My beef with Motability is solely the lack of choice, nothing else. We have just ordered our 4th Motability car and during that relatively short time choice has eroded from over 4,000 cars to just over 1,500. Our needs (higher driving position, room for wheelchair and luggage etc) make the vast majority of these cars unsuitable as they are too low or too small, and most of those that are left just don’t appeal to us. I just don’t accept any arguments as to why there couldn’t be a far wider choice, just as with other leasing companies. Disabled motorists should be able to have what they ‘desire’ as well as what they ‘need’. We would happily pay a higher AP than the current caps to get something bigger, more suitable and that we would also enjoy.
In the spirit of balance feedback though, we have always found the customer service element of Motability to be first class and this is a major reason that we have stayed in the scheme, in spite of the lack of choice. When my wife’s disability worsened and we needed hand controls we were allowed to order a new car early without question. When I retired and my wife could no longer drive, we only needed one car and I was contemplating keeping my private car as it was better than anything we could get on Motability. I sold it in the end (just before the pandemic – phew!) and we kept the Motability car, but they were prepared to let us end the lease early.
Although I know from experience (having run private cars and Motability cars side by side for years) that Motability isn’t as cheap as many people think (my private BMW 5 series, bought new, cost us less to run over the time I had it than my wife’s Motability VW Tiguan), you sometimes can’t put a price on that level of flexibility. In all honesty, if the choice was entirely mine we would leave Motability, but we are in the fortunate position that we can afford to do so. However, my wife is the PIP recipient and, like most Motability customers, likes the ‘peace of mind’ aspect of Motability, hence we have recently ordered another Motability car!