Where it would work well is for scheme cars returned early because of changes in circumstance or the vehicle is unsuitable. Motability would have to have a mechanism to adjust / refund the AP and move the vehicle to another dealer for preparation and handover.
If it (ever) came about, I could only see it working on a regional basis, not nationally.
For example, say a Ford Kuga (off the top of my head) is handed back at a Renault Dealership in Inverness, but someone in Penzance is interested in the returned vehicle. The logistics (and cost) of transferring the vehicle between the two dealerships would be astronomical.
I think it would require a whole new department at Motability Ops to administer and keep track of the vehicles and a whole new transporter fleet to move vehicles around.
Then if the customer in Penzance finds the vehicle unsuitable after looking at it, but someone in Belfast then becomes interested. Is the vehicle then transported all the way to Belfast at more expense (and who pays for this?).
Or, if these ‘nearly new’ vehicles are advertised, is it upto the customer to get to wherever it is located to see if it is suitable, be that Inverness or Penzance or any point in between?
Then add in, should it be the manufacturer’s franchise that can only re-lease the vehicle, or can any Motability dealer do it (say a Renault dealer has a returned Ford for example)? And overall, what is in it for the dealerships? Would they want to be involved in ‘re-leasing’, vice selling a new vehicle on the scheme?
Overall, I can see it could work on a limited regional basis where travelling distances are not excessive and it is upto the customer to travel to appraise the vehicle. Perhaps Motability could have some form of regional centres where these vehicles go and customers go there (cuts out any dealership issues).
However, would Motability Operations be interested in doing this? It completely changes their current (very profitable) business model.
I know the ‘nearly new’ WAV scheme exists, but the number of vehicles involved is very low. Can this really be replicated on a much larger volume scale?