drive from wheelchair citreon duo

[hel40]

hello everyone
anybody out there got any experience of a Citroen duo adapted or any similar one. it has two wheelchair lockdowns upfront and one car seat so I can either drive or be a passenger in my wheelchair.
It is a fantastic car, but I unfortunately have got problems with switching the seat from one side to the the other because of the release mechanism at the bottom of the seat. I have been in contact with the dealers and the adaption company, but haven't got anywhere yet.
so if anybody out there has a similar car it would be great to hear from.
Thanks a lot
Helen

[Mark]

Hi Helen,
I have the Sirus Qubo Switch which is a (slightly smaller) but similar drive-from or passenger-in vehicle. Both my wife and I have found it much harder to relocate the seat than we imagined. Because it is a standard car seat plus base frame it is very heavy and the attachments need you to reach the floor, so sounds similar to yours. I wish I could offer a solution, but I haven't come up with one yet.
How do you like the Citroen Duo apart from that? I wanted to try one but they wouldn't bring me a demonstrator saying I lived too far away (only Derby in the Midlands!) so I bought the Qubo Switch from Sirus who were very helpful.
Sirus told me that they had modified one vehicle for a customer so that the seat slid on runners from side to side. However the cost of the modification was around two thousand pounds from memory and at the time I didn't realise how hard it would be in practice for us with the standard system. Also I have fitted Ez-locks on both sides and not sure if the seats would clear those if on slides. Not investigated any further. Have you any photos of the lock-down arrangement of your seat?
Mark

[hel40]

hi Mark
it's great to hear from someone who's also got a switching car, I live in Norfolk and my car is from GM coach works, we thought it would be a lot easier to just move the seat 2 feet, rather than in my last car ( which was a Renault Kangoo from Sirus) where we had to get the seat out of storage to put in.
unfortunately, this was our first time trying to move the seat and it broke. We are waiting to see what will happen, as there is confusion as to who is responsible. I must say my personal assistant(, who is the one who has to move it) is concerned about the weight of the chair. Hopefully once the T-bar that is used to transfer it is sorted , we will find out more.
I will get a photograph as soon as I can and let you see it.
Sorry you are having problems, the brochure made it seem quite simple, but obviously not. The runners sound good, but as you say, for £2000. It would be out of the question for me as well.
having said that, the car is really brilliant and just for me on my own it is fine, I was looking forward to have the option of somebody taking over. If I got too tired, as I said, hopefully be sorted soon.

[Mark]

Hi again Helen,
Look forward to the photographs of it. Regarding swapping the seat across... Yes it probably is simple if you are young, fit, and strong and can stand easily while manhandling a heavy seat and relocating it. Unfortunately, it is much harder for Sally and Me than we anticipated. However, it does enable me to drive without transfering from the chair which was the main reason for getting it. Transfers really take it out of me now, and I'm getting increasing shoulder and wrist pains, so I try to minimise the wear and tear on my upper body.
Mark

[hel40]

hello again
it's been awhile as the car has taken longer than I thought to fix, I am now really happy with it so I thought this was the time to post a reply. I have now got this simple t bar that is slotted under the seat, which means the seat can be moved from the passenger side to the driver-side a lot easier. I have had two personal assistants now that have been able to move the chair successfully. it has been so useful to me to have somebody take over the driving when needed. 2 photos attached.....it really has been brilliant

tbar-underseat2.jpg (123.58 KiB) Viewed 2816 times

tbar-underseat.jpg (101.12 KiB) Viewed 2816 times