One of the many daft restrictions with Motability is that there are official price caps – but they are only selectively followed, which begs the question as to why they exist in the first place! I can’t remember what they are now, as they have increased slightly since they were introduced, and the price cap for autos is around £1,500 higher than the price cap for manuals. When they were first introduced around 5 years ago the caps, from memory, were £28k manual and £29.5k auto but I think that It’s now something like £33,500 for a manual and £35,000 for an auto
Most, but not all, of the cars that exceed the price caps are PHEV’s or EV’s, as these cars carry hefty price premiums over ICE equivalents, so effectively the caps have already been adjusted to reflect the high prices of these cars. However, we have a 2.0i petrol BMW X1 4WD which has a basic price of £38,500, which is well above the price caps. I have a feeling that the most expensive cars on the scheme are in region of £45k but are EV’s or PHEV’s.
I have never understood the logic of price caps. As long as all additional leasing costs of more expensive vehicles are covered by higher AP’s, so that nobody is subsidising anyone else, there is no need for them.