It’s an important decision and with so many options available, it’s not necessarily an easy one.
To help you make an informed choice, here are a few things to consider prior to purchase.
Obviously, your WAV will be used for primarily for transport, but also consider how often it will be used, where it will be going, and how many will it need to transport. This will help you decide on size, type and budget.
Then, you can decide how many seats you need. This can range from a small ‘compact’ WAV with room for two seats plus the wheelchair user, to three seats plus wheelchair user, up to bigger WAVs suitable for four, six, or even seven occupants.
Deciding how many seats you need informs your choice of vehicle size. Headroom requirements for the wheelchair user are crucial for comfort once inside, and obviously access needs to be easy at the point of entry. A WAV with a lowered floor or higher roof is a sensible option if necessary – though this may compromise garaging. Smaller WAVs are easier to park and can fit into garages better while bigger WAVs provide more space although they can be trickier to park.
Inevitably, the larger the vehicle the more expensive it is likely to be so having already decided on your budget is crucial. Once you have determined the size of vehicle and size of budget required, it should become easier to narrow down your options and not waste time considering vehicles that do not actually fulfil your requirements.
At this point it may be worth considering whether you want a new or used WAV. Buying a new WAV means that your provider can offer bespoke conversions, tailored to your specific needs and requirements, however this is inevitably more expensive.
Buying a used WAV means that it has already been converted so you don’t have to wait for the conversion to be completed. It is also likely to be cheaper – but it might take longer to find one that fulfils your exact requirements or mean that you decide to compromise.
Whilst it might seem like a daunting process, it’s worth putting in the time and effort to choose the best WAV to suit your needs and make the right purchase.
With over 20 years’ experience producing and selling wheelchair accessible vehicles in the UK, you can be sure that we can offer excellent customer service with a level of knowledge that is completely unrivalled.