The Peugeot Partner Tepee’s practicality and affordability helped it to become a strong player in the compact MPV segment, which is why it was such a popular model for converters and Motability Scheme Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) customers for so many years. If you're in the market for a second-hand mid-sized WAV from this era on a realistic budget, the Peugeot Partner WAV has to be on your shortlist.
This much improved post-2015-era Partner Tepee is Peugeot’s version of Citroen hugely successful MK2 model Berlingo Multispace, so even if you haven’t heard the name before, you can rest assured that you’re buying into a well established product. This one’s better known as a commercial vehicle but it was also quietly sold in reasonable numbers for Peugeot in this passenger-carrying guise, those van-based roots meaning greater practicality and significantly lower prices than more car-like and conventional compact MPVs like the French brand’s own 3008.
Peugeot launched this Partner Tepee model in 2008, then updated it in 2015 to create the vehicle we’re looking at here, which targeted other mid-sized van models like Ford’s Tourneo Connect, Fiat’s Doblo and Volkswagen’s Caddy Life as well as its Citroen Berlingo cousin. To better compete, this improved Euro6 design featured a package of enhancements including extra equipment, a slightly sleeker look and more efficient BlueHDi diesel and PureTech petrol powerplants.
This used WAV is based on the Peugeot Partner Tepee MPV. After the vehicle was built by Peugeot, the vehicle you see here was sent to one of the specialist WAV converters here in the UK. There, skilled engineers using the latest technology converted it for safe, practical and comfortable wheelchair use and finished it to an incredibly high standard, using materials to match to the original interior to create a seamless finish.
Peugeot launched this Partner Tepee model in 2008, then updated it in 2015. This little Gallic WAV is a lot more pleasant to drive than you might expect. You're not encouraged to throw the thing about (the steering's a bit too vague for that) but other, more important attributes have been prioritised. For a start, the ride is excellent, soaking up the bumps without creating too much body roll through the bends. Refinement's not bad either, despite the vast interior space.
And under the bonnet? Well most buyers ignore the old-tech 95bhp 1.6-litre VTi petrol unit and confine their attentions to the 1.6-litre BlueHDi diesel range. Here, there's a choice of three outputs - 75bhp, 100bhp and 120bhp, but wheelchair converted vehicles tend to all use the 100bhp and 120bhp versions. You'll need the 100bhp powerplant for the option of the brand's ETG6 automatic transmission and the 120bhp version if you want a manual gearbox with six speeds rather than five. A 1.2-litre PureTech petrol engine option was introduced in 2016, but they’re quite rare. It’s worth noting too, that Peugeot’s Euro6 BlueHDi diesel powerplants are unsurpassed in terms of running cost efficiency in this segment.
This vehicle in the video review is a 2008 68 plate example with an automatic gearbox. The efficiency figures quoted at the time were around 67 miles per gallon combined.
The Peugeot Partner Tepee is an efficient vehicle to run, but you’ll need to bear in mind that WAVs are heavier because of their interior conversion, which will slightly affect the standard model’s efficiency figures and acceleration. Always check specific details on the used vehicle you are looking to buy with your WAV Supplier.
The wheelchair ramp simply pulls-out from the rear of the vehicle to become a strong, low-gradient ramp with a high traction, non-slip surface so that wheelchair tyres and carers can safely enter the WAV through the large rear door. This particular Peugeot Partner Tepee has also been fitted with a powered wheelchair winch that makes accessing the vehicle via the ramp even easier. Once sat inside the vehicle, the ramp can then be folded back into the WAV behind the passenger. This ramp can also be folded down into the floor whenever the vehicle is not being used as a WAV, creating lots of extra rear storage space.
Once inside, the wheelchair is secured by high-quality restraints, while the seat belts ensure maximum safety for the passenger.
The number of standard passenger seats in different WAVs does vary, but on the vehicle we’re looking at here there’s enough space for the wheelchair user, the driver and 4 additional seated passengers. You’ll also find versions of the Peugeot Partner Tepee with room for just one or two seated passenger in the rear of the vehicle, which provides the wheelchair passenger with more space, and would also be more suited to transporting a mobility scooter.
Specialist used WAV dealers can often add or remove seats to preowned wheelchair vehicles, so if you see a vehicle that you like but the seating layout isn’t quite right, they may be able to easily adjust the seating by adding or removing seats for you. They will also be able to help if you need additional driving or access adaptations fitting to the WAV.
The demise of car-based MPVs means that commercial vehicle-based MPVs like this one have genuinely come of age. The Peugeot Partner Tepee, like many of its direct rivals, is proof positive of that, and for many years it proved to be the perfect vehicle for WAV conversions. Today, WAVs of this sort are certainly a very different proposition from the vans with windows that originally characterised this segment. If that’s your perception when it comes to vehicles of this sort, then you need to change it.
Throughout its production life, this Peugeot’s sheer practicality helped it remain a strong player in its segment - and that's why we think you ought to include one of these on your shopping list if you're looking for an affordable, flexible mid-sized Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle from this era on a realistic budget. It may not be the vehicle you wanted to own, but it may well be one you actually need.
Choosing a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle might seem like a big step, but it could make a huge difference to your life. Make sure you ask the WAV specialist you’re purchasing from all the right questions and do your own thorough checks before choosing a vehicle.
The answers to these questions will help you to choose the WAV that’s right for you. Select the ideal vehicle for you via the MotaClarity used WAV search.
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Thank you to the team at WAVMOB who very kindly lent us a vehicle to review.
