Wheelchair Accessible Van Questions

[DJBounce]

I know that this isn't a "Disney" topic, but I wanted some info from all of the experts out there. We have a DD who has CP and is 8 going on 9 this August. She is 60 pounds and is getting too heavy to transfer from wheelchair to her car seat when we go somewhere. We are looking into getting a van that is wheelchair accessible and my quesiton is this: Should I look into buying one already outfitted as a wheelchair accessible van or should I buy a van and have it fitted for accessibilty? We have an insurance waiver through the state of Iowa and our case manager has already told us that we could but a van and the waiver would cover modifications up to a certain dollar amount, but I didn;t know of that was the easier or more difficult route.
If anyone has any links to websites that can give me a better idea this would be very much appreciated. Thanks a bunch!!

 

[SueM in MN]

I don't know how it works in other states, but in Minnesota when we bought our van, we actually had 2 closings on it. One for for the van, which we bought from the dealer and the other closing took place at the same time, but was with the equipment with the equipment dealer. We actually negotiated the price of the van with the dealer and the price of the modifications with the equipment dealer.
We had to pay for the total cost of our van, but for people who don't, they have a transaction that covered only the modifications part of the bill.
For the company we dealt with, they get the van from the plant with some of the finish work (like carpets) uncompleted. That way, they don't have to do as much work preparing it to be modified. Then, most of the modifications are actually done in the equipment companies factory before they ship it to the lcoal dealer. The equipment people did some final work before sending the van to the local car dealer to do their regular "new car" prep.

I am so happy with our van. It makes a big difference in our lives to be abel to quickly and easily get DD into the van instead of all the loading and unloading.

 

[Nanajo1]

I would consider warranties with either new or used van. I know the total cost of my 1998 van with the accommodations was over $50K. I had to purchase the van myself but my state Rehab Commission paid for the conversions . The car itself was covered under dealer warranty but the accommodations were covered by the vendor . Make sure you know who you are buying from and their history for service.Here is a link I recently found.
http://www.vantagemobility.com/