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In reply to: Q4 prices
They are correct to a degree, insurance has def increased a lot, also manufacturers are kind of pushing back on the EV push but are still trying to move but at a slower pace perhaps? i get the increase in some petrol/diesel cars due to the threat of fines if they sell too many also some EVs have dropped in price and some have increased in price. The PHEV doesnt make sense to me but could for many others. I had one in 2014 but it spent more time in the garage broken than i had it and ive been with petrol/diesel since.
I think a lot of the time its whether a manufacturer wants to shift numbers. Ford Explorer (based on VW ID platform) has increased a lot in Q4 but Ford were running a 0% campaign since launch for private buyers till end of Sept and will prob extend it.
VW ID range has dropped a lot to make them more attractive and i suspect VW have a lot sitting ready to go and really want to move them on so lease/motability is a good way to shift metal.
Mercedes too has dropped in price for the EQA i think, poss a new model coming out and they didnt shift as many of these as they wanted to?
Many manufacturers will have to guesstimate how many RHD cars to make as the RHD versions are only sold in a small number of countries compared to LHD, these wont be converted back to LHD and resold if the UK versions dont sell, they will be stuck with them. So some will have maybe made more than they sold and now need to move them on.
Overall its an increase but still a good scheme and hopefully most will find something they like and is suitable for their needs.
My Wife is nearing the end of her second Motability lease at the end of November, her first was a Volvo V40cc in 2017 which we self funded, then the current car, a BMW X2 sDrive20i which the foundation funded. We were able to extend the lease in 2022 at Motability Operation’s suggestion as nothing on the scheme at the time seemed a better option, the seat height, heated seats and general ride comfort have been spot on. Now we’re not able to extend the X2’s lease further (understandable) and reached out to the foundation again to see if they’d fund her next car (I’ve been her full time at-home carer since 2020 so only UC and PIP daily living as income). She has been awarded the £749 grant and given a list of 10 EV’s to use it on. This was a week after we were notified the application was successful, but no award documentation was uploaded for nearly a week until we enquired about it, then within minutes of the call it was there. I assume they just forgot but they didn’t own it, just said “Oh well it should be there, we’ll look in to it and you should see it within the hour”. The favourite (best of the situation, but I actually quite like it) on the list is the Skoda Enyaq 50 Edition and we’re test driving one tomorrow, but we’re left with (potentially) only the rest of the week to decide to order it in case the AP goes up too much next week and we then can’t cover it with the maximum 50% of the new car payment on top. We could potentially ask if foundation will up the grant to allow us to use the NCP alongside it for the Enyaq 85 edition, better range and (maybe) better resale value, we live rurally and have to use a-roads for most of our journeys so that may be taken in to account? Another option is to wait and if the AP’s do go up too much to use grant + NCP, forgo the grant and go in with the NCP and save up the remainder ourselves in the meantime. That’s assuming build times are as long as they have been or there aren’t any similar models in stock, but I know this isn’t the best plan and pretty much entirely relies on a long wait time. Additonal info; I basically do the bulk of the driving, Wife’s neck can get so stiff she can’t turn it properly so she doesn’t like to drive much any more. I take care of getting the car serviced and the associated admin related to the car on her behalf. She has Hypermobile EDS, issues with the discs in her neck and doesn’t really like dealing with it all so leaves it to me to sort out where she can. She really doesn’t want us to have an EV, would be fine with a hybrid but it seems we have little choice now, foundation flat out told us they’re not prepared to fund a petrol or even a hybrid.
If you are able, rather than restricting yourself to the Motability Foundation charity, have you thought about approaching other charities you may have (or even have no) affinity with?
Such examples are ex-HM Forces charities if relevant, Trade Union Welfare/Charity, Charities related to one’s illness/disability, local Lions Club, Rotary Clubs, Freemasons, RAOB, Soroptimists etc. Even Housing Association’s charitable arms etc etc.
These often take a wider view than Motability Foundation’s now quite proscriptive policy on such as grant levels and EV’s etc.
As an example, I help voluntarily for an ex HM Forces charity on the welfare side. A disabled wife of a veteran was offered only £950 by the Motability Foundation against a list of 4 electric vehicles (none of which were suitable). Also they cannot have a home charger installed due to no driveway etc.
I assisted them with approaches to a couple of other ex-Forces charities and the local Freemasons Lodge. Then together with the local Rotarians, the couple’s housing association and the lady’s former trade union all combined in order to raise a total of £3,250 towards the advance payment of a suitable vehicle.
Together with the applicant’s £750 new vehicle payment, it gave the lady much more choice of vehicles and ultimately has enabled the lady to obtain a Nissan X-Trail hybrid auto which meets all of her needs.
So, do cast the net wider than just the Motability Foundation. Yes, it does take some legwork (no pun intended) and you may get rejected by one or two. However charities do generally speak and help each other in order to help the client.
My Wife is nearing the end of her second Motability lease at the end of November, her first was a Volvo V40cc in 2017 which we self funded, then the current car, a BMW X2 sDrive20i which the foundation funded. We were able to extend the lease in 2022 at Motability Operation’s suggestion as nothing on the scheme at the time seemed a better option, the seat height, heated seats and general ride comfort have been spot on.
Now we’re not able to extend the X2’s lease further (understandable) and reached out to the foundation again to see if they’d fund her next car (I’ve been her full time at-home carer since 2020 so only UC and PIP daily living as income).
She has been awarded the £749 grant and given a list of 10 EV’s to use it on. This was a week after we were notified the application was successful, but no award documentation was uploaded for nearly a week until we enquired about it, then within minutes of the call it was there. I assume they just forgot but they didn’t own it, just said “Oh well it should be there, we’ll look in to it and you should see it within the hour”.
The favourite (best of the situation, but I actually quite like it) on the list is the Skoda Enyaq 50 Edition and we’re test driving one tomorrow, but we’re left with (potentially) only the rest of the week to decide to order it in case the AP goes up too much next week and we then can’t cover it with the maximum 50% of the new car payment on top.
We could potentially ask if foundation will up the grant to allow us to use the NCP alongside it for the Enyaq 85 edition, better range and (maybe) better resale value, we live rurally and have to use a-roads for most of our journeys so that may be taken in to account?
Another option is to wait and if the AP’s do go up too much to use grant + NCP, forgo the grant and go in with the NCP and save up the remainder ourselves in the meantime. That’s assuming build times are as long as they have been or there aren’t any similar models in stock, but I know this isn’t the best plan and pretty much entirely relies on a long wait time.
Additonal info; I basically do the bulk of the driving, Wife’s neck can get so stiff she can’t turn it properly so she doesn’t like to drive much any more. I take care of getting the car serviced and the associated admin related to the car on her behalf. She has Hypermobile EDS, issues with the discs in her neck and doesn’t really like dealing with it all so leaves it to me to sort out where she can. She really doesn’t want us to have an EV, would be fine with a hybrid but it seems we have little choice now, foundation flat out told us they’re not prepared to fund a petrol or even a hybrid.
2019 BMW X2 sDrive20i
Sapphire BlackIn reply to: Motability Deals Q4 – what’s on your shortlist?
PIP should be means tested I know a few people who have had millions in compensation and still claim PIP and can still get a Motability car. They simply don’t need the money nor Motability car. It should be for those who need it. There should be more choice of cars. Far too many SUV’s which a lot of wheelchair users can’t get in and out of easily. The push for electric cars too being a full time wheelchair user myself there is no way I can plug a charger in cables far too heavy and most have curbs around them so can’t wheel up close to grab it. Obviously no accessibility in mind as usual. It’s a new infrastructure for crying out loud it should be. You may have a current car on lease that is perfect for your needs and nothing at all that is on the new price lists and now you can’t buy the car at the end of lease if you had any means to do so that is wrong. Motability is all about making money more now than doing what it was supposed to be doing it’s gone down hill big time.
Good on them, if they have claimed compensation for being made disabled however, PIP etc is a payment to help with extra costs of being disabled. Its also worth noting not everone eligible to join the scheme and I guess the majority who can afford to buy a better car, than the scheme allows do so privately. By means testing it, your opening a large can of worms!
Most vehicles on the scheme are small-large crossover’s, which are built on a unibody chassis construction shared with passenger cars but, have a slightly raised ride height. An SUV on the otherhand are built on a body on frame chassis construction. Think Landrover, Rangerover etc.
I agree not everyone wants an EV, whether due to not being able to charge at home, their disabilty prevents them or they simply don’t want one. Unfortunately sooner or later there will be no choice in the matter however, Motability have taken the idea by storm and are increasing ICE AP’s to beyond affordable or to a point they don’t make sense in the real world. My guess is Motability and to some extent other leasing companies, have become a backdoor for manufacturers to off load their EV’s to meet and avoid ZEV fines. Perhaps they are getting a backhander for doing so!
Perhaps it’s worth you looking into extending your current lease 🙂
Thinking of getting a Suzuki S-cross. Some dealers do have them in stock which they can supply to motability customers. If I order end September before the new quarter can they hold the car until end of November? This won’t be an issue if they have to order a new car from the manufacturer. Dealers might say take it asap to get their numbers up/free up space but was wondering what my rights were.
Currently have a Seat Ateca 1.6 diesel which is for under 25s on extended 5 year lease. Want to keep hold of it as long as possible. Pity no other car this size is available for under 25s.
In reply to: Putting private plate on retention. How do I do it ?
I did this a few weeks ago. Dead easy. Do it from the Motability website and it gives you the relevant log book number and then links you through to the DVLA website. Took about 10 minutes in total.
I always take delivery of a new car with normal plates, which I retain when I put a private plate on, and then when I take the private plate off towards the end of the lease it’s a 10 minute job to put the original plates back on.
The only slight irritant was that because the Motability car is in my wife’s name, the retention certificate now shows her as the owner of my personalised plate, although she can obviously assign it to a car in my name in future. The retention is valid for 10 years but I didn’t realise that it’s free to extend for another 10 years each time that period ends. This was good news for me as I have two private plates and the second one has been on retention for 9 years and I didn’t want to pay another retention fee, but I don’t have to.
In reply to: No More Buying Vehicles from Motability at Lease End
I don’t want to enter into a debate about it, but it’s well known the Motability policy at the time the contract was signed was that vehicles could be sold to the hirer. The later policy changes should not be enacted retrospectively. Thats my only point, and it will be interesting to see what the FOS make of it. The reason it’s going to the FOS is not of my choosing, but because Motability said that is the route for escalation because they can’t escalate it internally. Which is highly unusual, given its a policy they have made themselves.
I agree if a “supplier” changes the contract midterm, depending who the “supplier” is you either sign a new contract / the new contract doesn’t apply during the term of the existing contract or given “x” days to walk away without penalty. Similar happens with work contracts / banks and anywhere a contract is formed between a “supplier” and “buyer / Leaser / renter” etc etc.
I have always found it odd, how Motability can play with contracts midterm and (a) not directly inform those midcontract (b) do it freely when they want, which no other company would get away with.
Its not only the option to buy that has changed recently, lease extensions were shortened to 6 months from 2yrs, meaning those who payed a higher AP or loaded the cars with extra’s, with a view of extending the lease for the full 5yrs, also got cought up in contract changes however, some have successfully challenged this!
In reply to: Volvo xc40
I took a XC40 out for a test drive yesterday, and although they look pretty cool outside, the inside felt small and seats were not very supportive. When we got back in our 3 year old Tiguan, the seats and space were night and day. So we’ve actually extended our lease for another 2 years, so we’ve decided to just keep this car. We will be going to see the new Tiguan though, and see if we want to pay the £5k down payment on the new R line
Pop in Hutchings next time you pass and have a look at the facelift Tucson.
In reply to: Volvo xc40
I took a XC40 out for a test drive yesterday, and although they look pretty cool outside, the inside felt small and seats were not very supportive. When we got back in our 3 year old Tiguan, the seats and space were night and day. So we’ve actually extended our lease for another 2 years, so we’ve decided to just keep this car.
We will be going to see the new Tiguan though, and see if we want to pay the £5k down payment on the new R line
We went to the Motability Big Event in Exeter today, the first time that we have ever been to one of these events. From an adaptations perspective it was useful but far less so cars wise.
We have extended the lease on our 2021 BMW X1 but are looking to change as soon as a suitable car comes on the scheme. Also, we are considering a ‘person hoist’ which would necessitate a new car order.
Quite a few car manufacturers were present but the offerings were underwhelming, partly due to the current poor choice on Motability (especially if you don’t want an EV) but also because each manufacturer only had two or so cars on display. As is often the case with motor shows, the advisors accompanying the cars were pretty clueless. I asked the VW rep if the Tiguan would be appearing next week. No idea. Worst was the idiot on the BMW stall. I asked if the X1 was likely to be joining the scheme. “This is the iX1” he says. I said “I’ve tested one of those and didn’t like. I’m talking about the X1 petrol or PHEV. Besides, this isn’t an iX1”. “It is” he replies, walking to the front of the car which had a plate where the number plate would be stating “BMW iX1”. I knew full well from the steeply raked aft of the car that it was an iX2 so I took him to the back of the car and pulled the tailgate down to show him the iX2 badge! What hope is there when they don’t even know what the cars are? Similar nonsense on the Honda stand. They had a CR-V. I said to the lady there “I always get a bit confused with Honda’s. The CR-V is the bigger SUV and the HR-V the smaller one, right?”. No, she says, it’s the other way around, pointing to an e-Ny1 as if it was the HR-V. Both cars had boot space written in graphics on the side of the car and I pointed out that the CR-V had much bigger capacity. At this point she checks with a colleague and then says that I was correct that the CR-V is the largest car. I wonder how many Motability customers who aren’t as clued up on cars will order a car based on duff info given to them today?
Sadly, we didn’t find a car that we felt that we would prefer over our 3 year old BMW. In terms of interior quality, two or three were heading towards BMW quality but still some way short and lacked in other areas. The Lexus UX had nice looking leather seats but is minsicule. It’s meant to be a competitor of the X1 but looks and feels half the size. The Volvo XC40 was spoilt by a weird rubber dash trim panel with odd carvings in it – plus the odd shaped infotainment, which is small by today’s standards. The boot was also too small. The Mazda CX-5 interior was pretty good, but a bit dated. The leather seats in the Cupra were gorgeous and oozed quality, but I wasn’t overly keen on all the bronze flashes. Subaru had a Forester there which is a good sized car, but the interior feels two generations out of date. The rear seats are horrendous – possibly the worst I’ve sat in. The bench is rock hard and the backrest is way too low. The top of the seats was level with my shoulder blades! Hyundai had the revised Tucson there, in N-Line trim. This car is on our current shortlist but I just can’t get excited about it. Interior quality still feels quite cheap and plasticky compared to many brands and I don’t like the fiddly little switches, which also feel cheap.
The adaptations displays were far more productive. We were able to look at 3 different person hoists and we tried one of them. My wife liked it. It’s a bloody faff but may be a necessity for us as my wife is now struggling to get in and out of the car now. You need a big car for one and, as we know, the choice of those is pants on the scheme. Not that we looked at them, but there was a good choice of scooters and Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles as well. Staff on the adaptations stalls were far better clued up about what they were selling than those on the car stalls.
So, a mixed day but some food for thought none the less. We’ll see what next quarter brings, but if we go down the person hoist route we can re-visit the Mazda CX-60 if it remains and any other larger cars that may appear. Here’s hoping!
In reply to: Quarter 3 hopes?
I have not posted on here for ages, and had a look at the Motability offerings today for the 1st time in ages. We appear to have a much better choice now.
If you want an EV or PHEV, and can afford the very high APs, then the choice isn’t too bad. If, however, you want a decent sized car that isn’t an EV or PHEV, the choice remains poor. I have extended our lease for the first time ever as there is nothing that we would prefer to our current 3 year old BMW.
In reply to: Mercedes-Benz now on Motability Scheme
Shocking APs. Currently have a B200 prem plus and have extended the lease , now 3.5 years. Needed higher seats, electric seats, powered boot as necessities.
think AP was about £2000 ish and MB dealer offered £500 off. Now they want 4k to 8k AP.In reply to: Person Hoists – Any experience?
Hi Glos Guy, we had a person hoist for three and a half years fitted into a Motability VW Tiguan. Like your wife, my wife was never really that keen, feeling quite self-conscious using it and in truth, only used it for doctors, dentists, opticians and hospital visits, maybe 20 times in total in all the time we had it. We never found it very easy to use although like most things, I’m sure the more you use it the easier it would get.
As you probably know, there are three parts to it. The post that is permanently fitted into the car, the swivel arm that is removable and the sling the user sits in. The post sits inside the car close to the door hinges and doesn’t really get in the way. It is braced by a strut that runs across from half way up the post to the floor at the other side of the passenger compartment near the transmission tunnel. Both the post and this strut are bolted to the floor which I suspect wouldn’t work that well with an electric car that had its batteries under the floor. The post and strut are not really that obtrusive for front seat passengers as their feet can sit under the strut, however I have wondered what damage it would do to their lower shins in a front or rear end crash!!
What is fundamental to the hoist’s usability though is the dimensions of the front door aperture, specifically the distance between the sill and roof, the distance between the top of the seat base and the roof and the distance between the front of the seat and the front of the door opening. Clearly, if an able bodied person can get themselves into the car it should be possible for someone in a sling to be able to get in also. However, whilst the able bodied person will go in one leg at a time and maybe lean their upper body forwards, these movements are not possible for the person in a sling so having sufficient legroom and headroom is crucial. We actually had a seat runner extension fitted at our cost which enabled the seat to be pushed further back to provide more legroom.
So the first stage is getting the sling positioned properly. My wife cannot self-support and has no core strength so this wasn’t very easy. We needed something she could hold onto while she leaned forward allowing me to slide the sling down between her back and the wheelchair backrest (not too high and not too low). Next, I had to lift each leg in turn and fold the wings of the sling under her legs bringing the straps that attach to the swivel arm up between her legs. This is easier if the sides of the wheelchair will fold back or can be removed. At least this stage can be done in the dry.
The next stage is to open the car door, push the seat right back, hook the swivel arm onto the post and plug in the power which is rather like a PC monitor plug. The swivel arm is actually in two parts, one slotting into the other and the arm itself is fairly heavy. This is the stage at which the clock starts ticking if it is raining heavily!
Next is to wheel the wheelchair out to the car. We found it needed to be close to the open car door and the footrests just shy of the sill. The swivel arm connects to the sling’s four straps (one either side and two between her legs) and she was then lifted just enough to move the wheelchair out of the way to give me enough room to manoeuvre her into the car. This felt quite disconcerting to her when the wheelchair was moved. The steps I took were to:
- swing her close to the seat
- lift her legs into the car
- raise her up as much as possible while still allowing her enough room to get her head into the car
- I would then need to lift her to maximum height the hoist allowed to give her enough clearance to position her over the car seat (she also had an inflatable cushion on the seat so needed clearance for that also)
- lower her onto the seat/cushion, sometimes lifting and lowering a couple of times until she was comfortably in the right position
- disconnect the sling from the swivel arm and put on her seatbelt
- pull the seat forwards a bit and put her legs into a comfortable position.
I would then unplug and lift off the swivel arm and put that and the wheelchair into the boot. Unfortunately, on the Tiguan anyway, it was not possible to leave the swivel arm in situ – the door would not close. The sling is left on in the car. At this stage the door can be closed but as you can see, it does take a bit of time manoeuvring which isn’t much fun in the rain!
Exiting the car is pretty much a reverse of the operation. I did tend to put the wheelchair in place before manoeuvring her out although having somewhere to stand whilst doing that was a bit tricky. One thing I would say is that the Tiguan is quite a tall car but even so, there was only just enough headroom even with the seat at its lowest position.
So in conclusion:
Pros
- it’s a fairly cheap solution for someone who is wheelchair reliant and doesn’t want to go down the WAV route
- minimal alterations to the car means able bodied passengers are not compromised (though watch those shins!)
- the removable hoist parts take little extra room up in the car
- being a substantial adaptation, it is likely that the lease could be extended to five years if that was required
Cons
- it’s not the most elegant way of getting the wheelchair user in and out
- the whole process is quite awkward and time consuming although practice would make it easier over time
In the end, my wife decided she wanted something different so we went with a wheelchair swivel seat in an Audi Q4 which I’ll cover in a separate posting shortly.
Hope that is of some use …..
As those who have been following my thread ‘The Search Begins’ will know, my wife and I have been struggling to find a car that she can get in and out of easily. Of the cars that we liked (sadly very few these days on Motability) the Mazda CX60 was too high for her, the BMW 3 Series Touring was too low and the Mazda CX-5 and Hyundai Tucson were pretty good but don’t have proper grab style interior door handles. The best car for access was the BMW iX1 but we don’t really want an EV until the technology improves and I didn’t like the EV driving experience. Sadly, the new X1 petrol isn’t on the scheme and probably won’t ever be (although the PHEV might – which could be a possibility, subject to a test drive).
Motability have allowed us to extend the lease on our current petrol X1 by 2 years, so the pressure is off thankfully (especially as we really like our current car and there’s nothing on the scheme now that we’d prefer to it), but during that conversation I mentioned the challenges that we are having and Motability are kindly referring us to the nearest enablement centre, where various driver and passenger aids can be demonstrated. We are also going to attend the next Motability Big Event in Exeter (never been before) and have combined it with a couple of days in Devon.
One of the things mentioned on the call was a ‘Person Hoist’ which would lift my wife from her wheelchair into the front passenger seat and vice-versa. My wife isn’t terribly keen on the idea as she “feels disabled enough without advertising the fact” (her words), but it has struck me that if we went with one of these it would address the current challenge of most cars being too low or too high.
So my questions are this. Does anyone have experience of one of these person hoists and if so;
How easy are they to use? (I believe that they use a sort of sling – how easy is that to get in and out of for a full time wheelchair user who cannot stand unaided?)
Does the process take a long time (just envisaging doing it in the rain etc)?
Assuming that the mechanism lives in the car, how obtrusive is it when stowed (front passenger seat)? Does it make it awkward for an able bodied passenger to use the front passenger seat (get in the way etc)?
Any first hand feedback or advice would be much appreciated.
In reply to: Lease Extension Question
Go for it Glos Guy, they seem to have been very inconsistent in enforcing this change. They have altered the terms of the lease contract retrospectively with no notice or publicity.
FURTHER UPDATE. Just come off the phone to Motability. As an aside, getting through was a challenge. First attempt, after waiting ages I registered for a call back and then received a call back very quickly, but it was a dreadful line and the caller sounded like they were working from home and they couldn’t hear me. They ended the call and didn’t attempt it again ?. Second attempt had to wait around 15 minutes to speak to a human (and declined the call back this time) but eventually got through.
I was armed with the wording on our lease, which states that the minimum term is 39 months with an option to extend by 24 months. I was also ready with my challenge that a lease cannot be changed once signed by both parties unless by mutual consent and that there had been no communication from them or request to vary the terms of the agreement.
I politely explained to the very pleasant young lady in the call centre that I would explain my position, but suspected that I would need to make a formal complaint, potentially accompanied with a legal letter, but I needn’t have worried. When I explained that we were really struggling to find a suitable car due to my wife’s deteriorating condition, that I had added a lot of options to our current car in the knowledge that, if there was nothing better available when the 3 years was up, we could extend, and that I was very unhappy that the terms of the lease had changed, the young lady said that they would be prepared to make an exception in our case.
I have received a text to that effect and I’ve logged back on to our online account and can see that it’s changed already. The lease is now extended to July 2026 but we have the option to order a new car at any time from today (which is the ideal situation, as I don’t want to keep the car 5 years, and would like the option to order as soon as we find a suitable car, but didn’t want the pressure of having to order until that time).
So, all sorted and my sense is that they know that they are on thin ice by changing the terms mid-lease, but I feel that we must assume that this ‘discretion’ is likely to disappear with leases that are taken out from now on under the new rules, so those who don’t have major adaptations or who drive more than 20,000 miles in 3 years, might want to to have that in mind when ordering cars with high APs or when adding expensive options.
In reply to: Lease Extension Question
Thank you for clarifying that. It looks like it’s the mileage which is causing the issue then. It seems the 20,000 miles ceiling Motability are now using to terminate lease extensions will be a worry for most wanting to extend.
Skoda Enyaq Coupe 85x Sportline Plus Adanced, Heat Pump & 21" Supernova Wheels In Moon White Metallic - Ordered 27th December 2023 - Confirmed 31st January 2024 - Build Week 16 (W/C April 15th) Estimated Delivery 26th May. Build Week moved back to week 23 W/C 3rd June) Build Week moved again to week 32 (W/C 5th August) Brought forward to week 27 (W/C 1st July 24) Advised Week 31 That car us built & in Transit to UK. August 22nd, car arrived at dealership but wrong spec. Collected the car 18/9/2024. Ver
In reply to: The Search Begins!
@kezo Spoken to my electrician and, from memory, he thinks that the answers to my questions won’t be favourable ? He’s away for the next week or so but will pop around to confirm once he’s back.
As I have time to kill waiting for the BMW and Hyundai dealers to get cars in for me to test drive, I have done a detailed spec comparison of my two shortlisted cars. The Tucson obviously wins on spec count, but loses on quality.
Once the options that I’d add to the iX1 are taken into consideration, the Tucson still has the following kit over and above the BMW;
Leather Trim (if it’s still included FOC on the facelift), Electric Drivers Seat with Memory, Electric Passenger Seat, Ventilated Front Seats, Heated Rear Seats, Panoramic Sunroof, Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Spot View Monitor, Junction Collision Avoidance, Highway Drive Assist, Lane Follow Assist.
The BMW (with included Technology Plus Pack) would add Head-Up Display and iOS9 operating system, which is far better than even the improved Hyundai infotainment system.
There are pros and cons for both cars;
Hyundai – Pros – £3.5k cheaper (once options are added to the BMW), far better standard kit, it’s a PHEV, so no range anxiety issues and would only ever need to charge at home, no need to add options. Cons – Build quality noticeably less than BMW, Infotainment not as good, more a family car than a drivers car, looks (my wife likes it – I don’t!)
BMW – Pros – Build quality far better, driver engagement & refinement likely to be better (will confirm on test drive), Infotainment better. Cons – £3.5k more of which almost £2k will be options that won’t be refunded in the event of an early termination, it’s an EV (which we don’t really want) with all the associated issues that brings (range anxiety etc).
In reality, I’d be getting the iX1 in order to stick with a BMW X1 (ish) as our current one has been near perfect and BMW is my preferred mainstream brand. However, my head is saying that the Hyundai must be worth a shot. My worry is that I get it and feel that I’ve taken a big step backwards. I’ve suggested to my wife that the best option might be to leave Motability and buy a petrol X1 (23i M-Sport) but with options that’s £47k (probably £45k with discount) and she’d rather get a lease car than part with that cash. Other option is to extend our current lease, if they will allow us to extend beyond 6 months. Decisions, decisions. I’m hoping that the test drives will rule one of the two shortlisted cars out!
In reply to: Lease Extension Question
My 5 year lease will expire end of this year. I rang motability and asked them if I order in late September/October ands delivery of car is expected to be 6 months, march 2025 for example, will they extend the lease? Yes they said as long as I have an order in place the lease will be extended until I take delivery of the new car. So in effect my lease could be 5 years 4 months. I know motability says ok but I sometimes think they might change their mind. Had anyone had their lease beyond 5 years? Current car is high spec suitable for 25s which is no longer available on the scheme and I want to hang onto it as long as possible. Thanks in advance for any replies.
No need to worry. The critical thing is that you order by the end of your 5 year lease. Waiting for the next car to arrive once ordered doesn’t technically count as a further extension, even if that goes well over the 5 years. They won’t leave you without a car.
In reply to: Lease Extension Question
My 5 year lease will expire end of this year. I rang motability and asked them if I order in late September/October ands delivery of car is expected to be 6 months, march 2025 for example, will they extend the lease? Yes they said as long as I have an order in place the lease will be extended until I take delivery of the new car. So in effect my lease could be 5 years 4 months.
I know motability says ok but I sometimes think they might change their mind. Had anyone had their lease beyond 5 years? Current car is high spec suitable for 25s which is no longer available on the scheme and I want to hang onto it as long as possible.
Thanks in advance for any replies.
In reply to: Lease Extension Question
Like Solymar, I looked at the contract I signed at the beginning of my lease and it mentions 24 months following the minimum hire term. Not sure if this carries any weight, or if Motability can alter the contract retrospectively.
Mine says the same. Whilst I don’t necessarily want to keep our current car 5 years, I might want the added flexibility of the 2 year extension, given that you can change at any time within that period. When our order window opens in a few weeks time I’m going to try (again) to extend by 2 years, citing the contract and challenging their ability to change contracts mid-lease, especially as there has been no communication.
There’s a point of principle here, as some customers go for a car with a high AP and or costly options in the knowledge that they can effectively offset that cost over 5 years. With some APs now more than double what they were for comparable cars just 3 years ago, I suspect that a lot of Motability customers will struggle to raise these high APs every 3 years and that fact seems to be being completely overlooked.
There seems to be a degree of inconsistency and / or discretion being used at the moment, possibly because of the contract situation, but if this new rule is going to be applied rigorously on all new leases then I feel that Motability should make far more effort to alert people to this fact when their order window opens. I’ll be interested to see if they do when our order window opens in a few weeks time.
In reply to: Premium paint
The lease extension rules make most of the cars i’d bother with on the scheme unviable. I’d be prepared to stump up 6 to 7 K AP for a car over 5 years but not 3. I currently drive a Rav4 on the scheme on an extended lease and the new AP on that is now 8K and the other option of the CRV has just jumped to the same this quarter. I don’t want a pure EV yet and that seems to be the way this scheme is heading so I’ll probably look elsewhere when I come to change next year.
In reply to: Quarter 2 1st April 2024 – News and updates
Unfortunately there will be no ICE vehicles at some point and currently the only real alternative is EV’s
With the delayed deadlines, the exceptionally slow take up of EVs amongst private buyers, and the fact that the average age of cars on our roads is 9 years old, the situation that you describe is at least 25 years away. That’s 8 or 9 Motability leases away!
that’s wrong, once the dead line passes in 11 years there will be no NEW ICE as stated above. however anything could happen
It wasn’t long ago, the ban was 6/7 years away and now its 11yrs. No one here today will know what’s going to happen in 10 or more years time!
Do people realise that while the 100% ban of new ICE vehicles got delayed by 5 years, the required sales quota has in fact barely slowed down? To point out the incredibly obvious (to anyone with even just a marginal understanding of the matter), here are the numbers.
This year, 22% of all cars have to be electric. Next year, it’s 28%. 2026: 33%.
In 2030: instead of the former 100% of all sales, it’s now 80%. And you bet any penny you got that these ICE cars will NOT be your bread and butter vehicles, but the ones that make the most money. Bentley GTs, anything that has 8, 10, 12 or more cylinders. Proper expensive cars.
For you and me, the deadline absolutely is still 2030.
Again. From 2030 to 2035 the required quota rises from 80% to 100%. 20% in 5 years. From 2025 to 2030 the quota rises from 28% to 80%. 52% in 5 years.
Those 5 years absolutely make zero difference to any of us. The 20% ICE cars they’re allowed to sell in 2030 to 2035 will be cars with a base sticker price of at least £70.000 for a base model, because that’s where they make most of their money.
I explained that in another thread: any ICE car sold over the allowance costs a manufacturer £15.000, as was mentioned here as well. Whereas a sold EV can result in a tradeable credit for the manufacturer.
Even IF they extend the deadline by another year/s, the required quotas year to year will still rise. There still will be less and less incentive for manufacturers to produce ICE cars.
And, btw, before Glos Guy comes in with “they vote with their wallet” and some other unsolicited political quips, no. They don’t. The way this will go (not might, will) is that they’ll offer cheaper base model EVs, basically Fiat 500 size. Small (or more accurately, cheap) ICE cars will simply seize to exist.
To further the point per example, VW delivered over 400.000 cars in 2022. That requires them to sell 88.000 EV, or pay £15.000 pound for every car out of those 88.000 that isn’t an EV. Paying £15.000 on a £22.000 car, do you genuinely think they’ll continue selling it? Once the ratio for the quota becomes so unfavourable that a noticeable percentage of cars basically are given away for free due to the fine, they’ll cease to exist. Likely replaced by something like an ID2 or even ID1 (Polo/Up), which will be “more affordable” (but still vastly more expensive than the ICE predecessor).
In regards to your “political analysis”, i haven’t forgotten who introduced this measure. You can rail at Labour as much as you want, in the end they just need to point out that the ZEV Mandate is the brain child of the Tory party, introduced/announced by one of the many PMs of the last few years. In fact, so much so that after Windbag Johnson announced his “Ten Point plan for a green industrial revolution” in 2020, the Tory party doubled down on it in 2023 after reviewing the policies.
All Labour needs to do is “ignore it”, and if they’re, contrary to any political reality, pushed by Tories on this, they just need to point out that it was their idea in the first place.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.In reply to: Lease Extension Question
@Glos Guy I put in to extend for two years through my online account in January, and got the okay straight away, was not asked for mileage or adaptions. Not sure when these new rules came in, but I had no problem whatsoever.
Does the option to extend the lease only show on the online account once your order window opens? I’ve just looked at the online account, including the lease section, and cannot see any option to extend. The order window opens 22nd April so maybe it will become an option from that date? Knowing how rubbish their website and IT are, if they haven’t updated it to the new policy yet I might be able to do as you have done!
Yes I can confirm, same as @Markymate, that my online account allowed application for extension on the very day my order window opened back on 23/11/23. Although I was fortunate to get the 2 years I never at the time thought I would use it. I was all for ordering a new shiny car to have it available when the original 3 year lease was up. However, the delay with the facelift Kuga means I probably will put any change off till 2025. I also don’t really want to fork out for another AP at the moment or indeed another £600 for a tow bar. I would have been feeling trapped if only granted 6 months extension.
In reply to: Lease Extension Question
What does say in the ‘Current lease’ section in your online account ao how lng you can extend. It may say different to what you were told!
If it only shows 6 months, extend for that time. Near the end of 6 months tell Motability, you regret doing so but, you will have to leave the scheme as there is nothing suitable. Its highly unlikely Motability will want to loose you as a customer after many years and likey allow you to have another extension.
The biggest issue as I see with this, is the longer you keep extending your current lease, the less ICE cars will be available.
Topic: Lease Extension Question
I’m not a great fan of lease extensions, as I think they make poor financial sense for the customer to be paying full entitlement for an ‘old’ car, plus APs assume a 3 year lease and are priced as such. None the less, as our order window opens up next month, and there’s nothing grabbing me at present that I’d prefer over our current car, I asked about a lease extension when I called Motability the other day (having read on here that the policy had changed).
I was told that we could only extend for 6 months, not the two years as was previously allowed. The criteria for 2 year extensions is now that the car must be under 20,000 miles or have significant adaptations. Our car has done 25,000 miles and has no adaptations, so therefore does not qualify for a 2 year extension and the maximum allowed would be 6 month. I mentioned that I had paid extra for a number of options, but this isn’t a consideration apparently. The decision is based solely on mileage or adaptations.
To be clear, I wouldn’t want to keep the car until it was 5 years old, but I’d like the option to extend for 2 years with the option to change (or hand the car back if we buy privately) at any time within that 2 years. I’m going to wait and see what quarter 2 brings first, but might then go back to them and challenge this, on the basis that the rules have changed mid lease and should, IMO, only apply to new leases.
Before I do this I have a question to fellow forum members. A number of you have recently reported that, even since this policy change, you have been able to extend your lease by two years. Those of you who have done this, were any of these 2 year extensions on cars that had done over 20,000 miles and had no adaptations? Thanks.
