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Hi all
Nice to be a part of the forum and apologies for the negative first question.
Its been 22 months since our daughters condition got severely worse. Our lives are extremely hard but, we’ve just heard our almost 2 year battle for Higher rate DLA Care and Mobility has finally been won (we also won our CA case but that didn’t take nearly as long). We could not wait for this process so did purchase a car for about £500 which has served us well, but we’re now looking at the scheme.
It appears things have changed a lot in the 2 years we’ve been waiting, car stock shortages, ridiculous delivery wait times, luxury car manufacturers pulling out of the scheme along with higher AP’s.
I suppose my question is… are more people now leaving the scheme? Is the scheme still worth it and how long are we likely to wait for a car? During our original application the scheme looked great, we very much liked the look of the Mercedes CLA/CLA Shooting Brake and felt as a main car it justified losing the £280 per month DLA with a reasonable AP. Now trying to find the next best thing to the Mercedes? Vauxhall Astra with a £7,000 AP?
Finally I’m going to do some numbers on costs, can any of you more experienced members confirm if there’s any additional payments or refunds? After 3 years when you hand the car back do you get any of the AP back?
Thanks for any help/advice
Best wishes
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If you have been away for two years then much has changed; price rises, delays, not just to the Scheme but across the sector.
The Merc CLA certainly was, and is, a fine looking car, powered by a 1.3 litre petrol engine, if you are looking at a petrol powered Vauxhall Astra the Advance payment starts at £349, much less than the 4k you would have paid for the Merc. Yes, the PHEV version of the Astra is an eye watering 7k AP.
In answer to your final question, you do not get any of the AP back, there is a Good condition bonus at the end of the lease, currently £600 for a three-year lease and £900 for a five-year lease.
Crunching the numbers is absolutely the correct thing to do as when entering into any long term financial commitment one should have all the information. Ultimately the question of ‘is the Scheme worth it’ is a personal one and dependent on many factors.
We are friendly group here, please ask any questions and do ask for advice.
WMC
Hi RXT, As wmc said it really does vary as to whether the scheme is a viable option for you, Sometimes it even more than just crunching the figures. Whatever car it’s gotta be sutable for your daily needs. Glad to hear your fight is finally over to get the help you need. Must of been a shock after 2 years looking at cars on the scheme.
I recently left the scheme. As for me, it just wasn’t as viable an option as it once was and I have been on the scheme for 11 years and had 4 different cars. All very different as our family needs changed over the years and so did my condition. Many of which are no longer on the scheme or the ap are just not justifiable to lease a car.
Some reasons are the mileage we doing is well down on what it used to be and I plan to keep the car I have bought for longer than I would on the scheme. As i do think keeping a car for longer is better for the planet, than getting a new one every 3 years and if you extend for 5 years your paying the same in allowance.
The ap’s on many cars are higher than ever and the choice’s are very limited and I don’t know if I could of waited a long wait time to get a different car as my wife mobility is also an issue now. So the car we had was a big issue now for her, personally I loved it but sometimes, you got to do what’s right for you and all your needs and for many the scheme is just not offering what it was.
Even ev’s are not for everyone as unless you have off-road parking charging is a big issue and the added cost of it over charging at home. Does seem many ev’s have the longest waits also.
I guess it’s really a tuff one if it works for you then all is good but for many for a multitude of reasons it just isn’t and have left or plan to leave when their current lease expires.
If you can find a vehicle with a reasonable AP that suits your needs then the scheme still remains excellent value and is unbeatable for peace of mind.
Everybody has their own opinion of “reasonable” AP’s. Some are happy to pay a lot to get exactly what they want/need, others (like me) set a limit on how much they’re prepared to pay towards something you’ll never own.
Luckily I found a car that meets all of my needs and most of my wants for bang on my upper limit. Had I not been able to achieve this outcome I would have left the scheme and bought second hand instead.
Best advice is to make lists of needs and wants, set your budget and then search and research and see how many boxes you can tick.
If I seem a little strange, that's because I am.
Skoda Karoq SEL.
Reading the grim news in this article you will see the reasons for the higher AP’s, and no, its not down to MB profits, well not all of it.?
@wmcforum @rox @wardygtc @chrisk
Thank you for the help and advice. I’ve done the numbers of a brand new petrol Astra on the scheme vs a used 2020 cla, taking into account the AP and good condition bonus and the estimated depreciation over 3 years, finance interest, MOT, service, tax and insurance. The used Mercedes works out at an extra £60 a month. This assumes the Mercedes does not need any repairs in the 3 years between 10/15k miles and 25/30k miles as it could need nothing or rebuilding!
There’s no denying the scheme is definitely cheaper and gives you peace of mind. Is there any recent estimates on wait times for cars on the scheme (such as the Astra)?
Wait times can vary wildly but most are pretty bad just now due to the supply chain issues.
Anything built in Britain will have a shorter lead time, Nissan Mini etc.
If you’ve identified a particular car you want it’s always worth calling every dealership within a distance you’re prepared to travel (bearing in mind you have to do it twice, once to order and again to collect) and see if they have any stock cars they’d be willing to transfer to Motability.
If you catch them at the right time and they have targets to reach they can sometimes do it. Generally the bigger the dealership the better the chances. Just make sure you say it’s a Motability enquiry up front as many dealers have separate systems for retail and Motability.
For example I ordered from RRG and they don’t differentiate between retail and Motability so they have a waiting list according to model and spec and when my name is next I get the next applicable car.
If I seem a little strange, that's because I am.
Skoda Karoq SEL.
For example I ordered from RRG and they don’t differentiate between retail and Motability so they have a waiting list according to model and spec and when my name is next I get the next applicable car.
We also used RRG, it was Jan 2021 right in the middle of the pandemic, they managed to get us a stock car that someone ordered and cancelled, got it in a matter of weeks rather than months.
Nothing will beat the scheme on price due to the fact they not paying vat, for example on a 25k car thats 5k making the car 30k off the scheme.
When you compare two different cars an astra and a cla, imo it don’t give you a fair comparison, I do get the cla is not currently on the scheme and is the car your looking at. So it’s not as if you can compare it like for like, but comparing it with an astra would give you a better comparison.
A few other things to consider are you can get the used car now with no wait and after 3 years it will have some residual value, where as a scheme car will not. Only mbo will make anything from it at the end of the lease and you might get the car you want and suits your needs over one that doesn’t as choice on the scheme is rather limited.
I am not anti scheme just trying to be informative.
Personally I’m paying around £120 a month more than my alowance but if you add the last ap I paid it would be less, largest i paid was £1600 so was around another £44.44 a month over the allowance.
I did opt to go for a new car as then i get a 3 year warranty, but after I’ve paid off the car it should be worth around 40 or 50% of it’s original value. That isn’t the case with getting a car on the scheme. Even if it’s lower than that 1/3, It still should be part of the overall calculation imo.
I actually got a 0% hp deal, which really did make a huge difference on the figure’s and the car arrived in 4 weeks.
If I keep this new car for at least 5 years at £25k 5(£64.50 (pip) x 52)= £16,770 plus add the min i think it could be worth (1/3) after 5 years £8333 is £25,103
Also pip will increase yearly so that’s another added bonus not in the calculations. Also if it’s worth more like the 10k/12.5k as predicated, that more than covers insurance and servcing etc. So really the extra i am paying i have in the car at the end and Imo is not really costing me more than on the scheme, although i am paying more.
If i keep it for longer or sell it that’s when it will pay me back over the scheme and for me that works as my millage is less than half of what it was. If you do high millage the scheme is great as it offer’s 20k mileage a year.
One thing the scheme gives you is piece of mind but right now for me it works leaving the scheme and not having to worry about what car next in 3 years and how much ap it will be or if what i need is available, as we move towards 2030 and not having offroad parking. Who knows what will happen, it’s an unknown factor that off the scheme i have control over also.
Different people have different opinions of “worth it” or value for money. It is a combination of many factors including cost, customer service, peace of mind and convenience to name a few. Prices on Motability have risen, but in line with prices in the sector as a whole. Few bargains, smaller discounts and longer waits are the new, but hopefully, temporary norm.
I will choose to remain on the scheme for many reasons which inc peace of mind and financial situation for ex a repair of a simple part for example a cars handbrake can be £700+
I have off road parking (In my case … Free Gov grant covered installation of a paved double driveway) ( I will cover this 1yr journey in more detail in a separate thread )
So along with free home charger installation I would be mad not to take advantage of the positives and look to make my next lease electric
Everyone’s situation can differ and as I already have a car and its lease has another 10 months to run ( and may well have to extend at least as long again that’s factoring in reordering 3 months before the end of my lease
I feel for those that are joining the scheme for the first time and are having to struggle,
who under the present circumstances imo should be given scheme priority.
It all comes down to personal choice/circumstances
I think the moral of the story is, if you see a car on the scheme that fits your needs and is a price you like, order it. Seldom do you benefit by waiting for the next quarter price changes.
Good luck.
Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
Thanks for the replies. I compared the cla with an astra as I was looking at one of the two. I get its not a fair comparison (like comparing buying a new astra with a scheme astra) and like for like I’m sure the scheme will be a better option.
As we are looking to buy our house next July and after talking to our mortgage adviser, it wouldn’t be good taking out a car loan right now particularly as interest rates are soaring and most lenders don’t count DLA for mortgage affordability anyway (so makes sense to use it for a car even if there’s nothing we like). So buying a nearly new car is out of the question.
The other problem we have is that because it took 2 years to win our appeal for DLA, our daughter will be 16 in 18 months time. The car we would get on the scheme won’t be the car she wants and by the time we order and take delivery its likely that she will be able to start learning within a year. So seems the scheme might be out of the question to.
RXT all that matters is whats right for you and being informed on any decision you make is key.
Imo there’s nothing wrong with you staying as you are for now and keeping the allowance you’ll get every month for a deposit on a car when your daughters old enough to learn and do lessons and insurance, or when you decide the times right for you. It will build up a little pot at £64.50 a week and in april that will rise again.
The scheme, is quite restrictive for under 25s and many choose not to use it for that reason. Good thing is you have options that before you didn’t. Sure mb gives help with lessons as well.
Part of me doe’s think Ap’s past a certain point are like renting a house over owning your own and I’ve never seen value there for me or can justify spending such an amount on leasing a car or adding extras.
I was lucky getting the 0% deal and I moved quick as I had a feeling rates was going to rise soon.
I was telling my brother the same as he needed a new car (around six months ago) which he uses for work and gets a mileage allowance. Plus recently they just bought a house and a few weeks ago had their 1st child. By the end of the year i predict rates will be at least 3%. so sometimes you gotta give yourself plenty of wiggle room or you might get caught in the bank loan default trap.
That’s whats great about this forum it’s here to help and inform people and only you truely know your full situation, such a shame ap’s have risen so much and the car’s on the scheme are so limited right now never mind the wait for some is verging on ridiculous. It’s definitely for some made it a harder decision than it was.
Hi, this will be my first time on the scheme and decided on the car in stock at the dealers due to the fact the ap was £1999 less the £750 NEW CAR ALLOWANCE and £500 dealer allowance which seemed good until the dealer stated the car I had picked had optional extras like alloys and and bi-tone colours, on working out the cost of the total AP it was now £1849 + £20 of fuel , total £1869 . Does this seem reasonable or am I JUST AN EASY TOUCH. I have not paid this yet but still pondering whether or not to do so or cancel my application. Help and advice please would be very much appreciated.
you would need to pay for optional extras. The fact they are charging for fuel though…. thats enough for me to not go ahead. However the new car discount ends early January meaning you don’t have to a lot of time to find a replacement. Remember also that god forbid you end up in an accident that means the car cant be repaired, you will lose the additional amount you pay for optional extras. If I were you, I would spend today finding an alternative deal if the extras aren’t something that interests you.
2024 Skoda Enyaq estate- 85x Sportline plus in Race Blue. Extras: Supernova 21 inch wheels, Maxx Pack, Transport Pack, Heat Pump and Pano Sunroof.
Ordered 31/10/23, Delivery 27/3/24
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