KIA RIO HATCHBACK 1.25 1 5DR £57.25p weekly £229.00p monthly For an extra £1 per month there’s the KIA PICANTO HATCHBACK 1.0 1 5DR Splash the cash a little more (£236.00p per month) and the HYUNDAI I10 HATCHBACK 1.0 MPI SE 5DR comes into play. Anyone got one of these cars? Anyone considering getting one? Anyone that wouldn’t be seen dead in one of these? Anyone think these vehicles represent excellent value for money? Disclosure: I’m considering the HYUNDAI I10 HATCHBACK 1.0 MPI SE CONNECT 5DR AUTO at £61.00p per week or £244.00p per month) but only because i need an automatic gearbox. Without that requirement i would definitely consider all of the above manual vehicles.
Graeme – I haven’t driven the Kia, but I have the i10 and I have to say I thought it was awful. I appreciate that budget may dictate what you choose, but it’s worth being aware that the cheapest cars on the scheme offer the worst value. This is because the sacrificed benefits represent a huge percentage of the vehicles cost.
Taking the full weekly allowance as an example (£10k over 3 years), on a £15k car with zero AP, the sacrificed benefits alone mean you are paying for 66% of the retail cost of the vehicle. Frankly, if you were able, you could run one privately for far less.
By contrast, our Motability car had a retail price of £38.5k and we paid an AP (after dealer discount) of £2,295 plus the same £10k in sacrificed benefits. That’s just 32% of the cost of the vehicle so, in relative terms, half the price.
Being blunt, if we were in the market for a car like those in your examples, I wouldn’t even entertain Motability. If budget was tight, I’d get a better 2nd hand car than a dirt cheap new one. It would cost less over the period of ownership (less depreciation) and you’d have a far better car.