Yes Gary, I’d expect Motability to not financially punish their clients who cannot drive manuals by making them pay more for an automatic.
And we’ve all seen that the AP isn’t directly related to the cost price of the vehicle… plenty of examples over the years on here where the top of the range version is cheaper than base spec because of the higher residuals. And it isn’t the manufacturer who decides the AP, its Motability and I’m sure you’ve noticed how they have been increasing and decreasing that AP by huge amounts not just quarterly but sometimes weekly, daily even? They must be adjusting it for a reason and could easily do the same to level out the difference in gearboxes.
I’m not sure how you can call it selfish… this’ll be my last post of the night cause I’m in bed getting ready for a 5am rise and a 12 hour working day tomorrow and for the next 4 days, I pay my taxes so disabled people get cars that in no way help me, so families get child benefit despite my kids being grown adults and married, so the government can build roads that I’ll never use, so the NHS can function despite me not needing it for 30+ years… it is how a functioning society works by everybody contributing and helping those who need it or would it be selfish if I withdrew from paying from these things which aren’t relevant to me.