Glis guy, I haven’t bought a car in over 30 plus years, either company cars or/and leasing. I see no financial benefit to me to purchase any car outright, to me after working out the figures, buying is a pit which all costs are put onto me, with high initial outlay, high depreciation and a car at the end which I can either lose more money by trading it it, or having to sell with no time limit. with lease, I know what residual is in the car against the gov. Now I don’t agree that the choice of cars is poor, there is a great choice unless you want a rubbish BMW or Mercedes (I have had both as company cars and wouldn’t waste my own money agin on these two brands personally) We do have cars not on the scheme for useage reasons, the wife needs a 4×4 for her equestrian work, and the lad needs a car to build his NCB up on as well as independence whilst at Uni. As I used to work at JLR, I get still, discount of f JLR cars and the same for BMW funnily enough as they have one of my pensions. However, today, I do not carry out the miles I used to drive, so a BEV suits my needs. What people decide to spend their money (and pip ) on is their decision surely? PIP is not means tested, nor should it be, as regardless of your financial situation, the extra requirements of a disability are the same. Everyone has to cut their cloth the way they can, sone need extra financial help, such as the Motability grant, or choose a car with a deposit you can afford.
Interesting post. What you have exposed is that your decisions are based on perceptions and not facts. You admit that you haven’t bought a car in over 30 years, yet you write off that option based upon inaccurate perceptions that it’s a more expensive option than leasing. Conversely, I can speak from personal experience of having bought many cars privately not just for myself but for my wife and daughters (I still do). I gave you the example of the BMW but an even more recent experience was a Hyundai, which I bought new for one of my daughters. Total ownership costs over the whole life of the car were significantly less than half what the cost would have been had it been sourced through Motability.
I completely agree that everyone is free to make their own choice. I’ve never suggested anything different. I’m simply pointing out that you frequently mention that Motability is the cheapest option whereas I am saying that if leasing is your only route to a new car then yes it is, but buying can be cheaper and sometimes by quite a margin.
Interesting and quite telling comment that you write off ‘rubbish’ BMWs and Mercedes, yet happily use cars from JLR, a brand that consistently features in last place in every reliability survey. Again, perception versus facts.
Finally I have no idea why you have raised the subject of PIP not being means tested. I have never suggested that it should be and would strongly disagree with any proposal to do so.