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I don’t want to start something if it is not there but I’ve been with the scheme for 8 years and mid contract dealer visits I’ve never had the best experience, on one occasion being blamed for a fault that occured with the car! me saying it is a common issue (Looking at forums relating to said car) and them saying I caused it with a lack of looking after the car and today making enquiries for a new car as mine is up to be told the wait time is only 19 weeks but we actually have your car in stock.. Oh brilliant I’m thinking then I state I’m a Motability customer, so now I need to speak with the person who deals with that side, so I’m put through and now the wait time in 26 weeks plus and there is also no car in stock ready to go!!
Is it just me ??
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I’m still confused as to why we can’t place an order online and have a video call or other verification follow up. I can’t get to any of the dealers I’ve been interested in cos they are all miles away.
A few years ago, Motability did actually state the reason you cannot order online (or phone etc) and sign for the vehicle remotely was due to the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, commonly referred to as the ‘Distance Selling Regulations’.
If you were to order and collect ‘off site’ then you have 14 days to return the vehicle for a full refund without even having to give a reason for returning the vehicle.
These regulations do not apply if the vehicle is ordered/collected on a dealer’s premises.
The Motor Ombudsman’s website explains the matter here:
Imagine how many Motability customers would be returning vehicles if they were obtained remotely under this 14 day ‘without giving a reason’ returns policy (hopefully not members of this forum, but the wider customer base)? This would invariably be a hit to Motability financially. It could possibly force up the AP’s for other customers to cover those incurred losses.
Another reason that Motability require the order to be in person is that the dealer has to certify that the vehicle is suitable for the customer. How can they do this remotely? Yes, it may not be an exact science, but it is meant to save Motability from excessive early terminations on vehicle suitability grounds. It is contained in the ‘Statement of Responsibilities (signed by both dealer and customer) at the time of order and covers:’
Customer suitability.
Nominated driver suitability.
Vehicle suitability.
Adaptation suitability.
Rules the customer must abide by during the agreement.I ordered a vehicle from Evans Halshaw once, who allowed me to sign the order form at my local Ford branch (and on collection day I travelled 172 miles to collect the Hyundai.
Generally dealers have been ok, we have found the better ones to be Japanese or Korean. The Toyota dealer went out of his way during Covid to help us. Out of curiosity has anyone come across a dealer who was disabled themselves?
For me it’s not just the dealership, it’s the individual sales person too. For a number of years I had Astra Touring Sports models and always found the lady who dealt with Motability absolutely brilliant. Unfortunately she left and was replaced by two sales men and neither had the slightest interest in Motability customers. Not just my observations but other Motability customers at the same dealership too.
This got so to be so bad that I left the dealership and the brand.
Calne in Wiltshire
my parents live there!
Chippenham
I lived there!
The BMW garage that supplied my first two cars were excellent. Rather the guy I dealt with is excellent. Shout out to Peter Lewis at Cotswold Hereford. This was over a decade ago mind you, though he’s still there. I think that’s a sign.
VW in Loughborough were a mixed bag. The initial rep was a bit 50/50, he was replaced with a new rep who was perfunctory. They were gone by my first service! I think that’s a sign.
Never felt discriminated against, though in COVID times we definitely fell down the pecking order, which is a shame. I have a thick skin and a weighty walking stick though ?
"Come on BYD Seal!"I was speaking to a dealer about an Enyaq based in the south east , they had 16 available, his exact words to me were, we will let 2 go to motability, after that any motability customer will go to the back of the queue as we prioritise retail over motability.
I’ve mentioned my local VW dealer on here before, in my experience absolute and completely utter pants ?
Their Skoda franchise is better but not getting much follow up after ordering the Enyaq plus a £2000 upgrade pack.
My nearest Ford dealer is excellent, same lady has been there each time I’ve been in, ordered 3 cars with them over the years. The only other I can mention is the Audi dealership in Sunderland, went to look at a Q4 etron, very helpful, free soft drink etc, makes all the difference ?
Please excuse spelling/typos. Apart from being a clot it turns out I had one on my cerebellum that's now causing various problems!
So my experience is:
Audi: offered a car already on the system awaiting build week and they could change spec and colour for me no problem, advised me to stay as a MB customer as I get a great deal (although he was nice I felt it was a bit pushy as he got all the order forms ready and specs and stuff and I told him I had other vehicles booked in to test drive)
Same dealership Audi but 30 min drive away had the exact car and engine to test drive and when I told them I was a MB customer he outright refused to allow me to test drive if he ‘didn’t have my custom’ ( yes, I know i’m meant to just guess its suitable then? quite contradicting scenario) so held him to his word and he rang me day after day and left message after message, I contacted him back told him what I thought about our first phone call, that I thought about it and that I had found another vehicle and was going elsewhere.
Ford I had great experience with as I know the manager and they got me a MB vehicle within 2 weeks (unfortunately its now unsuitable) after having a faulty vehicle from VW which had No 21 – Jan 23. So my current car, has to go back and I need an Automatic.
So tried a PHEV Ford Kuga and it was awful. high revs, felt every stone on the road and loud.
Back to VW : test drive arranged as they had a car in stock, took me out no problem it was a second hand car but same engine and transmission. Took his time with me offered me drinks and he was actually from the other brand at the garage which was Skoda as he was the only MB accredited in. No problem though the Manager of the garage came down from his office introduced us and, from there I went ahead and placed my order as it was the best, quickest, kindest, non judgemental service I had received. Offered me vehicles that were cancelled MB orders but they were certain colours with extras, so I decided to order and wait. He sent me an email just so I had his email should I need to contact him and ask for updates. This is a showroom that 30 mins away and my nearest is 20 mins away next to the Audi showroom. However my prior experience at that VW showroom wasn’t good at all and was a different ‘group’ company too.
I cheekily asked what they get for the MB order and he told me £60 they get from the order and he makes his most commission on aftersales; ceramic coating etc,.
I used to work in a showroom as a receptionist so the sales pitch and sly forceful techniques don’t work on me like they do most customers, also being brought up around, cars and motorbikes and anything with an engine in means I have a little more knowledge than they expect also being a young-ish female I think this takes them aback; when they try to talk to my partner and he says I don’t know anything about cars, she does though.
I’ve always found in life soon as a person realises their opinion of you don’t really matter, as you’re just there for a service to be provided by them as they earn a living wage, it’s just easier if the encounter is a pleasant one..
If the said person is unapproachable then it soon becomes your opinion of them..??
I’ve had very mixed experiences over the years. I tend to find that if they say someone will phone me back, it never happens. If I’m there in person the experience is usually fine. Email seems to work as well, the ordering of the new car was mainly done via email with perhaps 2 phone conversations. Didn’t have to go in at all.
We did have one occasion at a Seat dealership where the sales woman was very helpful over the phone but once we got there at the time agreed she literally gave us the keys to have a look at the car and vanished. I only saw her again when I went looking for her to hand them back. She seemed to have zero interest in us or the car.
Worst experiences were a Ford dealership that I couldn’t arrange a test drive with, they repeatedly wouldn’t get back to me so we gave up and an MG dealership that I had booked a test drive in a specific car at a specific time. I drove nearly an hour to get there at the agreed time to find they’d given the demonstrator to someone else with no set return time. They ended up letting me try a newly delivered one that hadn’t been inspected and was covered in plastic. I couldn’t see any of the interior and for some reason it didn’t want to accelerate, I think I read once that cars are put in some sort of shipping mode which also affects the engine and it has to be removed? I can only assume it hadn’t been done yet. It was heavily raining, the windscreen had an oily film on it that I was having to wipe with my sleeve because it refused to demist, the temporary plate they put on the dash was creating so much reflection I could barely see and they wouldn’t come with me despite me not knowing the area. Worst test drive of my life ever. Never had a bad one until that point.
Varies from dealership to dealership, has nothing to do with brands or anything else. Some dealerships you’ll meet a douchebag that looks down on you, in another dealership you get served the way you’re supposed to – like a paying customer.
That’s why we ordered our current car at a dealership 40 miles away, instead of the two closer ones. The first close one was friendly initially and became very disinterested once we told him it’s going through MB, the second one was just unfriendly from the get go, and in the third (VW Sinclair Port Talbot) we were welcomed with open arms. Coffee/tea, friendly conversations about our pets, etc, and when it came to picking up the car:
Absolutely would recommend.
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.According to FNS Ombudsman they told me there is the same rules for distance selling ie: you still have 14 days to cancel at a dealership as I did it many years ago when buying my own used car handed it back within 14 Days. Motability told me 7 days if delivered to your home which s wrong it is 14 days. The same rules apply to retail and non retail.Under consumer credit law we have the same rights if ordered and delivered.
You got to remember, a dealer makes very little on a Motability sale, about £500. They make many times that on a private sale.
Its not that Motability are lesser customers, its just the dealerships have a percentage for retail sales and a low percentage for Motability sales. Its nothing personal, its just maximising profitability.
However, if a sales are slow or the dealers have excess stock of older models, then they discount them to Motability to generate sales.
Snows Seat/and Evans Halshaw Vauxhall were utter pants couldnt give a damn for anybody motorbility or not
Snows Seat and Evans Halshaw Vauxhall both local and the next nearest 15 miles further are to be forever avoided imo as all these branches are rude and clueless imo
BMW 50/50 Ford dire, Nissan Ok Local Renault top dog from start to finish treated every person as someone special,no rush,polite,Smart polished dress code,kept updated and engaged when I told them I knew that 19 of my colour and model were soon to dock in the UK and then when I asked if they could grab one for me and bring my order forward to Sep 1st they said yes no problem.
Free quality hot drinks were also a nice touch
Been to both Audi and Volvo local dealers recently and left my details asking for a motability test drive and no one has called back. Wondering now if I should not tell them I am a MB customer until I want to order.
On a separate point, I’ve seen on this forum a lot of interest and people buying EVs. For this reason I am really surprised dealerships treating MB customers as third class citizens given they have targets to hit on EVs which many are struggling to meet.
Fortunately my motability dealership is fantastic Agnew Volvo Belfast. I ordered a Volvo XC40 a month ago as my current lease is up on 21/11/24 . I was told that they would expect the car to be on site at that time or shortly after. Now although I’m driving Mercedes A200 this time. My XC40 will be the third Volvo from Agnew Volvo. I’ve never ever had a problem of any sort.
You got to remember, a dealer makes very little on a Motability sale, about £500.
Whilst it’s true that dealers only receive a fixed handling fee from Motability (around £350 from memory) plus another fixed fee for handling a returned vehicle, that’s not the whole picture. Motability orders count towards dealers volume targets in exactly the same way as private sales do. These volume targets determine the percentage discounts that they receive off ALL orders for the next period and it also generates bonuses for them. So, in total, most Motability cars will be worth several times the handling fee, and more in some cases. I’ve had almost £1,000 discount off AP and options in the past and the dealer still made a decent profit.
As for service levels, like others I find that it varies enormously. I’ve used 3 different VW dealerships. 2 were dire, 1 was average. Our local BMW dealership was superb as was our local Hyundai dealer. When we collected our Tucson PHEV recently the car had been fully charged, had a full tank of petrol and I’m sure had received a paintwork treatment, as the rain is just beading off it. In fairness, I have bought cars privately from both the BMW and Hyundai dealerships, but I’m fairly confident that all Motability customers are treated well at these dealerships.
Just going to add to this thread, my local Nissan dealership were fantastic. Friendly and welcoming and nothing changed when we asked about Motability. All the way through the process they kept us up to date with emails and video messages. At pick-up the car was in the centre of the showroom with a placard stood next to it congratulating us on our new car. There was an unveiling and we were shown around it extensively, it honestly couldn’t have been any better.
I must be the exception. When I go and look at cars I want to be alone. When I go to order I want it done quickly. When I go to pick up I don’t want a tutorial.
I’m not antisocial lol. I just don’t see the point as I will have done my homework and I can work out the bits n bobs myself.
I’ve never had a bad dealer, they’ve all been sound and you can have a laugh with them. Mind northern Ireland is a small place.
Colinrg when I got my Volvo of them about 7 years ago they had left a big fancy bunch of flowers in the car. Nice touch tbh.
Only had a problem when I rang a Peugeot dealership wanting to arrange a test drive. I rang three times over the course of a week and left my details each time but nobody got back to me.
Whenever I’ve gone anywhere in person I’ve always received good service. The Sytner Audi dealership in Huddersfield treated me like a King from start to finish including when I took the car for a service. Tea, coffee and sandwiches every time! Plus all the courtesy cars were belters. I’ve never had a better car-related experience in my entire life and not just on Motability.
The Vertu VW dealer in Leeds was OK. No complaints but nothing special either.
DM Keith Kia in Leeds were decent too. No issues.
For me, it’s either been the dealership or even the individual sales person.
When I was with Vauxhall, most definitely yes. As a Motability customer they treated me really badly, messed me about quite a bit. I then moved to Toyota and the sales bloke wasn’t really interested, not sure if that was him or because I was Motability. I’m now with Renault and for me it’s been a much better experience. The sales person went out of his way to be helpful.Mother Nature don't draw straight lines, We're broken moulds in a grand design, We look a mess but we're doing fine, We're card carrying lifelong members of the Union Of Different Kinds....
Fisherman's Friends, Glastonbury 2024Well, from my experience today with Toyota. YES. I had a test drive booked today. I was meant to get confirmation email after booking a few days ago, I received nothing. So I rang first thing this morning to be told Motability sales person wouldn’t be there but they’d arranged for a colleague to help us. When I got there it was like I didn’t exist. The ‘colleague’ then informed us we couldn’t take the car for a test drive. After saying I’d phoned in the morning and was told they would, they eventually relented and said they could allow a test drive. However, the car was not the right specification… which matters because 17” or 18”!wheels makes a big difference when getting in and out of a car. Also the seats in the model we want are different to the test drive model. The sales person seemed completely disinterested in questions I had. After the test drive he said he would get the Motability salesman to call me later that day. It’s end of day and they haven’t. Basically, Toyota made me feel like a second class customer. They have no idea. You can’t treat someone with complex health issues and disabilities like that. It was a major effort to get, just to be treated like an inconvenience. Toyota …. Terrible. Felt like a second class citizen for the rest of the day. Very depressing.
Toyota …. adding to what I wrote above. Imagine if I hadn’t phoned to check what was going on. I’d have turned up to then be told “oh sorry, Motability salesperson isn’t here”. Not even a phone call in the morning to tell me it might be a waisted visit. Nothing. Absolutely the worse customer service I’ve ever experienced. To not inform a Motability customer their appointment / test drive has been effectively cancelled is appalling. Zero consideration of what it might entail for a disabled customer to get there. Certainly zero disability awareness. Why do Toyota bother if they are going to treat disabled customers with such contempt. Zero training.
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