Most of the newer manufacturer approved handicapped vehicle conversions comes from companies that have submitted to the manufacturer’s program to be a recommended converter. Basically, these companies (at least the big one’s anyway) have their own assembly lines that the vehicle goes through once it’s obtained from the original factory. The development cycle of a converted vehicle is basically something like the following:
- Vehicle is purchased from the manufacturer by the conversion company
- The conversion company takes the vehicle and performs the following: (not a complete list)
- Original floorboards are cut out, from the firewall to the rear seat.
- New lowered floor pan installed and welded in the vehicle
- Gas Tank Relocated
- New heavy duty rear suspension (springs)
- New exhaust installed
- New Front seat mounts
- New interior components installed to compensate for lowered floor
- After conversion process has been completed, the vehicle is sold to a dealer
- Dealer sells to the consumer and then typically becomes the first point of contact for any questions,concerns, or service on the vehicle from that point forward.
I initially thought this would be ok, we would just buy from a handicap vehicle dealer. There are a few things about going this route that I realized real quick.
- Since the conversion company makes the vehicle purchases, they buy vehicles in big lots from the manufacturer. The vans purchased to be converted will have the common options that people desire. However, most will not have the ‘extra’ features that you may want. These ‘fully equipped’ vans exist – but they are much harder to come by.
- Since these vans go through multiple shipping processes, the cost of shipping to each location just adds that much more to the total.
- The factory incentives (instant rebates) that are currently running at the regular dealerships may not be available on the conversion vans at the handicap dealers.
The dealer had a pretty nice 2008 Braun Town and Country van, although it didn’t have the entertainment system – everything else looked real good. With the touch of a remote button, the van ‘squatted’, opened the side door, and let down the ramp for entry into the vehicle. After looking it over, I asked the question: How much? The answer: $61,000 Wow, $61k for a new vehicle. The very first thought out of my head was: there is no way we can do this. That was as much as our first house!
Next time I’ll tell you what we did…
Handicapped Vehicle Part III
After a little more conversation, I politely told the gentleman that we would go back home and do some thinking. It was really going to take some thought on how we could do this. There is no way I was going to finance a $60k vehicle for 10 years. Yes, Braun credit will loan you the money on a 10 year note.
A few days later, we went to look at one other mobility dealer in town. Again, the salesman here was also very nice and easy to talk to. He had a few different used vans on the lot. After talking a little he mentioned the ability to send vans off to a place in Kentucky for rear conversions. The thought of getting a conversion done on a van we brought to him sounded very promising. The cost to do this rear entry conversion: $15,000. There was none of his conversion vans on the lot that we could look at, he claimed they sold before they were delivered back from the people who performed the modifications. The more we talked about the conversion process, the more I got uncomfortable about the quality. We give him our phone number and told him we would be in touch.
A few more days later, another option presented itself while doing research on the internet. AMS Vans, in GA is in the business of buying Dodge Caravans that are typically a year old, such as vehicles that have come off lease. They perform their conversion process on these like new vans and are able to offer them for sale at costs that compare to what you would see 5+ year old handicap vans advertised for.
At that time, their website was not clear on whether or not they would convert a customer supplied van. The next day I called AMS and asked about converting a customer supplied new van. The person I spoke with was very knowledgeable about the actual conversion process and was able to explain it over the phone in such a way that made me extremely comfortable with the process.
After hanging up with the person at AMS, I was sold on this option. I was ready to go back to the Chrysler dealership and make my best deal on the van we fell in love with previously.