Different By Design ®

WAV Case Studies 

By Amanda and Stuart van Rooyen

We recently took delivery of our wheelchair adapted  VW Cruiser MKIII 1.9 Tdi manual 84ps. This is the basic model, which has air-conditioning and rear heating fitted as standard. We had privacy glass – for practicality reasons – and wheel trims – which give the Transporter a far more upmarket appearance – added as optional extras. The vehicle’s height is 1970 mm, width 1904 mm and length is 4892 mm. The vehicle has lateral sliding on both sides. The main loading door is the lateral sliding door situated behind the front passenger and has a height of 1268 mm and a width of. 1020 mm. We opted for rear doors rather than a hatch door.

We received the car through Motability Operations and Lewis Reed LTD undertook all the conversion work, which consisted of a single driver’s seat and upfront wheelchair position. The middle row has one seat situated directly behind the driver. The third row is a triple bench seat. The vehicle is fitted with dashboard air conditioning and a rear heater, wheel trims, privacy glass, side access lift and lash-down straps situated in the boot area for miscellaneous items. The side lift extends approx 1.3m from the side of the vehicle when fully opened, and is operated with a hand held remote control. Lewis Reed kindly added an extra 12v plug-in socket in the rear of the Transporter for the use of a cooler box, to enable us to keep medications/food hot and/or cold.

Financially, this specification was covered by Motability Grants and Lewis Reed, leaving a single payment of £200.00 for us to cover together, with my high rate portion of mobility allowance. We have had the Transporter for ten months, have done 5500 miles and are very pleased with it. The height makes viewing for the wheelchair user in the upfront position easy and enjoyable. We use the vehicle mainly for pleasure and have done one long distance trip to Scotland. The ample loading space makes travelling with a lot of equipment a pleasure! Our passengers in the rear bench seat were impressed with leg room and the ride comfort. Before the advent of the Transporter into our lives, any outing had to be thought about twice due to the trauma of lifting me in and out of the wheelchair into the car seat. Now we look forward to each new opportunity to spend days out and about with excitement rather than dread! The ease of access into the vehicle, together with the fact that I do not have to be transferred out of my wheelchair, has brought about a very positive improvement in quality of life.

We received outstanding service from Lewis Reed LTD throughout our dealings with them. Every aspect of the conversion is of an excellent standard with not even the smallest detail being overlooked. From our initial contact with Lewis Reed we have been greatly impressed. The vehicle was demonstrated to us on two different occasions in a highly professional manner, as was the delivery demonstration.

The staff at Lewis Reed were always courteous and efficient. Our grateful appreciation in particular must go to Christian Halsall, Sales Manager, who did everything in his power to always be on hand to answer our questions – and there were many – and to ensure that everything that was required was supplied in a courteous and friendly manner. His genuine and professional attitude makes him an asset to his organisation.

We would have no hesitation in recommending the company to others who are looking into having a wheelchair accessible vehicle conversion.

By Paul, Claire, Milo and Esme Drakeley

We would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Lewis Reed, and especially Christian! We recently took delivery of a Kia Sedona and are absolutely over the moon with it! Our son, Milo, has severe Cerebral Palsy and a number of other disabilities and needed a wheelchair accessible vehicle long before his 3rd birthday, however, motability won’t provide their funding until then.

We phoned a number of different Convertors when we first started looking for a vehicle and none seemed interested or had much knowledge of the cars and/or the motability scheme but after one long phone call to Lewis Reed I knew this was the company to choose. I spoke to Christian and he asked me a few questions and narrowed down our search to just 2 vehicles – the Kia Sedona and the VW Caravelle, and so we asked to have a viewing/test drive of both the Kia and VW. We were impressed with both, the knowledge of the staff that demonstrated the vehicles was impressive and they were more than happy to answer any questions we had. Even though we didn’t know we were going to buy a vehicle from this company, he didn’t hesitate in sending them out – which is more than can be said for one of the other convertors I spoke to, who wouldn’t demonstrate it unless I promised to buy a vehicle from them.

Christian then spoke us through the process of getting  a motability grant, we knew nothing about this until then. We were lucky enough to get enough cash together along with the grant to get the car we wanted.

I cannot explain how helpful they have been as a company to Milo, and us as a family in getting the perfect vehicle for all our needs.

Thank you Christian and the whole team at Lewis Reed, I will definitely be recommending you!

Paul, Claire, Milo and Esme Drakeley (Ages 3 and 11 months)