Wheelchair Lift Van
November 12, 2007
Wheelchair Lift Van
Buying a wheelchair lift van can be a daunting task and there are some key decisions that will help make it a lot simpler for most buyers. There are a wide variety of lifts and accessories available for a lift van and in some cases the type of lift you select will determine the vehicle needed.
So a good place to start in your search for a wheelchair lift van is to investigate the various lifts available and see which one works best for you. You need to be sure the lift is easy to operate and allows enough room for the wheelchair to fit comfortably. Also, there are fully automatic lifts that work with the push of a single button. This is easier, but can be a more expensive alternative to a semi-automatic that requires some intervention from the user. The choice depends on your budget and how much interaction the user wants to have with the lifts operation.
The type of lift can vary a lot, but the two main styles are a lift ramp and a swing style lift. Both of these accomplish the same task of lifting the passenger into the vehicle, but go about it in slightly different ways. The ramp lift simply requires the passenger to roll up onto a platform and then that platform is raised to the level of the floor of the lift van. They can simply roll into the van and be off. The swing style is a little more complicated and requires a little more room behind the front seats to operate. The choice here is based on how comfortable the passenger is with rolling onto the platform and maybe having to manually close a ramp or gate to operate the lift.
Once you have chosen the type of lift for your wheelchair lift van, the next decision is the type of vehicle. These type of vehicles are usually based on a full sized van or a minivan chassis and this is up to you to decide which works best for your needs. You also need to decide on a side or rear entry for the lift. Again, this depends on if the person in the wheelchair will be driving the lift van or just a passenger. If they will be driving, a side entry lift would be better and provide clear access to the driver's seat.
The final decision most buyers have to wrestle with is do they buy a used or new wheelchair lift van. The advantage to a new lift van would be the flexibility to create a custom lift van exactly to your specifications. The cost on this would be higher, but you could design it to perfectly fit you needs. The used option is a viable alternative and could save you a lot of money. There is a use market for lift vans and they can be found though a local newspaper or the web. The challenge with a used vehicle is that you may have to compromise on some features. But the savings on a used lift van over a new one might easily justify this.
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