How Much Does a Wheelchair Van Cost in 2027? New, Used, and Leased

A wheelchair van is the biggest check most NEMT owners ever write. Its price has three parts: the base vehicle, the conversion that makes it accessible, and the equipment you add for broker work. Government purchase records show what each part costs, so you can judge a dealer’s quote before you sign.

What a new wheelchair van costs in 2026

Public buyers post what they pay. Florida’s Department of Transportation sets prices for transit vehicles in its TRIPS contracts, and federal agencies order wheelchair vans through GSA. Federal orders are public on USAspending.gov.

Van	Price	Buyer and date
Lowered-floor minivan (Chrysler Voyager), side ramp, 2 wheelchair positions	$69,476, plus $1,295 for a required seat and seat fabric	Florida TRIPS contract, order form effective February 20, 2025
Full-size van, 2 wheelchair positions, rear lift	$68,750 to $74,495	Federal agencies through GSA, May to September 2026
Full-size van, 2 wheelchair positions, rear ramp	$74,000	GSA, June 26, 2026
Full-size van, 3 wheelchair positions, curbside lift	$75,931	GSA, May 5, 2026
Full-size van, 3 wheelchair positions and 1 stretcher, curbside lift	$82,995	GSA, August 19, 2026
22-foot transit minibus on a 2026 Ford Transit, lift	$97,035 to $99,327, before seats at $637 to $816 each	Florida TRIPS contract, revised June 17, 2026

Treat these as benchmarks, not your price. They are fleet orders placed under government contracts. A dealer quote for one van will differ, and your state may add sales tax, title, and registration fees. The Florida minibus is also built to transit specs that a NEMT van may not need.

The table shows two useful things. A ramp minivan and a full-size lift van cost about the same at these prices. And adding a wheelchair position or a stretcher position raised the price in these orders. For the layout questions, see minivan or full-size wheelchair van and wheelchair ramp or lift.

What the conversion alone costs

If you already own a minivan, the conversion is the main cost. VA medical centers buy van conversions for veterans, and those orders are public too.

Between October 15, 2025 and September 22, 2026, VA placed 23 orders described as minivan conversions. They are adaptive equipment orders from VA prosthetics offices, so they pay for the conversion, not the vehicle. VA helps a veteran buy the vehicle itself through a separate automobile allowance.

The orders ranged from $30,568 to $52,239, and the median was $41,426. The middle half fell between $39,808 and $43,553. Nineteen of the 23 came from one VA regional contracting office, so prices in your area may differ.

A veteran’s conversion is built around one person, so a NEMT layout can price differently. Use the VA numbers to test a quote, then ask the converter to price your exact layout: how many wheelchair positions, ramp or lift, and where the ambulatory seats go.

A conversion also comes with paperwork, and you want it before you pay:

• On a new van, the company that converts it before the first sale must add a label saying the van still meets the federal safety standards affected by the work (49 CFR 567.7).
• On a van already in service, a modifier that makes a safety feature inoperative to fit a wheelchair must add a permanent label and give you a document. The document lists the federal standards the van may no longer meet and any drop in load capacity of more than 220 pounds (49 CFR 595.7).

That load capacity figure matters if you plan to carry heavier riders. See bariatric transportation. The lift certifications and ADA specs your van must meet are in the NEMT vehicle requirements checklist, and the full conversion process is in wheelchair van conversion.

New, used, converted, or leased: how the options compare

Option	What you pay up front	What to watch
New converted van	The full price, usually financed	Warranty coverage, delivery time, and whether the layout fits your brokers
Convert a van you own	The conversion, $30,568 to $52,239 in VA orders from October 2025 to September 2026	The van’s age and miles, and the converter’s label and paperwork
Used converted van	Less than new, depending on age, miles, and the ramp or lift	Open recalls, ramp or lift wear, missing paperwork, and broker age limits
Lease	A down payment and monthly payments	Mileage limits, who owns the conversion, and what the lease allows on a converted van

Buying used

A used van saves money up front, but the savings can vanish in repairs. Florida’s standard minivan contract warranties the base vehicle for 3 years or 36,000 miles, the powertrain for 5 years or 100,000 miles, and the ramp and body changes for 4 years with no mileage limit (contract of May 2020). A used van may be past all of them.

Florida’s transit program plans for a converted minivan, or a converted minibus up to 22 feet long, to serve 5 years or 200,000 miles (useful life table, 2026). Ask any seller for the mileage, the ramp or lift service records, and the converter’s paperwork. Some brokers and states also cap a van’s age or mileage, so check the limits in NEMT vehicle requirements before you buy. The full inspection list is in buying a used wheelchair van.

Leasing

A lease lowers what you pay today, so compare the total over the years you will keep the van. For taxes, IRS Publication 463 lets you deduct the business part of each lease payment when you use actual expenses. If you pick the standard mileage rate for a leased vehicle instead, you must keep it for the whole lease. You cannot deduct payments made to buy a van, even if they are called lease payments. Compare the two with lease or buy NEMT vehicles.

The costs buyers forget

The base price may not include everything a broker asks for. Florida’s minivan and minibus contracts price these items separately, which shows what they add:

Item	Price on a Florida contract	Why you may need it
Extended warranty, minivan	$3,338 for 5 years or 100,000 miles, up to $5,802 for 7 years or 150,000 miles (February 2025)	NEMT vans pile up miles fast
Extra set of wheelchair tie-downs, minivan	$264 (February 2025)	A spare set keeps the van running when one fails
WC18-compliant tie-down system	$456 on a minivan (February 2025), $811 per position on a Ford Transit minibus (June 2026)	Crash-tested securement for riders who stay in their wheelchair
Wheelchair restraint system, minibus	$607 to $785 per vehicle, by brand (June 2026)	The minibus contract prices restraints separately, so check what a quote includes
1,000-pound lift instead of the standard lift, minibus	$306 (June 2026)	Heavier power chairs and bariatric riders
Stretcher mount, minibus	$1,995 to $2,958 (June 2026)	Only if you run stretcher trips
Two-camera recording system, minivan	$1,610 to $3,243 (February 2025)	Incident records and driver safety
Driver safety partition, minibus	$504 (June 2026)	Driver protection
Hands-free phone or two-way radio, minibus	$913 (June 2026)	MTM’s Pennsylvania provider agreement (January 1, 2023 version) requires a two-way voice system linking every vehicle to your office

Then add what no contract lists: sales tax, title, and registration where your state charges them, commercial auto insurance, signs, any first-aid kit or fire extinguisher your broker or state requires, and any inspection fee. See NEMT insurance cost, and use how much it costs to start a NEMT business to build the full budget.

What a wheelchair van costs to run

Fuel

EPA rates the unconverted 2026 Chrysler Voyager at 22 mpg combined. At the U.S. average of $4.478 a gallon for regular gas on September 21, 2026 (EIA), that is about 20 cents a mile for fuel before a conversion adds weight. Use your own van’s real mileage for planning.

The van itself, per mile

Spread a $70,771 minivan (the Florida price with its required seating) over 200,000 miles and the van costs about 35 cents a mile, before loan interest and before resale value. For comparison, the IRS business standard mileage rate, which stands in for depreciation, fuel, insurance, and upkeep on an ordinary car, is 76 cents a mile for miles driven from July 1, 2026. Run your own numbers in the NEMT cost per mile calculator, then check them against your state’s wheelchair van rates.

Ramp and lift upkeep

Federal ADA rules require every transportation company, public or private, to keep lifts, ramps, and securement devices working and to repair them promptly (49 CFR 37.161). Budget for scheduled lift service and spare parts. The NEMT vehicle maintenance guide has a schedule.

Recalls on the conversion

Conversion companies file their own safety recalls, separate from the automaker’s. On December 17, 2025, two conversion companies recalled wheelchair tie-down retractors that may not lock, across converted minivans and full-size vans (NHTSA recalls 25V876 and 25V877). On May 11, 2026, another recalled the same problem on converted 2023 to 2026 Chrysler Pacificas (26V296). Search NHTSA recalls by make, model, and year, read every result, and ask the converter whether your van is included. The fix in each of these recalls is free.

How to pay for a wheelchair van

Loans

SBA 7(a) loans can buy equipment, with terms of up to 10 years unless the equipment’s useful life is longer. SBA caps the interest rate on variable loans of $50,001 to $250,000 at the prime rate plus 6.0 percentage points. With prime at 7.00 percent in late September 2026 (Federal Reserve H.15), that cap was 13.0 percent. SBA microloans go up to $50,000 for up to 6 years.

Here is what a $70,000 van loan costs. The 9 percent rate is an example, and 13 percent is the SBA cap above.

Loan	Monthly payment	Total interest
5 years at 9 percent	$1,453.08	$17,185.09
6 years at 9 percent	$1,261.79	$20,848.71
5 years at 13 percent	$1,592.72	$25,562.91

Try your own rate and term in the wheelchair van loan calculator. For lenders and the papers they ask for, see NEMT business loans.

Grants

FTA Section 5310 grants pay 80 percent of the net capital cost of projects for seniors and people with disabilities (49 U.S.C. 5310). At least 55 percent of the funds go to capital projects, and those can go only to private nonprofits and to public agencies that the state approves or that certify no nonprofit is available. Minnesota’s program lists for-profit organizations as eligible only if no nonprofit is readily available in the area (2025 application for 2026 awards). The same law lets agencies count buying rides as a capital expense, so a grant recipient may hire you instead. See NEMT grants.

Tax rules that lower the real cost

Taxes can take a large share of a van’s cost back in the year you buy it. From IRS Publication 946 (2025):

• No car depreciation caps. A vehicle used directly in the business of carrying people for pay is not a passenger automobile, so the yearly depreciation limits for cars do not apply. It is still listed property, so keep mileage records.
• 100 percent first-year depreciation. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act restored the 100 percent special depreciation allowance for qualified property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025.
• Section 179. For tax years beginning in 2026, you can expense up to $2,560,000 of qualifying property, reduced once purchases top $4,090,000. Section 179 is capped at $32,000 for a passenger vehicle rated over 6,000 and up to 14,000 pounds gross weight, unless it seats more than nine passengers behind the driver. The Chrysler Voyager on Florida’s minivan contract is rated at 6,055 pounds, so the cap can apply to a minivan. You must use the van more than 50 percent for business the year you place it in service.

Deducting the van this way closes a door. IRS Publication 463 says you cannot use the standard mileage rate for a vehicle after claiming Section 179 or special depreciation on it. It also bars the standard rate for any vehicle when you run five or more at the same time. If you later sell the van, part of the price may be taxed as recaptured depreciation. Plan it with your CPA before year-end, and see NEMT business taxes.

How to buy a wheelchair van, step by step

1. Get each broker’s vehicle rules in writing. Ask for age and mileage limits, securement specs, and inspection steps before you shop. See NEMT vehicle requirements.
2. Choose the layout by your riders. Count wheelchair positions, ambulatory seats, chair weights, and any stretcher work.
3. Get three itemized quotes. Ask each seller to list the base vehicle, conversion, ramp or lift, tie-downs, warranty, taxes, and delivery.
4. Test the quotes. Compare them with the government prices on this page.
5. Check recalls. Search NHTSA by make, model, and year, and ask the converter about conversion recalls.
6. Get the paperwork. Collect the converter’s label and document, the lift or ramp certification, and the warranty terms.
7. Price the insurance before you sign, with the van’s VIN.
8. Run the loan numbers. Include interest, insurance, and fuel, not only the payment.
9. Plan the taxes. Decide with your CPA whether to take first-year depreciation or keep the standard mileage rate.
10. Book the broker inspection as soon as the van arrives, so it earns money from its first week.