The difference an accessible car makes

 Not long ago I got a car on the motability scheme for the first time. It took months of research (and saving up!) then once I'd ordered the car it took about a year to actually arrive. 

It's a volkswagon Caddy Maxi Life (i.e. a little van, but with seats. The long version so it could have 7 seats, but I chose 5 seats plus wheelchair space)

It is beautiful. Perhaps not in looks, but in practicalities. So very beautiful.

In my old car I used to be able to transport my powerchair by dismantling every part of the chair that I could and then I either had to: a) put the back seats down, set a portable ramp to the boot, then drive the chair up the ramp - and pack all the dismantled parts around it. Or b) drive it up a ramp into a trailer, use ratchet straps to fix it into the trailer in each corner, then tow the trailer.

Option a) was good if I had no passengers - a bit tricky but doable. But a couple of years ago the catch on one of the back seats broke so I could no longer put them flat. This option became impossible.

Option b) was reliable - but time and energy consuming. It took about 15 minutes to get it all sorted, then I had to always find parking for car plus trailer - ruling out sone places, and adding hassle everywhere else.  I also needed a lot more mental energy because I'd have to be well enough at the end of the trip to reverse a trailer into a narrow driveway. It was....doable often enough to be useful, but it meant I was very restricted in where and when I could take my off-road chair. 

In the new car...

I have a powered hoist that lifts the off-road powerchair in a few seconds - all I need to do park the chair in the right spot, remove the seat pad, fold the back forwards, and hook the straps on. Press the button to lift it in. And then strap it in with a seatbelt and I'm good to go. The whole process is probably under 1 minute.

And I've adapted a bit of boot liner from my old car to cover the carpet on the side of the boot by my wheelchair -otherwise that would get SOOOO muddy (yay for sticky-back velcro!)

  

The boot is so massive that the whole chair fits - and I still have 5 seats. Outings with nephews and nieces are suddenly viable again. My off-roader can now go everywhere with me - I can go on spontaneous 'walks' whenever the moment strikes.

Not only that, but my manual chair fits onto the back seat with no folding at all for everyday use - making it super easy. I've used a cheap seat cover designed for transporting dogs to keep the 2 seats nice. The 3rd seat in the back row is available for a passenger. (If I want more than 2 passengers, I can take my manual chair apart and fit it easily in the boot alongside the powerchair)

And then there's 'little' extras:

- a steering knob that makes maneuvering much easier.

- Rubber flooring throughout (So much easier to keep clean - especially useful given how much I love being outdoors!)

- a heated windscreen so I don't subluxate (partially dislocate) ribs and various arm joints when clearing it in the winter

- parking sensors (which are handy as its considerably larger than my previous car)

- a bigger fuel tank means fewer refueling trips - it should do around double the miles on a single tank.

- really good seat heights for me getting easily in and out.

- lumbar support in the drivers seat (and OH MY WORD this makes a difference! I nearly panicked when I first sat in my car because I thought 'oh no! sitting in this will kill my back!' - then realised the lumbar support wasn't activated...and sure enough one push of a lever and it was fine.)

- All the doors are easier to open and close.

And other small things like fully working central locking and boot unlocking with a button, and being able to play music from my smartphone instead of CDs (yes, my old car was very old).

It's taking some getting used to. A VW caddy is a LOT bigger than an old style Ford Fusion, but I am so thankful for it, and it's already making life so much simpler. And when you have limited energy and limited brain power, that is a massive deal.