VPG MV-1 opinions

[forestranger52]

Where I live, new 3/4 ton 4 x4 trucks break apart in 6 to 10 years. Most folks don't buy new because nothing lasts. The county transportation department quit buying wheelchair vans with raised roofs, dropped floors, adapted entrances and side doors because they rust like hell and break apart. Vans with lowered floors tear and rip open negotiating the transition from driveways to paved roads. Often there are exposed pipes and culverts on our dirt and gravel roads and they eat dropped floors for lunch.

I absolutely believe a well taken care of, bodily and structuraly modified van can last a long time in certain areas, it just ain't happening in a lot of very rural places like here. A large number of wheelchair vans have low mileage, are kept in garages or are seldom used in winter. Wheelchair use sucks in cold and snow, folks will stay inside for months in the wintertime. The average heavily modified wheelchair van probably dosen't go to work or school everday and a lot last for many many years with very low mileage. No doubt that a full size van will do much better than a mini van which would be shot very quickly.

Any vehicle that is used regularly around here averages around 25,000 miles a year. The 1997 van, if it was used here, would have around 325,000 miles on it and if it wasn't scraped, I sincerely doubt that it would be driveable.