Ava has a wheelchair van! We found the van on the Internet in Ft. Myers, and it was exactly the mix of what we needed and what we could afford. Check out the pics!
New wheelchair vans range from $40K to $60K — too much for our budget, especially given future home conversions Ava will need (an in-house lift to get Ava between floors, a remodeled bathroom to allow her to bathe on her own, etc.).
Luckily, we test drove a Ford 2002 conversion van in Virginia that we liked. We priced similar models on the internet and came across the same model in much better condition at a much better price in Florida. The van in Fort Myers was $22,000 — very reasonably priced, very low mileage (19K miles), and in great shape. So, off to Fort Myers it was, to enjoy a short vacation and to buy the van.
The 2002 Ford Conversion Van has an automatic Ricon wheelchair lift we need for Ava’s chair and enough space for us to bring Ava’s equipment on vacation, like her stander, manual wheelchair, cough assist, etc.
The previous owner, a man with multiple sclerosis, kept the van at his vacation home in Fort Myers, Florida (he has a new van now to better fit his needs). His brother and sister-in-law are retired in Fort Myers and arranged the entire sale with us (many thanks to Ed and Mary K. for all your emails, calls, pictures and help to purchase the van!)
The van needed only three changes: wheelchair lockdowns installed to hold Ava’s wheelchair, a new seatbelt to hold Ava while in her chair, and a new driver’s seat base installed (the old one was on a long electric slider).
It took only two days of work to do it and didn’t cost too much- thanks to Dave from Ocean Conversions & Mobility in Ft. Myers.
For our first trip with the van, we stopped at a Costco, huge compared to the ones in Northern Virginia. One side note: we’ve noticed how overbuilt Florida is on residential and retail buildings! So many homes and shopping centers are empty. Many, many homes are for sale and ‘for lease’ signs adorn rows and rows of empty retail space. It’s going to take years for all these excess houses and shopping centers to fill up.
At Costco, Ava was able to drive her chair onto the wheelchair lift and be lowered to the parking lot! Ava was thrilled to wander the wide aisles of Costco by herself and looking at things she wanted to look at, just like a normal kid. It was fun following and watching her.
That’s the kind of difference we knew the van would make! Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the van. We were able to raise enough to pay for half the van and to finance the rest. God bless everyone who helped. It’s already making life more accessible to Ava!
So after a week in Ft. Myers and enjoying Gulf-side beaches and the palm trees, we are off to Baton Rouge to celebrate Ava’s 3rd birthday with her relatives! Nonna and Papa are all excited since we’ll be in Baton Rouge for two weeks, and then will start the two-day road trip back to Northern Virginia.
Hack