So yay, we finally found a wonderful wheelchair van, and it will be ready to pick up next week! There are only two companies in the area that deal in wheelchair conversion vans. We went to the first one, and they were so expensive we figured the other was the same way. However, we decided to visit Southern Bus and Mobility anyway, and I'm SO glad we did!
This company had a base model van with a manual rear entry wheelchair ramp, a brand new 2015, for less than the other company's used vehicles. We liked the van so much we decided to go pick Levi up after school and run back to make sure his chair fit in the van.
It did! Levi was all smiles when we got there, and he thought the van was really neat. He's used to being carried to a car seat and strapped in. He's getting heavy, and it's hard on him to be picked up a lot. It ends up making his muscles sore. So he just loved the fact he could wheel right up the ramp and sit in the second row center. The windows are huge, he can see out both sides and the front. Levi LOVES to look out the window. The van is equipped with two second row captain's seats that fold against the wall. Pretty cool! Even better, the chair fits while one seat is folded down. Here is what Levi's initial reaction to the van was like. (That's our friendly salesman, Marcel, in the background.)
We decided to go ahead and take it for a test drive. I was looking forward to seeing how Levi would react to the ride. They shut the back hatch, which startled him. When the side doors were closed, it got a bit darker in the van. I'm not sure why, since I was sitting right next to him the whole time, but this scared him. Check out the sad face he made.
I talked to him and rubbed his head while we were backing out of the showroom. He wasn't too sure what was going on. He didn't make a sound, but one fat tear from each eye rolled down his chubby little cheeks. Poor little guy!
Once we were out in the sunshine he started feeling better. Looking out the windows made him happier, but when we bounced over some bumps, he broke out into smiles again. Levi decided he approved of the new wheelchair van, after all.
This company had a base model van with a manual rear entry wheelchair ramp, a brand new 2015, for less than the other company's used vehicles. We liked the van so much we decided to go pick Levi up after school and run back to make sure his chair fit in the van.
It did! Levi was all smiles when we got there, and he thought the van was really neat. He's used to being carried to a car seat and strapped in. He's getting heavy, and it's hard on him to be picked up a lot. It ends up making his muscles sore. So he just loved the fact he could wheel right up the ramp and sit in the second row center. The windows are huge, he can see out both sides and the front. Levi LOVES to look out the window. The van is equipped with two second row captain's seats that fold against the wall. Pretty cool! Even better, the chair fits while one seat is folded down. Here is what Levi's initial reaction to the van was like. (That's our friendly salesman, Marcel, in the background.)
We decided to go ahead and take it for a test drive. I was looking forward to seeing how Levi would react to the ride. They shut the back hatch, which startled him. When the side doors were closed, it got a bit darker in the van. I'm not sure why, since I was sitting right next to him the whole time, but this scared him. Check out the sad face he made.
I talked to him and rubbed his head while we were backing out of the showroom. He wasn't too sure what was going on. He didn't make a sound, but one fat tear from each eye rolled down his chubby little cheeks. Poor little guy!
Once we were out in the sunshine he started feeling better. Looking out the windows made him happier, but when we bounced over some bumps, he broke out into smiles again. Levi decided he approved of the new wheelchair van, after all.
Glad you got the van, Lynn.
ReplyDeleteTina
Thank you, Tina!
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