2006 Honda Odyssey good for Handicap/Wheelchair access

Greetings group,

My wife has been rendered paralyzed as a result of brain surgery, and
I was wondering if the Honda Odyssey would make a good vehicle for
transporting her in a wheelchair. I test drove one today and they
seem quite roomy, and I like the fact that the back seats fold flat,
which means that I could put a ramp in the back of the van. I may be
able to get by with the side doors, but they appear to not open far
enough.

Regardless, anyone here think I would regret purchasing that van
specifically for the purpose of hauling my wife, who is paralyzed on
the left side of her body, around?

Thanks,

Chris

 

Are you going to lift her out of the chair and into the van? Or are you
looking for something to convert for "roll-in" convenience? If the former,
then any vehicle that A) you can put the chair in (folded or not) and B) the
door and seats are arranged such that YOU can physically manage it, will do.
If the latter, is anybody doing conversions on the Odyssey? Braun for
example? I haven't seen any Hondas yet. Mostly been domestic vans and very
recently Toyotas.

 

With all due respect, you may be best to ask this question of the various
companies that make "mobility vans" or "handicap vans". They would have the
most experience in this matter.

Was your hospital any help in pointing you to a source?

I just Googled for the term "mobility vans" and there are almost too many
hits to choose from.

 

Actually, I was planning on having a ramp or lift installed at the
rear of the vehicle to wheel her into it in while she is in her
wheelchair. This will make it easier on those helping us out by
taking her to various doctor's appointments.

I started to price already converted vehicles, and saw that new they
were running $60,000 and I thought that was entirely too much money
because I just want a simple transport vehicle, not a land yacht.

I almost purchased a brand new Odyssey today, but thought I should
research it further.

Thanks again,

Chris

 

Well, I did a little more looking and still nothing on a Honda. In fact, I
found an article from just 2 weeks ago that specifically says no to Honda
and Nissan...
{For instance, conversion packages are available on some van models produced
by Ford, General Motors, Toyota and DaimlerChrysler, but not on import
models such as the Honda Odyssey or Nissan Quest.}

Full article at http://www.birf.info/home/library/transport/trans_van.html

For better info,as Tegger says, check out some of the newsgroup specific to
disabilities or your local hospital. Also, you don't say where you are so
no one can really point you at a place to go look. I can tell you to
contact Mike (my hopefully future brother in law) at
http://www.actionmobilityproducts.com/, but if you're not near South
Florida, that's probably not much help to you.

 

I am in Louisiana. I just fired off an email to a place that does
conversions in a nearby city. Hopefully they will respond or call me
back.

Although I have found some websites that said no to the Honda, I have
also read that the new Odyssey is bigger than the old models. Most of
those ultra expensive vehicles are American made vans that have
everything but the kitchen sink, and the only thing I need is a
vehicle that will get me (or some of those helping out) from point A
to point B with my wife in her wheelchair.

Truth be told, I would much rather purchase a Honda or Toyota mini-van
over some of the American competition out there. The reason I really
want to go with Honda is due to the fact that the dealership is
walking distance from my house. This has made service on my wife's
1997 Civic and my 2000 Accord real easy. In other words, I am spoiled
with having the dealer so close.

 

But if no one is doing Honda's in quantity, you will pay just as much anyhow
as it will be more of a "cutsom" job to provide what you want vs. buying the
"commonly" converted vehicles that they can churn out quickly and at a lower
"per part" cost. If the shop has to fashion their own brackets and lifts
and such to suit the Honda, the labor rate will be through the roof vs.
using "off the shelf" parts.

Unfortunately the accessible van business is still very specialized and as
such prices will be high while selection is low. Just 10 years ago, mini
vans were barely being used. It was all commercial style vans with lifts
instead of mini vans with drop floors and ramps.

Toyota is recently viable for this, so you may have some luck there.

 

I would like to extend to you and your wife my wishes for the best in the
future. I'm so sorry that she and you have been struck with such an
unfortunate turn of events. As to the question about the vehicle, I can't
help you with an answer.

 

Don't buy anything until you have a conversion lined up. As vans get more
and more features, converting them becomes more and more difficult. Toyota
has a page dedicated to handicapped access. Also check ebay. If you are
talking about a manual ramp, they are heavy and have to be extremely long.
There are lifts for loaded and unloaded chairs. There is a lot to this
subject. Don't buy a vehicle until you know what you need.

 

Thanks for the well wishes.

Sadly, from what I am seeing, Honda does not appear to offer any type
of mobility van, and most ramps say "except Honda Odyssey" so I may
have to look elsewhere. There is a Toyota Rampvan dealer about 50
miles away, and I will call them tomorrow or Monday. I am starting to
like the idea of an integrated power ramp that can be activated
manually.

I am just glad that I did not purchase the first minivan that came to
mind on a whim, because I would have been screwed.

 

The key is to check out all of the options available to you and then make a
decision based on information rather than emotion.

 

Here is the place to start looking:

National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association

The N.M.E.D.A. toll free number is 800-833-0427.

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Well, after speaking with my wife, I am going to check out one of the
new Scion xB mobility vehicles next week. She really did not want me
to get a full sized van due to the various individuals that will be
driving it, so I decided to look into something more "car like".

Once again, I want to thank everyone in the group for getting me
pointed in the right direction. I am so glad that I did not impulse
buy the Odyssey, even though I really wanted one.