I have decided to probably try leasing an electric car. I have a drive and a garage and am about to book a remote, charger survey.
The Lexus UX300e seems to have the most comfortable seats of all the cars I’ve sat in so far, the most important consideration for me as I suffer neck, back, and buttock pain on longer drives.
The quoted range, at 280 miles, is quite a bit less than some of the other makes though, the new Scenic is quoted with a range of almost 100 more miles. Plus I felt a bit miffed they have increased the advanced payment to £1495 this quarter, up from £995.
I haven’t tried the Scenic yet, but I was disappointed with comfort of the seats in the Arkana that I tried for my brother. My parents have owned several Renaults and the seats in those cars used to be a lot more comfortable. I’m hoping the Scenic’s seats are better.
Was a bit of a strange palavour with the price list for the Scenic as well. At first the Techno was available for an AP of £1495, then that spec disappeared from the price list. I contacted motability to ask why and they checked to see if there were any messages from Renault. They then said the reason was a supply issue and that Renault would not be able to supply that spec for the forseeable future. I mentioned that the Techno spec was still showing on the Renault website motability pricelist. The customer service representitive said that Renault had probably not updated their site yet, and that it was better to trust the motability site as it is updated more frequently and is more reliable.
I then contacted Renault who said that the Techno spec is still available on motability and would be so until the next quarter at least. They said that there was no supply issues and that if that spec had been taken off, it would be motability’s decision and not Renault’s.
Seems that the Motability rep may have been a little economical with the truth. I checked today and noticed the Techno Scenic is back on the price list again.
I’m thinking I may wait until the next quater to order now, I’m in no rush as I had taken up the extension on the current car I lease, a Seat Leon FR, which doesn’t end until December, and see what cars become available in July.
Plus I love the Leon and if motability still offered the HP option, I would have seriously considered using this option to keep this car. I’m not currently working, so would not be able to afford the 14k or so it would cost to buy the Leon outright.
I only started looking for the next car to lease now, because the last time I had looked at cars was last year when my mother was buying and the quoted waits were 6-8 months plus. I guess the semi condutor issue has been sorted now.
I wasn’t planning on swapping the Leon until December as I would like to keep it as long as I can plus I need to have the front collision sensor sorted on insurance before giving the car back.
However, when I spoke to the Lexus dealer they reckoned they could get a UX in a month. Now I face the dilemma of playing AP lottery if the UX proves to have the most comfortable seats. Do I wait until July knowing the AP could go up again, but that there could be more EVs available and the price may even go down, or do I sign for a lease now.
The Lexus dealer seemed quite pushy as well, which I didn’t like so much. I also wonder if the range will be enough on the UX for my needs, or if the Scenic, at 379 miles would be more suitable. I will try the Scenic out first, which, as I mentioned previously, I am hoping seats are a lot more comfortable than the Arkana, which to me felt rock hard and would not be suitable for my needs.