Frequently asked questions

How do I get a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle on Motability?

If you receive a qualifying mobility allowance and need to travel in your wheelchair, you may be able to lease a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) through the Motability Scheme.

The Motability Scheme makes it easier for people to lease a vehicle that allows them to travel while remaining in their wheelchair. This can make everyday journeys significantly easier, safer and more comfortable.

However, getting a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle through Motability is not simply a case of choosing a vehicle from a list. A WAV is a significant investment in a converted vehicle that you will typically lease for five years, and one that is subsidised through the Scheme.

It is therefore important to take the time to find a vehicle that is suitable for you, your wheelchair, your passengers and the way you travel.

So, how does the process work?

Find out More
How Do I Book a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Demonstration?

Choosing a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) is a big decision. The right vehicle needs to do much more than simply accommodate a wheelchair - it needs to work for the wheelchair user, their family or carers, and the way they travel every day.

That is why, at McElmeel Mobility, we believe a proper WAV demonstration is so important.

We provide free Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle demonstrations at your home, school or place of work across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. You can also visit us to see and compare our range of wheelchair accessible vehicles.

And booking a demonstration is straightforward.
Find out More
How do I apply for a grant for a wheelchair accessible vehicle on Motability?

For many wheelchair users, a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) can make an enormous difference to everyday life. Being able to travel in your wheelchair without transferring into a conventional car seat can make journeys easier, more comfortable and more practical.

However, wheelchair accessible vehicles can cost more than standard cars, and some of the vehicles that are most suitable for your needs may have a significant Advance Payment.
Find out More
Steps in applying for a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle grant from the Motability Foundation

Step 1: Check your Motability eligibility

Make sure you are receiving a qualifying mobility allowance and you expect to have at least 12 months remaining on your award at the time of order.
Find out More
What Makes a Good Ramp for a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle?

A ramp might seem like one of the simplest parts of a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV), but it can have a huge impact on safety, comfort and everyday usability.

If you use a wheelchair accessible vehicle every day, the ramp may be used several times a day, every day, for years. Small differences in ramp design can therefore make a surprisingly big difference to your experience.

Important factors include ramp angle, grip and slip resistance, ramp weight, Safe Working Load, ramp width, ease of use, noise and rear visibility.
Find out More

Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

A wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) is designed to allow a wheelchair user to travel in a vehicle without having to leave their wheelchair. The wheelchair is typically brought into the vehicle via a ramp or lift and then secured using an appropriate restraint system, allowing the passenger to travel safely as part of the vehicle's seating arrangement.

At first glance, that sounds straightforward. But is there a more important question? For example, "Is there a simple way to differentiate between a vehicle that has simply been adapted to accommodate a wheelchair and one that has been professionally designed, engineered, tested and approved as a wheelchair accessible vehicle?".

4.9 / 5

5 / 5

McElmeel Mobility Services Northern Ireland

Customer Reviews

McElmeel’s service is second to none. They are a fantastic company because they are just so personal. Their attention to detail is exceptional. I made a few visits and was constantly emailing back and forth as well as I wanted everything to be right with our Vauxhall Vivaro and nothing was too much trouble for them. They were extremely thorou...read more

Sinead Hogan

Dear Roisin Just a quick note to say how pleased we are with the car. It took a time to adjust to the wheelchair fixtures but I am getting quicker . Peter feels safe travelling and the drive is so much better than the Caddy. I appreciate it is so much smoother and not as rattley Many thank for your help and the patience of the rest of you...read more

Lynne & Peter Casey

Last year we ordered our WAV from McElmeel the rep that came out was fantastic he was friendly professional and very easy to talk to explaining everything we needed to know and helped compare different vehicles. From the off McElmeel stood out from other companies for us with no hard sale or constant hounding. The whole team and everyone we have de...read more

Lynsey Beth Wilkinson

Rarely are we met in life with truly outstanding service, Nadine from McElmeel is a complete perfectionist.This lady has left no stone unturned in her quest to help us as a family. Truly outstanding service and genuine compassion for our needs.We could go on ALL DAY.its sufficient to say that we will forever be grateful for having met you Nadine, a...read more

Jo-Anne & Nigel

Good morning Roisin it’s Billy Atherton Joseph’s Dad. Would like to say thank you for all your help and support whilst getting and sorting out the Ford mobility Vehicle. It’s brilliant we are made up with it . Would also like to say that the delivery driver was a really nice and well mannered man and went throu...read more

Billy, Sarah & Joseph Atherton

We couldn’t fault the service we received - it’s the first WAV we’ve had as a family, and they were so helpful in supporting us to choose the right vehicle. I was nervous about dealing with a company so far away, but everything was faultless - from the demonstration vehicle right through to the delivery. We even got our van months...read more

Sofie Boddy

Just ordered my second WAV from McElmeel, I wouldn't go anywhere else. Love the team they are so friendly and nothing is too much trouble and I love the conversion a lot of thought has gone into it. Test drive last week with Robbie was fab, he was so friendly and helpful, plus he chatted to my non verbal disabled daughter and she loved the atte...read more

Michelle

"To change is to live and to change often is to seek perfection" and so it is with McElmeel Mobility Services design engineering department. They appear to continually evaluate their product offerings where they modify and improve aspects of their products, thus enhancing the travel experience for the most vulnerable people in society (full time wh...read more

Brian Rogers

From the very first contact with McElmeel Motability Services right through to the delivery of our new WAV, our dealings with this family run firm have been outstanding. From sales, office support and delivery handover everyone has been professional, efficient, courteous and friendly and have always been keen to keep us up-to-date with developments...read more

Will & Dawn Benson

Dear Conor,Just wanted to say thank you for speaking with us at the Motability show here in Manchester today. You were the only one who was able to tell us about adaptations suitable for my daughter Rachael, there was no one else as knowledgable as you. You reassured Rachael that she would be able to drive! Thank you, you've made such a differen...read more

Sarah Lowe

Hi Aimee,I would like to thank you for all the help you have provided with Ethan's new car. It was dropped off earlier today and looks amazing. In comparison to the last company we ordered through you have been outstanding. Great communication all the way has kept us from having to chase things up. I have posted a review on the mota...read more

Tony & Celia McCauley

Thankyou so much for all you have done for me to have a smooth changeover to a WAV, the advice you gave was exceptional. I will be forever grateful. I will definitely be recommending you to all my friends. Thankyou to all at McElmeels, special mention to Dessy and Eileen....read more

Elizabeth & Mark

I've been in and out of hospital and they have just been great. They took care of everything. They were going above and beyond her job and I would've been lost without them. I would recommend them to anyone....read more

Alison Brady

To you all at McElmeel.A very big thankyou to you all for the adaptation of our Ford Transit Custom. Looking forward to getting out and about and more independence and quality of life. I would like to mention all the people we dealt with throughout this process, Eddie the rep, Mary who kept us updated, Aaron for delivering the car to us and no...read more

Lorraine & Ian Spark

Easter Greetings and much thanks for all your support and assistance in helping us get our vehicle on time, we really do appreciate all your efforts on our behalf. Please accept the little tokens of our thanks. We can't wait to get out and about...look out Belfast here we come! Have a nice Easter break and thanks again, we can't put into word...read more

Gerry & Christine Belle

My wife and I took delivery of our sons Motability car today. A lovely silver Ford Tourneo Courie and Simon loved it.The handover was straight forward and Benjamin who delivered it was very efficient and thorough. He explained every detail from servicing to the rear ramp and on to the security straps to make sure we all knew how to make Simons cha...read more

Ann and Richard Cole

We have just changed over our wav after 7 years and the service we have had has been outstanding, knew we would go back for our new one.The staff are incredibly friendly and helpful and you are kept up to date throughout the whole process.From Nadine who came out and let us test drive several models we were able to specify what we now need for our ...read more

Lorraine McConnell

We have had many cars on the Motability Scheme through the years but your company is simply the best, better than all the rest!!!...read more

Linda & Marc Murphy

We can now work through the list of things the kids want to do with me but we have not been able to because I can't travel in the car we have or get in & out of it now. Things insignificant to everyone else but that mean the world to me. Going to the park, going shopping, going to the zoo, a trip to IKEA now my son has learned Swedish, a kids...read more

Suzan McComb

Dear Nadine, Many thanks for all your help. The car will make such a difference to Gwen and Harold and I couldn't have managed this without you. Thanks Ann...read more

Ann

Hi Mary We are loving the new WAV that we received on Monday from yourselves. I would like to say how much a pleasure it has been dealing with McElmeel from Eddie’s demonstration right through to dealing with yourself and the collection of the WAV from Ben. I will definitely be using McElmeel again in 5 years to get another WAV for our dau...read more

Richard Keen

McElmeels done a brilliant job fitting hoist to my Kuga, very professional and helpful people. Credit where it is due, you done a great job and I am very pleased with the quality of the workmanship and the way I was treated will definitely be coming back for future adaptations...read more

Peter Trimmer

I feel i have to post our experience with Mc Elmeel Mobility Services Ltd.I have now had my Ford Custom Family going on three and a half years. When my health issues and mobility deteriorated, it became essential to get a vehicle that could take my power chair and me ( the chair weighs approx 95kgs. I am 1.98 metres in height, so when I am in my ch...read more

Gordon Pearce

To everyone at McElmeel's, many thanks for fitting the hoist to our car and a special thanks to John who collected and delivered the car, and for giving us tuition on using the hoist - he was most patient!...read more

Adelaide Johnston

Hi Mary, Just to let you know the handover with the new car went very well. Ben was very mannerly and provided all of the appropriate information. We are very happy with the WAV and we know it will make life easier. The whole process from order to delivery was very smooth, regardless of all of the miles between us! ...read more

Michael and Sarah Douglas

Just want to say a big thank you to everyone that has been involved in helping me to get my first Motability WAV. I am delighted with the service I have received and with the vehicle itself. Hopefully this will now give me even more independence and I would highly recommend your company it to anyone thinking of going on the Motability...read more

Anisa Ibrahim

Noleen, we appreciate all you have done for us over the past four weeks. Thanks for everything....read more

The Quigg Family

Would like to say thank you for delivery of our WAV. Highly recommend. From start to finish communication have been brilliant. Being the first time ordering a wav we were unsure how the process worked, but you made it very easy. Would like to say thank you to Aaron who delivered the WAV. Nothing was to much to ask. The build quality of the WAV is l...read more

Maxine Gardner

This is the first time we've had dealings with McEmeels Mobility, and I have to say I was mighty impressed with the professional team they have, everyone was very pleasant, got the messages passed through to the correct staff member. Everything was done for us in getting our new vehicle, a special mention to Nadine who brought the vehicle to our ho...read more

Paula Power

Anton the guy that we were dealing with, was the nicest and most helpful person, nothing was too much for him. He went out of his way to help us and was so professional doing his job. Brilliant service. Thank you...read more

Geraldine Cooney

Aaron was brilliant. Waited for us while we navigated traffic. Van is wonderful. Thanks!! ...read more

Max

Can I just say I'm so glad I did my research and found McElmeel's. Not only have you helped with everything but Sean yesterday made my Mum and myself feel completely at ease and answered all our questions.My Mum loved the car, so it is safe to say we;re definitely going ahead. She was so comfortable and wasn't holding on for dear life despite me ha...read more

Rita Deeming

We had a lovely handover today done by Arron he was fantastic, explained everything and shown us all around the wav thanks everyone for all the help over getting are second wav from yourselves!...read more

Lisa & Matthew

We want to say a huge thank you to McElmeel's for getting us the car that was most suitable to our needs. Without you we wouldn't have known where to start. Please keep up the good work....read more

Natasha and Geraldine Graham

To Eileen, I would like to thank you all for the lovely service you have given to mw and my family. Everyone has been very kind.Wishing you all the very best,...read more

Denise Reid & Family

Roisin & Staff, Natasha and myself would just like to say a big thank you in helping us get our new car, we really appreciate everything you done for us and we will have so many happy times travelling in it so many thanks....read more

Natasha & Geraldine Graham

Thank you for making my driving a lot more pain free, the electric seat benefits me hugely....read more

Colleen O'C

Small family business, very friendly staff, from our demo with Eddie to dealing with Mary on the admin side, the whole process of getting our first WAV was great. Even though we were in a lockdown, nothing was too much hassle, test drive the van as long as you want they said, make sure it's the one for your needs. The Transit Connect was ideal exce...read more

Stephen McKillop

Thank you so much to you all for our Car. Thank you Eileen for all your help and efficiency. Also thank you Sean for traveling to Wigan to bring us our Car. It's made taking My Husband out so much easier and he's in no pain when transferring from his chair. Thank you again from the bottom of our heart. X...read more

Sharon Wilson

Excellent service very friendly people . Handover was great the guy was so lovely and friendly. The car is amazing. Overall a great experience...read more

Jane Bartlett

I cannot thank the staff at McElmeel’s enough. I needed to organise transport for my mum to attend my father’s funeral when getting wheelchair accessible taxis proved difficult to book and prohibitively expensive. Instead we opted to hire a WAV to give us greater flexibility so my mum could fully participate on the day. Teighan was so h...read more

Diane Jamieson

To all the staff at McElmeels, Fiachra and I want to thank you all very much for sorting out everything for us to get our new Ford Fortitude Van. We're over the moon at how quickly you managed to get it all sorted for us, especially as Christmas is just around the corner too!! Best of luck to you all as you go forward- especially Anton- massiv...read more

Stella and Fiachra Maguire

Very helpful. Made to feel very welcome the standard of vehicles first class...read more

Veronica McAlpline

I wanted to thank you for the wonderful service we received from McElmeel mobility services whilst we were ordering our new WAV. Of all the times to order a new vehicle we did it in the middle of a pandemic but the help and advice we received was fantastic! Terry and Eddie gave us really friendly thorough ‘covid safe’ demonstrat...read more

The Bell Family

After 2 generations of VW WAV loyalty we decided to look around for our daughter’s next WAV . With 3 times the spec for 1/3rd of the down payment , the Ford Family Custom from McElmeel was a no brainier: a dropped floor, meaning a really easy rear ramp with no need for winching; perfect wheelchair in the middle of 2 back seats for Seren to ...read more

Alison Owen

I can't thank you enough for how much you have helped me and our family in getting us our Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle. So a BIG THANKS goes to you. ...read more

Tina, Nathaniel Syme & rest of family

To Roisin, Many Thanks for all your hard work in getting us our WAV in such an efficient manner. We really appreciate all the trouble you took....read more

Bridie & Gerry Davey

We got our first ever WAV this week. Didn’t have the first clue what we were looking for but no worrys from start to finish McElmeels were so helpful and very knowledgeable everyone is so friendly and goes above and beyond this WAV has really changed our lives. thankyou so much Eileen, Caitlin and Linda. And massive thanks to the wee gem that...read more

Christine Walker

We've just had our new WAV vehicle delivered this week for my daughter Abby, unfortunately I don't have a Facebook account to be able to leave a review but I couldn't go without thanking McElmeels for all your help. The initial demo with Nadine was so hassle free to organise, she was so friendly and informative as and we knew straight away it was ...read more

Kelly Paton

Not sure I can find the words that would do justice for this review but exceptional service is a good starting point. We took delivery of our second Motability vehicle, our first, the dealership clearly just saw us as another sale, the vehicle was totally inappropriate for my needs & took 18 months of my freedom away rather than enhancing my li...read more

Sue Kennedy

To all the staff at McElmeels, a big thank you. These words are sincere because without you all I would not be driving my brand new wheelchair adapted vehicle....read more

Gail Rogers

Hi, I'm just writing to tell how impressed I am with the controls you fitted to my Mitsubishi L200. From start to finish, everyone at McElmeels' we're friendly, helpful and utterly professional. The controls are superb. Very smooth and comfortable and perfectly set up for my individual needs. Thank you so much for such a great service! Best, Steve...read more

Steve Smithers

To Desmond, Thankyou for all your help and advice when I was choosing a new car. My life has changed so much. I can come and go when I please and don't rely on anybody. I have my life back....read more

Colette Robb

To Nadine, Roisin and all the Staff at McElmeels,For all your help and assistance in helping us to obtain our Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle your guidance was greatly appreciated.Many Thanks,...read more

Brendan Carroll & Family

Have got my independence back.Great service from great people, helpfull all the way from ordering to receiving my vehicle, big shout out to Stephen for not only his patience when demonstrating but to delivering my vehicle, covered everything I needed to know, Great personality and sense of humourGreat Company,Bonnie from Cornwall....read more

Bonnie

To Eileen, Thank you very much for all your help in sorting our new vehicle. Throughout the whole process you were the only person who did what they said they would do and rang me when you said you were going to.Best Wishes...read more

Lorraine Baker

I recently used McElmeel Mobility Services and couldn’t be happier with the experience. From start to finish, the team was professional, friendly, and genuinely committed to helping me find the right mobility solution for my daughters/families needs. Their staff took the time to listen carefully and offered clear, knowledgeable advice witho...read more

Bekki

Brilliant service all round. We got to test drove our Ford Tourneo, which they drove from County Armagh to Kent! He clearly and patiently took us through everything we would need, and even things we didn't know we'd need! Anton updated us regularly with how we were doing, and although there was a slight delay we have now received our Tourneo. Th...read more

Katherine Slessor

Absolutely fantastic service. Very friendly staff. Innovative design which captured exactly what I was looking for in the adaptation to my vehicle!! I will be back!! Thanks again!! It was exciting doing business with you!...read more

Karen French

View all

Book a Demo

New Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

Used Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

Adaptions

Used Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles Available

Ford Grand Tourneo Connect

Peugeot Rifter

Citroen SpaceTourer

Ford Tourneo Custom

Citroen SpaceTourer Cosmo

Peugeot Rifter

Peugeot Rifter

Ford Grand Tourneo Connect

Citroen SpaceTourer

Ford Tourneo Custom Family

Citroen SpaceTourer

Ford Tourneo Custom Family

Peugeot Rifter

Citroen SpaceTourer

Peugeot Rifter

Frequently asked questions

Adaptions

New Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle Hire

Motability

Book a FREE Demo

Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles

Customer Reviews