I know nothing about this case, but it has always been the case that Motability orders are worth a lot more to dealers than just the handling fee, so nothing new there. Motability orders count towards group and manufacturer volume targets which can result it bonuses or additional discounts worth thousands. That’s why some dealers offer discounts to Motability customers that are way above the handling fee – yet still make a profit!
yes I look at it as once a dealer lies to you, walk away even if it means a longer drive, also if looking for a deal be prepared to travel, a dealership that has competition the same distance from you as another is quite happy to negotiate some times, when i got my tiguan tech pack 5 years ago, it had leather, upgraded stereo and pearly paint all which I got for free. It used to be every quater, but from what I heard they manfuactures have switched the target discount to monthly.
I drove 70 miles to order a previous VW Tiguan as the dealer was offering £500 cash back. Our local dealer wouldn’t match it, so they lost the sale and just ended up with the servicing. Thankfully, with our current car (BMW) I managed to negotiate almost £1k discounts off the AP and optional extras – and the dealer still made a profit, even though the handling fee is only (from memory) around £220 ?