That’s a good point. I think though that the vehicle insurance does cover the whole vehicle – insurance companies need to have everything disclosed to them when they arrange a policy. It’s how they determine risk. Private buyers would not be allowed by law to undisclosed optional extras on a vehicle when taking out insurance- it’s a specific question that gets asked. This does though lead to a question- if the car was written off, the value as determined by the price of the car with extras is par of the consideration of final payment back to motability… So technically they could be onto a winner value wise! I am not sure if that sits well with me morally.
Whilst we can spend money on extras, we lose this if the car gets written off or the motability period ends early- it’s like a dead investment if the intention is to only lease the car and never consider purchasing- which is the majority of us. The flip side to that though is some extras do provide for extra comfort that may help peoples conditions. Heated and massage seats are one example. I couldn’t drive a vehicle without heated seats because of the issues I have with my hips and femur- I would seize up. If I wanted to get that extra and say extend the leas out to 5 years because the vehicle meets my needs, the investment is worthwhile.
There is also another scenario where a customer may wish to buy the vehicle at the end of the term and so the extras they opted for initially are even more worthwhile to them for as long as they own the vehicle after purchasing.