A friend of mine in his 70s drives a Jaguar XF but is finding it increasingly difficult to stow his wife's wheelchair in the boot. Partly due to its shape and partly, I suspect due to loading the collapsed chair horizontally. He is thinking of changing his car to get something more suitable - possibly an SUV
I thought it might be easier to load into something like a Landrover Discovery - maybe it could be loaded and transported in an upright position?
But if anyone has experience of transporting a wheelchair and which cars are well suited to easy loading and unloading, please make suggestions.
I think he is open to whatever make/model would work well.
Many thanks in anticipation
Jon
I think the problem with SUVs is that they are high off the ground which makes access into the car for the wheelchair user difficult - as well as having a high sill/boot floor to lift the wheelchair in and out of.
There may be some useful Q&As here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=site...hrome&ie=UTF-8
It might also be worth seeing if your friend's wife would qualify for a Motability car. They supply both converted and non-converted vehicles:
https://www.motability.co.uk/
Last edited by David_D; 8th June 2019 at 15:55.
The only advice I'd give is installing a dog guard if they are going away from a saloon. You don't want a wheelchair flying forward into passengers should there be an accident.
Skoda yeti
Thanks All
I hadn't thought about passenger access into the SUV. The low lip seems to be key thing if loading horizontally. I will pass on the motability link.
ATB
Jon
The Ford Grand C-Max will take a full size electric wheelchair unfolded (the back of the chair does have to be collapsed), with electric tailgate, and I've seen them fitted with hoists to get the machines in and out.
Berlingos are popular for wheelchair conversions ,lot on autotrader
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Skoda Octavia or Superb estate? I think they have boot straps as well so he should be able to stash the chair vertically and secure it.
And there are so many different engines he'll can't fail to find one suitable for his needs. I suspect the Laurin & Klement trim will fit the bill if he's coming from an XF.
Having worked with the GB wheelchair tennis squad for the last 8 years I've seen my fair share of different vehicles being used - most common were Golf's (both hatch and estate), Tiguan's and then pretty much any estate car. Tig's tended to be used more by those who were ambulant. 3 door hatches were also popular as the longer doors make it easier for the driver to transfer and then lift their chair in.
Thanks again all - I will share the ideas when I see him next week.
ATB
Jon
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A people carrier / minivan is about the best you can get - i used to regularly ferry a friend about who had an electric wheelchair and it fit in the back of my 'y' reg alhambra without any issue.
I moved to a honda accord estate and it just fit if we took the back off the chair so an xf estate may work too.
Best is to see if there is a motorbility grant available for a proper conversion.
Discoveries with air suspension also can be lowered to ease access and the D4's have a huge boot. I am less familiar with teh D5's.
They are never going to be a particularly low/easy access cars though.
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