Cost one
The vehicle
A minivan or a full size van, new or used. It behaves like any other vehicle purchase.
- Priced by
- Year, mileage, trim, platform
- Check it yourself
- Yes. Same van, any dealer.
What it costs
What a wheelchair accessible van actually costs.
Straight answer first: there is no single price on this page. You are buying two things and both of them move. Here is what the number is made of, and how to get a real one.
- What this page gives you
- What the number is made of
- What it cannot give you
- One price that fits everyone
- Fastest route to a real one
- 1-888-266-2299
Start here
You are paying for two things, not one.
This is the part almost everyone gets wrong, and it is why accessible vans look overpriced from the outside.
Cost two
The conversion
The floor is cut out, lowered and reinforced, the structure rebuilt around the opening, a ramp fitted, securement anchored in. Manufacturing, not fitting an accessory.
- Priced by
- Entry, ramp, securement, who drives
- Built
- Here in Chilliwack, under Transport Canada National Safety Mark L43
When a converted van looks expensive next to a stock one, the gap is that second box.
The biggest lever
Where you get in moves the number more than anything else.
Three ways into a van, and each one is a different amount of manufacturing.
Side entry
The floor drops over a longer run of the van, and the side door mechanism joins the conversion. The one you can drive from your chair.
Costs more than rear entry
Rear entry
The front of the van is left alone, and the chair goes up the centre from the back. The one we build here.
Costs less than side entry
Lift
A powered platform into a full size van at floor height. No ramp angle, which answers a heavy power chair.
Full size vehicle, not a minivan
The variables
Five more decisions, and which way each one moves it.
None is right or wrong on its own. Each trades what the van costs against how you will use it on a Tuesday morning.
| The decision | Costs more | Costs less |
|---|---|---|
| How the ramp worksPowered comes out at the touch of a button. Manual uses somebody's arm. | Powered | Manual fold-out |
| Where the ramp livesIn-floor slides away under the floor, so the doorway stays clear for everyone else. | In-floor | Fold-out over the sill |
| How the chair is securedTie-downs take any chair. EZ Lock docks you in yourself in seconds, but needs hardware fitted to your chair. | EZ Lock docking | Retractable tie-downs |
| Who is drivingThe biggest change we make to a van: hand controls, a driver station, securement at the wheel. | Driving from the chair | Travelling as a passenger |
| The vehicle it starts asThe conversion work is much the same either way, so the same build lands at very different totals. | New, full size | Used minivan platform |
What funding actually changes
- Off ICBC Basic Autoplan
- 25%
- Max BC fuel tax refund, a year
- $500
- CRA credit, federal limit
- $5,000
The disability discount, on one vehicle, if you qualify. Register for the fuel tax refund first or the broker will send you home.
Provincial fuel tax back on one registered vehicle, against your own receipts. Real money, spread over a year.
A non-refundable credit on a tax return, not cash toward the purchase. In a year you owe no tax it is worth nothing.
Thousands, not tens of thousands, and three kinds of money arriving at different times, so we will not add them into one total. Manufacturer rebates and the employment, veterans’ and children’s programs are the ones that can genuinely change the arithmetic. Every program, with sources.
New or used
The value play is usually a used conversion.
The conversion is the expensive half, and it does not wear out the way a drivetrain does. A lowered floor is still a lowered floor at 100,000 km.
| Compared on | Buying new | Buying used |
|---|---|---|
| The conversion | Built new, priced new. It is the expensive half. | This is where the saving is. You are not paying new-build cost for a lowered floor. |
| Vehicle warranty | Full factory warranty on every unmodified component. | Depending on age and mileage, there may still be a balance of it. |
| Conversion warranty | Limited 3 year / 60,000 km comprehensive on new Sidewinder minivan conversions, whichever comes first. Exclusions apply. | Ask what that particular van still has. We will tell you straight, including when the answer is none. |
| Configuration | You specify it. | You take what is on the lot. A newer chassis under an older conversion is often the better buy. |
| Manufacturer rebates | Generally apply. | Generally new vehicles only. |
See what is in stock now
The warranty has exclusions, and they matter. Read what is not covered.
Four costs that arrive after the purchase.
01
Insurance
Tell your broker it is a converted van. The conversion is part of what it is worth.
02
Fuel
A conversion adds weight, and a van drinks more than the car it replaces.
03
Servicing, both halves
Skip the factory schedule and you can lose warranty you paid for. Ramps and securement wear where a driver never looks.
04
Tires and brakes
A heavier van is harder on both. Most first-time buyers miss this line.
Not ready to buy? Rent one for a weekend. Two days in your own driveway tells you more than any spec sheet. Or read how we service them.
Getting a real figure
Six things, and a real number comes back.
You do not need all of it first. The more you have, the closer the first figure lands.
- Your chair: make, model, width, length, seated height with you in it, and weight.
- Whether you travel sitting in the chair, or transfer to a vehicle seat.
- Who is driving, and whether that has to be the wheelchair user.
- How many seated passengers on a normal day, and on a bad one.
- Where the van will live. Garage height is the one that catches people out.
- Any deadline on it: a job, a placement, or a funding application.
Not sure about some of it? Say so and we will work it out with you.
Free, and no obligation
A written quote with the van and the conversion priced separately.
Not a range, and not a starting-from figure with an asterisk on it. Built around your chair and the way you actually travel, with the van and the conversion listed apart.
Contact
Talk to someone who knows these vans.
Come by the shop and bring your chair, or just start with a phone call. Either way you'll be talking to someone who can answer the question instead of taking a message.
- 1-888-266-2299Toll free across Canada
- (604) 792-2082Local Chilliwack line
- graham@sidewinderconversions.comQuestions about a van
- 44658 Yale Road WestChilliwack, BC V2R 0G5
- Monday – Friday: 8:30am – 4:30pmClosed Saturday & Sunday
- 4.5 out of 5 from 47 Google reviewsThat was our Google score in August 2026. Go and read them yourself. (opens in a new tab)