My car is coming to the end of its life. I’ve had the same wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV), a Mercedes V250, for at least seven years, but now it’s time to get a new one. There have been numerous problems with it in recent weeks, which has meant it had to go into the garage to be fixed several times.
So we are looking for a new vehicle, probably the same type, which will hopefully be more reliable.
We bought the V250 from a company called Lewis Reed which is based in Manchester. They convert vehicles to make them wheelchair accessible. We will get another one from the same company, so they came out to show us a couple of cars.
The 1st time, they came out with a Vito with an electric lift on the back. However, the roof wasn’t high enough for me to get in the car, so it wasn’t any good. Also, the lift tilted downwards a bit when I went up on it, which was a bit concerning.
The next time they came, they brought one with a ramp, and this time I could get in the car without a problem. The inside was a lovely cream colour, better than my current vehicle’s grey.
What we are looking for in a WAV is something that has plenty of room inside for my parents or carers to clamp the chair down. The roof needs to be high enough to accommodate my power chair. My parents want the roof to be higher than my current one, but I don’t because it won’t fit in multi-storey car parks. There is a handy car park in Lincoln city centre, but it has a height restriction of 2 m. My current car fits in there but only by about an inch, anything higher, and we would have to park elsewhere. Apparently, the roof of the new one won’t be any higher than the current one, which is good.
Review of the Mercedes V250 wheelchair accessible vehicle
I wanted to write a review of the Mercedes V250 to help people who may be considering buying one.
Overall, it has been a reliable vehicle, enabling me to visit many places. However, it’s also had its problems. There was a memorable time when it got stuck in the mud at Equinox Festival and had to be pulled out. That’s probably not the fault of the car, though. It’s driven me all over the place, including to the Isle of Wight and back without a problem.
Features
The V250 has a ramp at the back, which I drive up to enter the vehicle. There are clamping tracks along the floor, and I sit just behind the front passenger seat. The seat next to me can be removed if more space is needed, but we usually leave it in.
It has electric doors, which I like, not for any particular reason but I think they are neat. You can press a button, and the doors, including the back door, will open.
There is a built-in satnav shown on the screen in the middle of the dashboard. It’s pretty useful because you can search for nearby places of interest and set them as the destination.
There is plenty of space inside the car, but there is a seat that folds against the wall, which I sometimes hit my elbow on when I drive up the ramp. Hopefully, in the next car, it won’t have one.
The back of the car can be lowered to reduce the ramp’s angle at the back, which is a helpful feature.
We have tinted windows in the back to stop any gawking passers-by from looking in when they shouldn’t be.
The car is automatic, so you don’t have to worry about changing gears. When reversing, a camera appears on the screen in the dashboard to show what’s behind you, which is a cool feature. There are also proximity sensors to warn if you’re about to crash into something.
The vehicle is quite wide and long though, so this needs to be taken into account when trying to park it. Often the back of the car is sticking out of the parking spaces a little.
Conclusion
The Mercedes V250 is a good choice as a wheelchair accessible vehicle for a power chair user. It’s roomy with a decent head height, and it’s reliable. I can’t comment on what it’s like to drive because I’ve never done that myself. But from what I’ve seen, it seems easy enough. The only thing I don’t like about the V250 is it doesn’t fit in every car park. Some multi-storey car parks have height restrictions so some car parks that we used to be able to park we no longer could when we bought this.
