Side-Entry Lowered Floor Minivans • 2008-2010 Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Ford Freestar,    Chevrolet Uplander, Buick Terraza Minivans and Volkswagen Routan These vans are suitable for side-entry lowered-floor modifications.  These specialty lowered floor/ramp-type minivans have become very popular.  They are somewhat impractical for raised roof and raised door modifications.  Caution should be used when considering a minivan due to limited weight carrying capacities.  Current manufacturer’s conversions available from Nor-Cal Mobility, Inc. are Braun Entervans and Rampvans, Vantage (VMI) Summits and Northstars and ElDorado Amerivans.  There are two ramp options on minivan conversions: infloor ramp and foldout ramp.  With the infloor ramp option, the ramp is stowed under the floor of the van, leaving the doorway open and clear.  The downside to the infloor ramp option is that tall sidewalk curbs may keep the ramp from deploying, and  the angle of the infloor ramp is more acute than the foldout ramp and may be more difficult to navigate.  With the foldout ramp option, the ramp can deploy on these tall sidewalk curbs, but the downside is that when the ramp is stowed the doorway is blocked. Beginning in 2005, Chrysler and Dodge (certain models) redesigned the interior of their minivans by stowing the spare tire in a well behind the third-row seat. This modification has greatly increased interior space, allowing more cargo room while improving interior maneuverability. Chrysler and Chevrolet vehicles come standard with a 3.3 liter engine, with an optional 3.8 liter engine available.   • 2004-2010 Toyota Sienna Minivan IMS, which was acquired by Braun in mid-2005, began producing the Sienna Rampvan in June 2003, and after three years of production, both the vehicle and the mobility conversion have proven to be very successful and reliable.  The vehicles are sold through the Braun network of specialized mobility dealers.  Each converted minivan has a lowered floor and either a Braun Entervan Infloor ramp or Foldout ramp.  It’s important to note that the Braun conversion on the Toyota Sienna offers the most weight carrying capacity of all the minivan conversions.  Model year 2006 Siennas come standard with a 3.3 liter engine; however, Toyota upgraded the 2007 model year engine to a more powerful 3.5 liter engine. In 2007, the spare tire is stored behind the rear bench seat.   • 2007-2010 Honda Odyssey Vantage (VMI) has produced an in-floor only ramp minivan conversion for the highly rated Honda Odyssey. VMI has been very proactive in addressing any growing pains associated with this new conversion, and has gained widespread respect and acceptance among mobility dealers. The overwhelming popularity of the Honda Odyssey has kept sales brisk and it has been difficult for mobility dealers to keep up with demand. The 2007 Honda Odyssey comes standard with a 3.5 liter engine.   Rear-Entry Lowered Floor Minivans   • Ford Transit Connect XLT Wagon  Nor-Cal Vans is the manufacturer of a rear-entry lowered floor on this chassis. • Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan  Both Braun and Viewpoint Mobility manufacture a rear-entry lowered floor on this chassis. • Chrysler Town & Country, Dodge Grand Caravan, Chevrolet Uplander Minivans Viewpoint Mobility is the manufacturer of rear-entry lowered-floor versions of all the above vans with their “Vision” modification. • Toyota Sienna  Viewpoint Mobility is the only manufacturer of a rear-entry lowered floor on this chassis. • Honda Odyssey The Viewpoint Mobility rear-entry Honda Odyssey became available in California late 2007. For more information, please visit www.viewpointmobility.com.   Other Lowered Floor Minivans   • Chevy Astrovan, GMC Safari and Ford Aerostar These vans are no longer manufactured, but previously owned models are suitable for raised roof and raised door modifications. These vans have smaller door openings, which limit wheelchair lift platform sizes and are best suited to smaller wheelchair users.  When buying a vehicle for a child, please plan for future growth of the child in regards to door entry and interior headroom. In addition, it’s been our experience that with the wheelchair lift installed, there is limited interior room to maneuver a wheelchair into the tie-down position, and the limited room also makes it difficult to get easy access to the wheelchair tie-down straps.   Imported Lowered Floor Minivans   • Imported Minivans These would include the Nissan Quest, the pre-2006 Honda Odyssey, Mitsubishi, Mazda and others.  No wheelchair lifts are available for these vans due to the limited width of their side doorways.  However, lifts for most unoccupied wheelchairs or scooters are available for stowing the unit.  With these types of lift systems, the rear bench seat will be removed, or the rear bench seat will be stowed into the floor where it will remain due to the installation of the lift. Click here or on the icon to the left for our 2010 Minivan Comparison Review that provides a wealth of information on minivan weights and measurements.
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