Small wheelchair vans for NEMT: used Transit Connect and NV200 conversions, and the end of US sales

Small wheelchair vans are a used-vehicle market now. The Ford Transit Connect and the Nissan NV200 are both out of production in the US, and the conversion companies’ current lineups begin at minivans, so a compact ramp van means buying a conversion that is already several years old. This page covers what each van was, which model years and engines exist, the recalls to run, and what a van this size has to meet before it carries a rider.

If you are shopping for a new van, start with the best minivan for wheelchair conversion. The full buyer’s inspection is in buying a used wheelchair van. This page adds what is particular to these two models.

Can you still buy a new compact wheelchair van?

No. Neither compact van is sold new in the US, and no conversion maker lists one today. EPA’s fuel economy database carries the Transit Connect van and wagon for model year 2023 and nothing for 2024. It carries the NV200 cargo van for 2021 and nothing for 2022. The Ram ProMaster City, the other compact van sold here, appears for 2022 and not for 2023.

Announcements and reports at the time point the same way. In October 2020 Nissan said it would drop the NV200 the following summer, together with its full-size NV vans, to focus on core products. In August 2022 a report citing Automotive News said Ford would end US Transit Connect sales at the end of 2023 because demand for small vans had fallen.

The conversion lineups stop where the vans stop. The current lineups of four US conversion makers list minivans (Toyota Sienna, Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager, Honda Odyssey) and full-size vans (ProMaster, Transit, Sprinter), and no compact van. The smallest new ramp van is a minivan, and minivan versus full-size van compares what you give up or gain moving up a size.

Is a new compact van coming?

One is, but it has no wheelchair conversion yet. Stellantis lists an all-new 2027 Ram ProMaster City, which it calls a midsize van, as coming in early 2027, in cargo and passenger versions. The passenger van seats five with a removable second row, or eight with the optional third row, which also comes out. Stellantis gives the height as 77 inches, the engine as a 1.6L four-cylinder gas engine with an eight-speed automatic, and forward collision warning with active braking plus a rear back-up camera as safety equipment.

None of the four conversion makers lists it today, which is what you would expect before it reaches dealers. A fleet that wants a new compact ramp van should wait for a converter to publish the door height, ramp width and floor plan, then check them against the ADA numbers below before ordering.

Transit Connect: model years and engines

EPA lists the Transit Connect as a cargo van and a passenger wagon for every model year from 2014 through 2023, all front-wheel drive. It also lists earlier Transit Connects for 2010 through 2013, which are 13 or more years old and outside the table below. EPA lists a standard and a long-wheelbase (LWB) wagon through 2018 and only the LWB wagon from 2019. Three engines were offered on the wagon over those years.

The 2.0L is the efficient one. At 26 mpg combined it still trails a 2026 Toyota Sienna, which EPA rates at 36 mpg with front-wheel drive and 35 with all-wheel drive, and it beats the 22 mpg EPA gives the gasoline 2026 Chrysler Pacifica.

Engine matters on a used buy because several recalls name one engine. The 1.6L has its own coolant recall, and the 2.5L has a shifter cable recall and a 2019 to 2020 overheating recall. None of the recalls in the table below is limited to the 2.0L. A 2014 to 2018 van has a 2.5L or a 1.6L, so check which one a given van has before you read its recall history. No conversion maker lists a Transit Connect conversion today, so a used one comes with whatever its original converter documented. Ask for that paperwork and measure the van against the ADA numbers below.

The NV200: one engine, a taxi version, and the City Express

The NV200 had one engine for its whole US run. EPA lists the NV200 cargo van for 2013 through 2021 with a 2.0L four-cylinder and a continuously variable transmission, rated 24 mpg combined for 2013 and 2014 and 25 for 2015 through 2021.

Two other versions matter to a buyer. Nissan’s 2013 launch release described the NV200 taxi as New York City’s taxi for ten years starting in 2013, for a fleet of about 13,000 cabs, and Nissan’s 2025 recall lists NV200 taxis for model years 2014 to 2017 and 2019. Chevrolet sold a version of the van as the City Express for 2015 to 2018, and the same recall covers it. A used NV200 with rear-entry equipment may be a former taxi, so ask for its service history and whether the taxi partition and equipment were removed.

Nissan published figures for its accessible NV200 taxi. Its 2013 release for the Mobility Taxi, converted by a mobility company, describes a manual rear ramp that folds flat and stows upright. The ramp is 72 inches long and 30 inches wide at an 8.6 degree slope, rated for 800 pounds, which is 200 more than the ADA’s 600-pound design load for ramps 30 inches or longer. Front and rear belts secure the chair, and the rider wears a lap and shoulder belt. To load, the driver tips the second-row seat forward, opens the rear doors and unfolds the ramp. Those are launch figures for one conversion in 2013, so use them as something to measure a van against, not as the spec of any van you are looking at.

What a ramp conversion has to meet in a van this size

Where the ADA vehicle rules reach your service, a compact conversion has to meet the same federal numbers as a larger van, and the two that matter most are door clearance and floor space. The ADA requirements guide explains which vehicles and services those rules cover. The rules split at 22 feet of length, and the figures below are the ones for a vehicle 22 feet or less.

• One securement is the minimum. Under 49 CFR 38.23(a), a vehicle 22 feet long or less needs at least one securement location and device. Each location needs a clear floor area of 30 by 48 inches under 38.23(d)(2), plus a lap and shoulder belt for the rider.
• The ramp has to be 30 inches wide with a 600-pound design load when it is 30 inches long or longer, and its slope may not exceed 1:4 deployed to ground level (38.23(c)).
• Door clearance is 56 inches on a vehicle 22 feet or shorter, measured from the top of the door opening to the raised platform or the ramp’s highest point (38.25(c)). The roof height guide covers that rule and the 68-inch figure for longer vans.

Measure door clearance first. Take a tape measure to the top of the door opening and measure down to the highest point of the ramp or the floor where the rider enters, then measure the clear ramp width. A spec sheet does not tell you what a ten-year-old conversion has become.

Recalls to run before you buy

Run the VIN at NHTSA first, then read the campaigns that name your model years, because each of these hit specific vans. The Ford and Nissan remedies below are free at a dealer.

The last row shows why a clean result under Ford’s or Nissan’s name is not enough. The seat recall was filed by a conversion company, and the 2018 Transit Connect is one of the vans it names. Search the VIN, then search by make, model and year for campaigns filed by converters, as the used van guide lays out.

Will a broker take a van this old and this small?

It depends on the payer, and the rules usually name equipment and age rather than size. Virginia’s Medicaid requirements for wheelchair vans are one example: four fully functional securements per wheelchair station, a lap and shoulder belt installed at every station, an interlock in working order, ADA compliance, and an inspection before the van starts carrying members and again twice a year. A one-chair compact van has to meet all of that for its single station.

Age is the harder test. The newest Transit Connect is a 2023 and the newest NV200 a 2021, so even the newest is three or five model years old in 2026, and the oldest NV200s are 13. Programs that cap new additions by model year or that retire vans after a set number of years will turn many of them away, and the examples are laid out in when to replace a NEMT vehicle. Get each payer’s vehicle rules in writing before you shop, and test the van’s model year and mileage against them.

What to measure and ask on the van itself

A compact conversion built several years ago needs a few checks that a newer van would not.

1. Count the wheelchair positions and the belt sets. The ADA minimum is one, and nothing says a second fits.
2. Measure door clearance and ramp width against the 56-inch and 30-inch figures above.
3. Ask who supplies ramp and belt parts for this model. No conversion maker’s current lineup includes these vans, so get in writing who stocks the ramp, cables, and restraint parts and who will service them.
4. Find the conversion label and the converter’s name, then search that name for recalls. If the van used an integrated restraint like the Nissan taxi’s, ask who supplies replacement belts.
5. Run the Ford or Nissan recall list above against the VIN, and ask for proof each remedy was done.

A used conversion also has no manufacturer mobility rebate behind it. The mobility rebates guide lists which makers pay on new vehicles.

Running a compact van in HealthRide

A compact van that holds one wheelchair should only be offered rides it can carry. You enter each van’s seats and wheelchair spaces in HealthRide, and each rider’s wheelchair, stretcher, or oxygen need is matched to a van that suits it. At the start of every shift the driver checks the van in the app, and each van’s registration and insurance dates send reminders before they lapse. See fleet management.