Tag Archives: remote start

How To Choose A Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle

When you’re choosing a wheelchair accessible vehicle, you need to think not only about all the same things you do when you’re choosing a standard car, but also other, more specific, things too. Just as when you’re choosing any other car, you may need to compromise and decide which features are most important to you.

Things To Consider

Size

  • Will it fit on your driveway or in your garage? Don’t forget you need to think about the space required for the ramp/lift to be deployed
  • Will it be easy to drive in traffic and on the roads you normally drive on?

Money

  • What’s the price?
  • If you’re buying it yourself, what’s the resale value likely to be?
  • What will it cost you to insure?
  • What’s the fuel consumption like?

Comfort and convenience

  • Can you get in and out easily?
  • Can you use the controls?
  • Is it quiet and smooth when you’re driving?
  • Is there good visibility for everyone in the vehicle?

Space

  • Is there room for all the people and luggage you want to carry?
  • What about times when you might want to carry a lot of luggage or equipment (ex. holidays)?

Features

  • Does it have everything you need?
  • What about air conditioning, automatic transmission, electric windows, remote start, heated seats, etc?

Performance

  • Does it give you reasonable speed and acceleration?
  • What about braking, ride and handling?

Specific considerations

Getting in and out

  • Will you choose a ramp or a lift?
  • Will you have someone to assist you?
  • Can you get in and out without hitting your head or having to duck?

Traveling position

  • Where will your wheelchair sit?
  • Will you be able to see out of the windows?
  • Will you be able to talk to other people easily?

Safety

  • How will you secure yourself and your wheelchair?
  • How will you secure any equipment you use to get in and out?
  • How will you secure anything else (unattended wheelchair, luggage, equipment, etc)?

Reliability

  • Can you rely on the equipment you use to get in and out?
  • What happens if it breaks down?
  • Are there manual over-rides for any powered equipment?
  • Do you have a suitable dealer nearby for servicing?

Build quality

  • Different conversions have been built to different standards, so some will be more comfortable and less noisy inside than others.

Remote Start Your Vehicle This Holiday Season!

Remote Start Your Vehicle This Holiday Season!
Do you want to get the chill out out of your winter mornings?

A remote starter allows you to start your vehicle using a key-fob remote control―without going outside. If you left the heat or A/C on, it turns on when the engine does. Your car can warm up or cool down, so it’s nice and comfortable when you get in. A bonus is the warmed-up car thaws the ice on the windshield, too. And in hot regions, seats will be cooled off and you can touch your steering wheel without oven mitts!

How They Work
From your comfortable vantage point inside, press a button or two on the remote and your ignition starts. Your parking lights flash to signal it’s worked. To prevent a thief from driving off in your running car, the vehicle remains locked until you unlock it. You must also turn the key in the ignition before you can put the car in gear. If you change your mind, the remote starter can also turn off the engine, or the brake pedal acts as a kill switch.

That’s the simple, inexpensive version. But count on any gadget to be modified, improved, and tweaked to the point of becoming a major investment, if not a status symbol. That simple remote starter can also be a luxury add-on that can include a complete security system with alarm, two-way alarm notification, a different frequency each time you use the remote, the ability to transmit up to a mile and through concrete walls (in case you need to start your car from another part of town), an LCD status display, a temperature sensor that will start the engine if the outside air temperature drops below a certain point and more.

A remote starter could be a warm and wonderful Christmas present!!