United Access (formerly Ability Center) - Long Beach, California

James I

Purchased a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica for my father who is in a wheelchair due to a spinal cord injury. Process was easy. I started online and viewed inventory. I emailed Dean, the General Manager, to confirm availability. Vehicles can be transferred from one location to another so you’re not limited. I placed a $500 deposit on a vehicle at the Stanton location which was transferred to Long Beach the next day. I also applied for financing online and confirmed details over the phone and online. We checked out the vehicle and went on a test drive and was able to drive home soon after.

Jake Jake

I can be hard to work with, I’m forgetful, I remember things outside of business hours, but Jim has always been there to help me out. When I got a new wheelchair and needed it to fit with my lift he was right on it and got it done. These are my lift guys for sure.

Carmichael Peters

My 2022 Subaru Outback was at Ability Center for a month as the technicians there tried everything they knew, including taking it to a Subaru dealership and other car engineers, to figure out why the installations of hand controls affected some of the computerized systems of the car, especially cruise control. Eventually, a Subaru dealership was able to identify the problem, which turned out to be very simple. Throughout an employee there, Rich Esperti, reached out to me constantly to keep me updated. His transparency, empathy, and extraordinary kindness resulted in me being patient as I waited for me car. As a matter of fact, he was often more impatient and frustrated with the process than I was, because of his genuine concern for my well-being. I was so impressed with Rich's decency and care, that I invited him and his significant other for dinner at my home - which, I am happy to report, they accepted. It is not often that I have encountered a service provider who manages to be both professional and humane. In spite of the difficulties Ability Center experienced with my car, I would take my car there again and would recommend the Ability Center to anyone needing to have hand controls installed in a vehicle, and I would do so mainly because of my experience with Rich.

Emily Barker

I’ve been disabled 8 years and this was the nicest most enjoyable experience of ordering and installing a Bruno lift and servicing it. I absolutely love Jim who’s patient helpful and kind as well as the ladies doing scheduling they are very sweet. I highly recommend this place for vehicle modifications and hand control installs. Very appreciative of their work and timeliness.

Paola Anderson

Thank you Cheyenne and Dean,

I had been wanting to reach out for some time. Mama passed away February 8th, peacefully at home, she lost her battle with bone cancer but not her battle in life. She left us with so much light and love and people around us that really helped us through the difficult times.

Dean, I will never forget during Christmas when you told me to take the van that week and take mom somewhere fun, and indeed we did. She was so happy, the smile on her face was enough to light up a room. I will never for this.

Thank you to both of you for being so kind, compassionate, understanding and being there when we needed your services or an ear to talk to to sort things out.

Please know that you are appreciated, and that what you do “Matters,” you are more than a car rental/sale, you are bringing new beginnings and opportunities to those who might of felt that this was the end, you are bringing hope to families.

Forever grateful,

David Stevens

We were stuck in Long Beach today due to fouling the door up of our new VMI van. We could not open or close the door correctly and the back up system did not work. The folks were great on the phone, walking us through procedures to get on the road and then stopped by their shop. Their tech, Randy, diagnosed the problem getting fixed it in an hour, getting us on our way. Hats off to you guys!

MTN COM

Charged me $150 for visually inspecting a carpet on a vehicle that was already being worked on which was under warranty. Will never come back here. Very Poor treatment of return customer. No follow up from management.

Shaun 196t4

My van was purchased brand new through the Ability Center, Stanton in 2008. It's a 2008 Ford full size van with a rear entry wheelchair lift. I've had a litany of problems since it was brand new. Intermittenty the lift would not deploy or stow properly, you can hear wind coming through the doors when on the freeway or when very windy, wiring for the transfer seat shorted causing the van to be filled with smoke from the wiring and plastic. They patched the wires. After repeatedly taking it to them for adjustments I continued to have multiple issues. I found somewhere closer that was an authorized VMI dealer/mechanic (Mac's Lift), whom I chose because they were not owned by Ability Center at the time(they were eventually bought out or joined forces). The mechanics there also tried multiple times to make adjustments, but within a short period of time I would start having problems again. Several years ago they talked my insurance company into installing a completely new lift, wiring harness and transfer seat. Over $10,000.00 worth of work, to only start having problems immediately. My lift needed to be adjusted as well as the rear doors, the new transfer seat was about 2" further back(my wife is 5'8")and my wife can barely reach the pedals, the lift system would not go into "sleep mode" while the emergency brake was set, which I must set in order for the wheelchair lift to operate. If I left the van parked for more than 2 days the battery would be dead and I would have to call AAA. The Ability Center mechanic told me to start the van every couple of days or have someone release the E-brake as there wasn't anything abnormal with it. After several years of messing around with different things, countless jump starts and a few batteries I was able to talk my insurance company into allowing me to take it to a different company. They had it half of a day and fixed the drain on my battery. My system now goes into sleep mode properly, with the E-brake set. The new mechanic said that the lift was wired wrong causing a parasitic draw. There's so much more to the story, but it would take me a very long time to put it all down.
I still have other problems with my van and hopefully between the new mechanic and my insurance company they can get everything fixed. Keeping my fingers crossed.