the Used Wheelchair Van Buyer's Guide: How to Inspect a Converted Van, Judge Ramp and Floor, Find Money, Avoid $40,000 Mistake

A used wheelchair van is two used vehicles wearing one body: a minivan, and a conversion that no ordinary mechanic can evaluate.New accessible vans cost $60,000 to $90,000. Used ones cost a third of that, and nearly all the free advice about buying one is written by the people who sell them. This is the independent guide for everyone else: family caregivers, wheelchair users who drive, and anyone buying from a private seller, an estate, a retired fleet, or a used-car lot that has no idea what it is selling.Inside: - Which conversions you will actually see on the used market, with door heights and ramp ratings, and how to rule out a van from the listing before you drive to see it- A step-by-step inspection of the conversion itself: powered doors, fold-out and in-floor ramps, kneel systems, tie-downs and retractors, seat bases, platform lifts- The corrosion points that make mechanics refuse to put a van on a lift, and what the check-engine light usually means on a van with a relocated fuel tank- Four federal recalls that reach deep into the used market, including one covering about 31,000 side-entry vans- The test load with the actual chair and the actual person, on the flat and on a slope- What a used wheelchair van is worth when no price guide knows the conversion exists, and a walk-away number to write down before you make an offer- VA, vocational rehabilitation, Medicaid waiver, nonprofit, and loan programs, and why most of them pay for the equipment, not the van- Insuring a vehicle where the conversion may be worth as much as the van under it- Three worked examples, a printable inspection checklist, and a seller question sheet