Buying a WAV

[susanbennett100]

Thank you to all who replied to my appeal for help - all information gratefully received. I have just test driven an elderly Vauxhall Combo and found I definitely would need a powered winch, especially as our driveway is sloping. Also found very disconcerting not to see out of back mirror - is this the same in all WAVs?

Sue

[vlh4444]

In our VW Caddy visibility in the rear view mirror was fine when wheelchair not loaded and partially obstructed when wheelchair passenger was in situ. It had good wing mirrors but didn't have parking sensors which would have been useful. The reason we chose that model was because the wheelchair loaded behind the rear seats so there were five full seats as well as wheelchair space. It did mean the car was quite long, but meant we could take more passengers, dog, luggage etc. also the quality of finish on the VW was pretty good compared to some others which were more like a van. VW are generally more expensive but could go for an older model as a lot of adapted vehicles do not do a high mileage.

My husband had a powered wheelchair so no problem getting it up the ramp. Could you reverse into your driveway and use the slope to make the ramp less steep?

Vicki

[susanbennett100 in reply to vlh4444]

Thanks for that Vicki - good idea reversing on driveway. Caddy may possibly be too big for our needs and driving/parking in and around here in London is very congested and generally a nightmare! Sue

[vlh4444 in reply to susanbennett100]

Yes I can see you need something smaller in London. The Caddy was a bit cumbersome and parking in ordinary parking spaces quite tricky - OK when D was with me as we could use a blue badge space.

The other slightly annoying thing about it was that the ramp when not in use was in the vertical position which meant that, if I didn't have D with me, I had to lower the ramp to put anything in the back. Because of that I always used to put supermarket shopping etc. on the back seat, but that was sometimes tricky when parked in a small non-disabled space. It would have been a lot more user-friendly if the ramp could have gone flat against the floor when not in use.

Hope you find something suitable.

V