The ford has a good height roof in the boot, visibility will really depend on how much your chair back folds. I can fold the back rest of scooter down once hoist is finished lifting in. My indoor chair also fits (micro mambo) in boot in one piece ( I am saving up to buy a second lifting bracket for this chair)

I love my Grand Cmax my most accessible car so far. Mine has the Automatic closing tail gate and electric rise in driver seat.
I got my first push pull hand control in this car.

I will try and post a picture of the boot.

take care
Cat

There is an organisation for disabled motorists [DISABLED MOTORING UK] which you can join for £20 a year and they send you a monthly magazine which has nformation about vehicles, benefits, access and equipment. You can also email the people who run the organisation for help on various motoring related issues [as I have done] and they are helpful. Here’s the link:

http://www.disabledmotoring.org/membership/membership

Sybylla

Hello, take a look at http://www.wheelchairadaptedvehicles.co.uk/ for adapted cars.