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BraunAbility: Final Paratransit Van in October

BraunAbility is scheduled to build their final Paratransit commercial vehicle in October and honor the life of the vehicle line with a celebration on Wednesday. The paratranist line produced mobility-equipped full-size vans for commercial use.

Over 25,000 Paratransit vans were built in Winamac over the course of the vehicle’s life, with 3,000 being delivered to North Carolina alone. Kim Angel of Macon County, North Carolina was present. Her agency represented one of the hundreds of customers that BraunAbility supplied with paratransit vehicles over the past 38 years.

“Ralph Braun began by installing wheelchair lifts on full-size vans like these,” said Nick Gutwein, BraunAbility President. “This product is where it all started. This is Braun.”

BraunAbility began production on the paratransit vehicles in the late 1970s. The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 served as a springboard for increased orders of mobility products by state and federal agencies.

BraunAbility’s paratransit product was built on the Ford Econoline chassis, but Ford has discontinued its Econoline product. BraunAbility made the decision to end production of its Paratransit unit and will focus its efforts on manufacturing wheelchair lifts and wheelchair accessible vehicles for consumer and commercial use.

BraunAbility’s New Certified Pre-Owned Wheelchair Van Program

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Braun is happy to announce their brand new initiative way to help get their customers out on the road and living a mobile life: BraunAbility Certified Pre-Owned vehicles! BraunAbility Certified Pre-Owned is a new way to buy a mobility vehicle, and to know that it is as good as you deserve it to be, while saving money off of the new list price.

A BraunAbility CPO unit comes standard with:

Comprehensive warranty
416-pt Inspection
Roadside Assistance
Rental Vehicle Assistance
Much more!

Every BraunAbility CPO vehicle undergoes a rigorous 416-point inspection administered at the BraunAbility factory or at your dealership by trained ASE-Certified technicians. We ensure that everything from the drivetrain to the windshield wipers is in good working order or it is reconditioned to our exacting standards. Your warranty works on the road as well! Should you need it, stop by any BraunAbility dealer for repairs, even if it is 1,000 miles from the one you purchased it from.

BraunAbility UVL Wheelchair Lift

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BraunAbility UVL Wheelchair Lift
The BraunAbility UVL, or Under Vehicle Lift, provides an innovative solution to your personal mobility needs. The mobility lift is mounted underneath the full-size wheelchair accessible vehicle, and is virtually out of site and out of the way until use of the lift. This design creates more interior space with easier access into the vehicle for friends and family. The lift is activated by the standard hand-held or operational remote control, and with one click of the button, the lift smoothly deploys from the underneath the vehicle. With its simple and smooth design, deploying and retracting your lift will come with ease and enjoyment as you enter and exit your wheelchair accessible vehicle.

The UVL van lift’s safety features include a slip-resistant platform, automatic rollstop and an integrated manual backup system which allows you to safely get on and off the ramp. Your mobility freedom is just a push of the button away with the BraunAbility UVL van lift!

Specifications:

Lifting Capacity: 750 lbs.
Weight: 365 lbs.
Platform width: 31″
Platform Length: 48″ and 53″

Prepare Your Mobility Equipment For the Colder Weather

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Cold temperatures not only slow wheelchair users down, but can also slow down their vans and accessible equipment. For example, if you use a hydraulic wheelchair lift, you may have noticed that the colder the weather, the slower the lift reacts. The cold thickens the fluid, making it move slower through hoses, valves and cylinders.

There’s not much you can do about that, but preparing other equipment for cold weather is important to help avoid accidents and breakdowns.

If you live in the New England area · call our Mobility Center today (508) 697-8324 · We’ll rust proof your wheelchair accessible vehicle, give you an oil change, tune-up, and/or semi-annual ramp/lift service and have any other accessible equipment checked before the temperature dips. If you ask we can also check your battery, antifreeze level, heater, brakes, defroster and thermostat.

Do It Yourself:

Purchase winter wiper blades that cut through snow and ice.
Keep the gas tank at least half full. It reduces condensation and makes your vehicle easier to start on cold mornings.
Buy tires that have MS, M+S, M/S or M&S on them, meaning they meet the Rubber Manufacturers Association guidelines and can bite through mud and snow.
For better traction and control, rotate tires so the best ones are in the front.
Get an electric engine block heater. It warms the engine so the motor can start. It connects to normal AC power overnight or before driving. In extremely cold climates, electrical outlets are sometimes found in public or private parking lots.
Cold weather is tough on accessible van batteries. Buy one with greater starting power, higher cold cranking amps and reserve capacity for energy when the engine isn’t running.
Use synthetic oil to make starting a cold engine easier.

Before you drive:

Keep rock salt on hand to melt ice off walkways for a safer wheelchair ride.
Clean the snow off the roof and hood so it doesn’t “avalanche” onto the windshield and block your vision.
Clear the head and tail lights for best visibility.
Scrape the ice off mirrors and windows.

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Here at VMi New England Mobility Center and Automotive Innovations we’ll service and repair your wheelchair accessible vehicle and/or equipment even if you didn’t buy it from us! So bring us your mobility van no matter the year (old or new), chassis (Honda, Dodge, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, excreta..), or conversion (Side Entry, Rear Entry, VMI, Braun, Ricon, Rampvan, Elorado, Amerivan, excreta..)!!

Buy my wheelchair van in new england

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Buy my wheelchair van in new england

Do you have a clean late model VMI, Braun or Eldorado wheelchair van you want to sell?

Bring it to us and if it’s in good shape and we can agree on a price we’ll write you a check for it

Photos
You’ve got photos so make the most of them! Assuming your Handicap Van is in good condition, you should take pictures of the handicap van to show us how clean it is both inside and out.

Exterior
Given that you can email us photos a good idea is to allocate at least 3 to the exterior of the handicap van you want to buy, taken from angles that reveal the handicap van in its best light. I.e. rear ¾ shot, full side shot, full front of ¾ front/side shots – what ever angles suit your Handicap Van best.

Interior
A good interior shot that shows the condition of the dash board and front seats as a minimum is highly recommended. If the wheelchair van has a clean, well presented interior you will want us to see it, as this is an area where wear and tear will be evident on the handicap van if not looked after. If the interior is damaged then it is up to you wether to photograph it, if you are selling a handicap van as is at a corresponding price and wish to give buyers a realistic appraisal of the handicap vans condition then yes, other wise it might be best to focus the camera on some of the handicap vans better attributes.

Accessories
If the handicap van is fitted with after-market or factory accessories that will enhance the handicap van in the eyes of the buyer then ensure these are obvious in the exterior and interior photos. It may be a good idea to have a close up shot of a certain handicap accessible modification such lowered floors and handicap ramps.

Pre-existing damage/scratches
If your handicap van has dents or scratches on the body work it is probably a good idea to show them in photos as they will then have a good idea of the Handicap Vans condition.

VIN Number: Include the VIN so we can run a Carfax on it.

Buyer / Seller Scams
We’ve been alerted to a scam which operates in the following way: An overseas buyer offers to buy your car. They will want to send you a cheque for an amount in excess of the purchase price of your car and will ask you to send the change back to them or to pay the change to a local shipping agent. There are several variations on the theme. If you get an offer like this from overseas, we recommend that you be alert to a possible scam.
Another scam operates as follows: Typically a car/bike/boat, etc will be offered for sale at a very low price. The seller will say that the item is located overseas or in a location that makes it difficult to inspect the item. The seller will ask you to send them a deposit or pay for the item before they will arrange to send it to you. If you get an offer like this, we recommend that you be alert to a possible scam.

We wish you the best of luck in selling us your handicap van!