yes but thats the rub Glos guy, many cant afford the deposits required or have the money to pay cash even if they can get a deposit together they wouldnt pass a credit check for finance be it hp or a lease. they are reliant on the scheme and probabley more and more the grants available as the ap’s are becoming unaffordable. a bigger concern at the moment i think is the lack of larger vehicles needed by those needing to carry equipment, scooters etc and families. it is becoming hobsons choice for many and the ap’s for those vehicles are high. i know i complain about the lack of suitable choice for me personally but i am more fortunate than most in that i am on wpms so the ap is a little less and my issues mean a smaller suv type will suffice as all i need is an auto that i can get in and out of comfortably and i dont have to consider rugrats a partner or pets not nec in that order for many. whilst it wouldnt be my choice the arona is still available for zero ap on wpms. so i will still be mobile although not necessarily happy with that option. i think mota need to up their game with the grants and support they give those fiscally challenged the rest of us i am afraid to an extent have to suck it up. such is life.
Mitch – I completely agree with everything you are saying. Over the past few months I have read one or two posters making comments that the way the Motability scheme is going it will only be an option for the ‘rich’. I take the completely opposite view. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to fund a car privately will, in many cases, leave the scheme. On the other hand, as you rightly say, for a great many that simply isn’t an option and they may feel trapped into having to remain and pay the extortionate AP’s.
I also agree with your comments about lack of consideration for those of us who have to cart around mobility equipment (a wheelchair in our case). Our BMW X1 is as small as we could go but ideally we would like something a bit bigger. Yes, there are still a number of bigger cars on the scheme, but none of them is of interest to us. When paying £10k in benefits plus AP plus any options, we are looking for a car that we would really want as well as one that addresses our needs. Nothing remaining fits the bill unfortunately. As my wife can no longer drive, we don’t need adaptations any more, so that makes things a bit easier and we can of course transfer the road tax exemption to a private car (as we did before we joined Motability).
For those who can still find a car that they would be delighted to have and fits all of their needs then, even with the higher AP’s, the Motability scheme will almost certainly remain their best option, especially if they need adaptations (that Motability will pay for) or can obtain a grant towards the cost. To be clear, I would much prefer us to remain in the scheme and if, by the time we renew in 2 years time, something of interest has made it on to the scheme then we will be delighted to do so. But as we have gone down to one car we want that car to be one that we get pleasure from as well as meeting our needs. Our current BMW X1 achieves that and we were lucky that we got it last summer at an AP, after dealer discount, of £2,249 which, just a year later, looks like a real bargain! However, if we were changing today there is nothing left that excites us enough to even part with the £10k benefits, let alone the eye watering AP on top of it. Let’s hope that changes.