Oracle – I agree on all points, other than the walking away part. The car salesman, who will have no real decision making powers, has already agreed to waive half of the extra AP. There are two further levels of seniority left within the dealership who can improve on that offer – the New Car Sales Manager and finally the Dealer Principal. Carl has already said that he doesn’t have the confidence or fight to escalate a formal complaint to BMW UK, even though you and I would do so without hesitation. However, I genuinely don’t think that this would be necessary anyway. The simple threat that you are prepared to do it would be sufficient IMO.
Carl presumably spent time choosing his ideal first Motability car and will have waited 9 months for it. The car could now be handed over to him in a few weeks time. If he walks away, he starts all over again and could be waiting another 9 months. If he still decided that he wants the same car then, even if he goes to a different BMW dealer, he will be paying the higher AP. Meanwhile, his private car continues to depreciate in value and, heaven forbid, could incur an expensive repair in the meantime (perhaps it’s just my bad luck, but I always seem to have something expensive to deal with on private cars just before I need to sell them)! As I have said, the only person who loses in a ‘walk away’ situation is Carl, as the dealer will pass the car on in a heartbeat, possibly to another Motability customer who will pay the higher AP anyway! If it were me, I would be confident that I could get the dealership to honour the AP at the time of ordering and I’m sure that with all the advice we have given Carl he will achieve the same outcome.