New Handicapped Van!

Hi everyone,

About a month ago, my mom and I got a new handicapped accessible vehicle(Pictures at the bottom). We began looking back in 2021 after we borrowed a handicapped van from a friend which I was able to sit up front and see out the windshield. Something I haven't done in 30 years because every van I got since I've had to sit in the middle behind the front seats. The van we had was a 2010 Ford E-150 and, while it was running pretty well, it was aging and would need to be replaced eventually so we wanted something I could sit in front.

At first we wanted an MV-1 which was the van we borrowed. The MV-1 was a purpose built handicapped accessible minivan that was built on a Ford Crown Victoria chassis and was powered originally by a Ford modular 4.6 L V-8 until 2014 when it got a smaller 3.7 L Ford Cyclone V-6. It kinda resembled a cross between a 2008 Honda Pilot, a Honda Element, and a British TX4 taxi cab. Production ended in 2016 after 5 years due to poor sales. We looked everywhere in Massachusetts to find one and weren't having any luck which was surprising because they were like Deloreans, there were a lot left over. We figured out why and found out we dodged a bullet.

Last June, we borrowed the MV-1 from our friend to drive across country to Wyoming. At first the ride was going fine but we noticed it was getting awfully warm in the car despite the fact the AC was on high. It became an oven on wheels. We couldn't figure out why because the car got a full check up before we left and everything worked. We asked several people we knew in the mechanic field. My friend Josh and my Uncle Paul. Unfortunately we couldn't tell them anymore because we couldn't figure it out. Eventually, Josh figured it was the hose going from the AC to the ventilation by what we were telling him and he was correct. Thanks Josh! So now that we figured it out, we had to just pick up a hose at Autozone and put it in, right? Nope!. We brought it to a garage in Nebraska down the street from the hotel to see if they had the part we needed. They see the vehicle are basically like "the fuck is that thing?!" and we were like SHIT!. Well the mechanic did some research on the vehicle and discovered the part as well as most of the parts were no longer in production, so shit again!. He found something similar from a Peterbilt Semi truck which had to be specially ordered and over-nighted from Detroit and thought he'd be able to improvise and it actually fit perfectly. We were able to finish our trip without roasting alive. That's how we knew we dodged a bullet! The MV-1 has no replacement parts and would have been a really bad investment.

A little before our trip, we visited a place in North Attleboro, MA called Mobility Works who are a vendor for handicapped accessible vehicles and also modify them. There were 3 different vans there that we checked out all brand new. The 2022 Honda Odyssey, 2022 Toyota Sienna, and a 2022 Chrysler Pacifica. I tried the Pacifica first and immediately knew I wanted one. I tried the other two anyway just for the hell of it. They were nice but I wasn't crazy about them plus the hoyer lift didn't fit easily. So I was like I really love the Pacifica and then my mom asked the most important question, how much? It was then my hopes collapsed. The price of each one of those vans was in upwards of $85k and the "cheaper" ones were $60k+ which is really extortion for a disabled person who needs one of these vehicles. It's a necessity! I need to be able to get to my doctors appointments and plus I need to get out of my house for my mental health and I don't go crazy with cabin fever. So we were like you're going to have to give us some time to figure this out that kind of money doesn't come easy. At the time, I had recently created a GoFundMe originally for the MV-1 which didn't work out so I changed it to the Pacifica and began sharing it everywhere on Social Media. For the next few months, many of my friends shared it and/or donated to it and we made about $6k which was pretty good but we had to find another way. At that rate we'd get a van sometime in the 2030s assuming the prices weren't $300k due to the inflation we've been dealing with since the beginning of 2021 because of...well we won't go there lol. Let's just say it wasn't my fault! Anyway, we started all sorts of things to try making the money... NO not that... I mean scratch tickets and applying for grants... Get your goddamn minds out of the gutter!😁 I started to lose hope and then a couple things happened towards the end of the year which hit me hard emotionally. So my mom decided to try another vendor.

In February, my mom took a ride up to Mobility Works because they found something cheaper down in Virginia and brought it up for her to check out. It was a red 2019 Pacifica for $65k and my mom was thinking of going for it. Before she made a decision, there was another vendor, like I said, that she had contacted. Adaptive Mobility in Seekonk, MA right near my best friend/sister Kayla and Jake. We had thought about going there before but it looked like they only had big vans but we were wrong. My mom went in and told them she was looking for a newer model used Pacifica with low mileage. They had exactly what she was looking for. It was a Pearl colored 2017 Pacifica from Florida with 15k miles and it was $45k. It was perfect. The following week she brought me up and asked the owner to pretend they never met her so she could surprise me. I didn't see it coming I figured we were going to look at vehicles that we could only dream of owning. But I realized it when she was talking about when we could come pick it up and I was so excited. Honestly I almost cried lol. We couldn't take it that day because it needed a couple modifications, namely the automatic tie-down system. They had to order the part which took about a week and then I had to bring my wheelchair up to be fitted for the tie-down unit. The day we drove my chair up for the fitting, the Fords flywheel broke apart out of the blue and we broke down on the entrance to interstate195 in Wareham, MA. Thankfully we have AAA and we called a tow truck. We also called Adaptive Mobility and they came to pick us up because the van couldn't be towed with me in it. That was the last time I saw the inside of the old girl... It was bittersweet because that van and my family have been through a lot and gone so many places. She will always have a special place in my heart. 

We were able to rent out the van they sent to rescue us because the new/used van wasn't prepared yet and we needed to be able to get home. It was a pretty nice van too! It was a charcoal 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan with black rims and was similar in size to the Pacifica on the inside. We had that for the weekend and on that Monday the my mom returned it to the place in Seekonk and then drove the new van home. That weekend we went for our first ride, at least my first ride, in the new van. We drove up to Provincetown, MA and along the national seashore for the maiden voyage. I'm so happy with this vehicle and I hope for some great road trips in the near future. It was a long time coming to get to this point and I'm grateful to my mom for finding it.

Thank you so much for reading my post!