We first thought about getting a WAV when my husband was finding it more and more difficult to transfer from his wheelchair into our saloon car. He has Motor Neurone Disease, so we knew things wouldn’t get any better. Not really knowing where to start, we asked our local MND Association what experience other members had of these vehicles. One of them mentioned that Southern Mobility Vehicles specialised in WAVs and would be good, so we checked out their website. We didn’t have to wait long for our first appointment which unfortunately turned out to be in torrential rain! Patrick and Bill sat us in their office and patiently tried to establish what our requirements were.
At the time, we were unsure of everything – our budget, whether we wanted to trade in our car, the position of the wheelchair in the vehicle etc. The rain didn’t stop them bringing out some vehicles for us to get a feel for. On trying these and returning home to discuss, we completely changed our minds and returned the following week to try some different vehicles! They were very patient, appreciating that this was a big decision and financial outlay for us. There were two vehicles that we liked and it became apparent that we needed to try them with my husband’s electric wheelchair so they brought them both out to our home the next week and we were able to test drive them both.
Again, great patience and understanding was shown by their colleague Jim who gave instructions on securing the wheelchair and driving features. We made our choice, struck a deal and feel satisfied that we made the right unrushed choice. We also know we are supported if we have any queries or if anything goes wrong. SMV even made a donation to our local MNDA charity!