When you consider you sacrifice £70 per week, £10920 over a 3year lease plus any AP, depending on your financial circumstances Thus the scheme can be as expensive if you only want a cheap runaround!
For example you can buy a new Hyundai i10 Advance for £186pm or the Premium Nav £213pm, leaving cash spare to go towards insurance and a service plan. Above all the car is your and will retain around 50% residual value after 3yrs to put towards a deposit for a new vehicle or you keep it for 5yrs or more and still retain some residual value. Its a similar story if you went for a Dacia Sandero or similar.
If you go the other end of the spectrum, where vehicles can be cheaper to have on the scheme with the extras included. However there is a element of risk you loose your award especially if you planned to keep the £6k+ AP car for 5yrs to make the higher AP seem worth while, though I’m no fan of lease extensions. You also have nothing to show for the sacrified benifits and AP (£17,416 over 3yrs or £24,695 over 5yrs)
Example the Mazda CX60 £10920 sacrified benifits over 3yrs plus £6495 AP, works out more or less equivulent to monthly payments however you need to pay insurance and service costs but, you have residual value at the end when you come yo sell.
Depending on your financial circumstances and credit history Motability can be great, for those with good finances and credit history, the scheme may not always be the best choice. There are also too many variables of what is the better approach for each individual!