1998 Chevrolet Express

Minivan, Van

V8 350

Automatic

1gbfg15r3w1090447

Clear

Gasoline

1998 Chevrolet Express Conversion Handicap Lift Equipped Van Summary of features: FREE AND CLEAR TITLE IN HAND RICON SIDE ENTRY WHEELCHAIR LIFT 4 WHEELCHAIR TIE DOWNS 4 NEWER TIRES POWER WINDOWS (front) POWER LOCKS POWER DRIVERS SEAT V8 350ci Engine (old reliable) CRUISE TILT A/C 139,xxx miles This handicap van is in excellent shape. Please look at all the pictures. This van has been well maintained. The Rican wheelchair lift is in excellent working order. There are 4 wheelchair tie downs. This is a customized van with side running boards and an enhanced interior. This was customized by CUSTOM CRAFT. We are the third owners and have owned it for several years. We have used it to transport our 7 Year old son whom is confined to a wheel chair. We recently had new spark plugs, wires, coils, etc installed as we planned on driving it for several more years. We are selling it as some friends offered us a deal we could not refuse for a newer van which is very similar to this one. Take a look at my pictures and I think you will fall in love with me. We liked this van as it is side entry which is safer for loading our son. Friends with rear entry vans find that they are concerned about safety when they are loading the wheel chair in a crowded parking lot. We like the full size van over the minivan as it has more height in it and does not require our son to move his head downwards in order to enter the van. We also like the fact that he sits right behind us so we can get to him quicker if needed and so he can be closer to the front and watch the scenery as we are driving down the road. The option of having a seat for our youngest son to sit in right next to the wheel chair is also a very favorable feature of this van in our opinion. We removed the middle seat when we took a family vacation to Florida so that we would have more room for our sons stander etc. The height, wheel chair location, side entry and reliability are all factors we consider very important when selecting a van for our precious cargo. The van starts right up and idles smooth. The motor is strong and runs smooth down the road. The transmissions shifts smoothly as it should. All tires Goodyear tires are fairly new, not many miles on them. The van drives straight down the road and also stops in a straight line with no pulling, shimmy or shaking. The brakes are in great working order. As the thought of breaking down with our son in his wheel chair horrifies us, we have tried to maintain this van very well. As an example, our mechanic thought the fuel pump was getting close to the end of its life so we replaced it earlier than we probably had to. The interior is in excellent shape for its age, just look at the pictures. As you can see in pictures the interior shows very minimal signs of wear, even the seats are in excellent shape and do not have any tears that we are aware of.. The dash is in nice shape except for a couple small screw holes from accessories of the previous owner. All the power options work as they should with no problems.We like the fact that there is not a center console in between the front seats as this allows us easier access to our son. One of the shorter side blinds need help going up but we did not consider that a problem as we always had them down to protect our son from the sun and excess heat. We really like the fact that it is customized and has blinds on it to help keep sun light from our son. The seats in the van are custom seats made by Flexsteel. We all know that Flexsteel means quality and long lasting. The center seat next to the wheel chair ties downs is installed in some of the pictures. I wanted you to see the options you have. This center seat is easily removed by moving a lever and lifting it out. There is a second middle seat that was originally where the lift is that is included as you can see in one of the pictures. The lift is made by one of the best wheel chair lift makers, Ricon. Ricon and Braun seem to complete at the top of the list. This lift was put in by the second owner. We understand it is around 5 years old. While that age estimate appears to be true when we look at the condition of it, we have no actual date of installation. All we know is has been a life saver for our backs. When the control got broken we used to backup system to raise and lower the lift.. The backup system works when the battery is dead also. The lift, like all lifts it seems, does rattle a little as you are driving down the road but after a while we no longer noticed the rattle. We prefer to live with the rattle rather than have a ramp style van where we have to push our son up and down a ramp. We think the lift style van is safer for both us and our son.Ricon has a very good parts distribution system and parts are readily available from a mobility dealer should they be needed. The power for the lift runs directly off your car battery. The in dash radio works well as does the CD player. The radio antenna retracts when the radio is not in use. There is a TV in the van which is connected to a VCR based unit which we have not used as our son has portable CD players to view as we are driving. We were told the TV system worked when we bought it but it seems a bit outdated now. We tried it once and it seemed to have a loose connection or the one VCR tape we had was bad. I assume it would work if one were to spend a little time with it. If you want to use the TV I would suggest replacing the VCR unit with a CD unit. There is a receiver trailer hitch on the van which we never used and I am not sure it was ever used as when I looked at the end of the wire harness there the connector was never installed. The exterior is also in excellent shape for the year. There are a few rock chips and blemishes as to be expected but overall the body is in decentshape. I have included several pictures of the exterior please look at them. There is NO rust on the body of this van. The paint is decent for its age in our opinion. There are a couple spots where it looks like the previous owner may have had some dings repaired. There are 3 or 4 dings in the hood from highway toss ups and a ding in the rear bumper. The passenger door lock is in further than it should be but that has never been a high priority for us to fix as we have never used it. The side entry lift works very well. We had the control box replaced along with the cord as our 3 year old dropped it while trying to help us get his older brother in the van. Please note in the pictures that you can still enter the side of the van when the lift is up as the gate folds in half when it is stored. This has to be one of the nicest handicap vans out there for the year and the low miles on this van. We had planned on using this van for our family vacation to Colorado this year as we have complete confidence in this van. We will be glad to answer any questions you may have. The van is located in St. Louis Missouri. If you are from out of town and want to have it shipped, we will be glad to work with the shipper you hire. Lets now look at some pictures of the van starting with some outside views. PICTURE 1 Right Side Front PICTURE 2 Left Side Rear PICTURE 3 Rear of van As you can see from the above pictures, the outside of the van is very presentable and is straight PICTURE 4 Closeup of lift itself PICTURE 5 Second view of the lift PICTURE 6 Lift raised ready to stow PICTURE 7 Lift control box As you can see, the lift has not been abused and has been well cared for. As the lift is the main reason you are looking at this van, I thought it would be good to let you see how nice it is. It has a lot of very serviceable years left and probably could be moved to another vehicle in the future if you so desired. This lift has helped to save our backs by removing the need for us to lift both our son and the wheelchair. Now lets take a look at the inside of this van. PICTURE 8 Rear storage area PICTURE 9 Rear with tailgating seat down As you can see, there is room to store things in the back and you can also back the van up to a sporting event , lower the seat, and watch the event from the back of the van. Now we will look at the very rear seat of the van. This is taken with the center seat removed. The ability to very easily remove the center seat has given us additional flexibility. We found that we could remove the seat and have room for our son’s stander when we are going on long trips. PICTURE 10 Rear seat PICTURE 11 Spare center seat laying in rear PICTURE 12 Center seat installed in place PICTURE 13 Center seat upholstery shot PICTURE 14 Front driver and passenger seats PICTURE 15 Passenger inside door panel PICTURE 16 Drivers inside door panel PICTURE 17 Inside custom blinds PICTURE 18 Side door inside door panel PICTURE 19 Dash PICTURE 20 Mileage PICTURE 21 Wheel chair area with center seat installed PICTURE 22 Upper front console PICTURE 23 Headliner in van I think that now helps you see how nice the interior is. We now will take a peek under the hood and a look at the tires. You will notice in the first picture that the power to the lift runs directly off the battery. PICTURE 24 Under hood right side PICTURE 25 Under hood left side PICTURE 26 Tires My glass is all original and in good shape. The windows go up and down as they should We will gladly try to answer any and all questions. We encourage you to come look at the car or to send a representative. We have valued this car below market value and we prefer to see it go to someone whom really needs it. The new owner is responsible for any shipment and must arrange such shipping themselves. . You are buying this car as is. I have described it to the best of my ability. A $500 non-refundable deposit is due within 24 hours (Paypal or cash) and full payment is due within 5 days or as agreed to with the seller. Car must be picked up within 14 days unless prior arrangements are made. The existing owner must have cleared payment before the car will be released. This car is for sale locally and I reserve the right to remove it from this auction at any time. Car is being sold as is, with no warranty expressed or implied.