Zoe that’s bad news. Glos Guy the wife’s wheelchairs handles food down and the feet come off. It fits into our xc60 with no problems with at least six inches to spare length wise. I contacted the motability salesman tonight and he said most of the wheelchairs fit but it was my responsibility to check it. I then reminded him that he told us not to touch any buttons or go into any other part of the due to COVID. It just shows how they can turn anything to their advantage. I will really need to go over and physically check it just to be sure.
The XC40 is obviously a lot smaller than the XC60 as you know. If the handles on the chair fold, I suspect that you will be OK, as that makes a big difference. My wife wasn’t with me when I looked at the XC40 and when I looked in the boot my initial impression was that it looked very small and the opening looked quite narrow and I must confess that my initial impression was that it would be too small for us, but I’m not ruling it out until we try it for size properly. The folding handles on your wife’s chair will probably mean that you can overcome the width issue, but moveable rear seats are a life saver. If you have them then it’s almost certain that you will find a way to get the chair in. Power tailgates are fantastic when you are in and out of the boot regularly, but they are a bit sensitive and if the chair is on the outer edge of the boot it can sometimes cause the sensor to react, whereas when you close a boot manually you can slam it and in doing so nudge the chair forward a tiny fraction.
I wouldn’t worry. I suspect you will be OK. However, if I were you I would do the following. On the day that you go to collect the car, before you enter your PIN number go and try the wheelchair in the boot. If it doesn’t fit, even with adjustments, tell the dealer that you are unable to accept the car and need to speak to Motability. Keep hold of your XC60 and call them. If you explain that due to the pandemic you were unable to test the car thoroughly, but were assured that the wheelchair would fit, I would put money on the fact that they will let you reject the car and order a new one. Whilst I am often critical of Motability for their illogical AP’s, unnecessary and illogical price caps etc their customer service is superb. I called them years ago and said that my wife was getting concerned that her legs were weakening and she thought she was getting to the point where she might need hand controls. I asked if they could be fitted to our existing car, as it still had more than a year to run, but without hesitation they let us order a new car with no penalty.
As I say, I think that you will be OK, but I hope that the above gives you some reassurance.