- This topic has 73 replies, 32 voices, and was last updated 1 year, 5 months ago by
.
- Topic
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.
- Replies
Wish there was a like button on each post.
This has been suggested many times and @wmcforum was looking at possibly introducing it. I presume it’s not technically possible.
I’m on it. Should trial one in the coming days.
(that’s a temporary ‘like’ until we get an official one 
).Remember @POPS wasn’t a fan last time I asked but could have mellowed in his old age ?
UPDATE – Our order window has opened today. I logged on to our Motability account and it showed two lease extension options – 6 months and 2 years, However, as soon as I clicked on the 2 years option I got the following message;
I shall be calling them later to challenge this.
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.
Did you fit into any of the categories?
I.e
Adaptions?
What mileage have you done?
Award time less than 12 months?
It would be helpful to know which part Motability thought you didn’t comply with for the extension?
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
I think this should definately be challenged at CEO level as, MO should not be changing the contract T&C’s on a customers existing lease vehicles. Better communication wouldn’t go amiss either!
I’m just wondering if it were possible to play them tactically now they are stopping 2 year lease extensions for most customers even though that’s not what you signed up for .
My thoughts are this:- 3 year lease about to run out. So, leave it as long as is possible so I’m assuming you can extend by 6 months? 6 months about to run out so go to a dealers with cars you *know* have say a 10 month wait list minimum. Make an order and then close to the end of that 10 month period you cancel the order. You then go to another car dealer with the same issue and then order that car with a long wait …
Could that work? Possibly a cunning way of getting a further 2 years with an existing car. Or am I missing something with that plan? Maybe. ??
Did you fit into any of the categories? I.e Adaptions? What mileage have you done? Award time less than 12 months? It would be helpful to know which part Motability thought you didn’t comply with for the extension?
The car has no adaptations. We used to have hand controls but my wife can no longer drive so our current car has no adaptations. The car has done 25,000 miles. My wife has an indefinite PIP award.
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
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.
Good news @Glos Guy and pressure off!
Do you have a date for the Tucson test drive or won’t you be bothering now!2024 - BMW i4 Grand Coupe eDrive 35 Sport
2020 - Volvo XC40 T4 Inscription
2017 - Audi Q3 TFSi Sport S-TronicWell done Glos Guy, it seems “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”. My current lease doesn’t end until next year, but I will certainly take the same approach as you.
You are spot on. They tried to pull a fast one by changing their terms of the lease without getting agreement from both parties. It may be the case that this “exception” they are making is for those who are savvy enough to have read their lease and understood what it means.
Threads like this are the reason this forum is so great. It provides so much more insight than any Motability website or leaflet. It’s even more informative than calling them sometimes.
Great news @Glos Guy!
I may well be doing the same, as there is no car on the scheme I’m really interested in…
Kind regards
Andy======================
Motability cars:
2021 - Volvo XC40 T5 PHEV.
2020 - VW Golf TDi SE Match.
2017 - VW Golf TDi SE Match.Good news @Glos Guy and pressure off! Do you have a date for the Tucson test drive or won’t you be bothering now!
I’m still waiting for a date for the Tucson test drive. I’d still like to go ahead with that, as having eliminated the iX1 it’s the only car left that could possibly work for us. The only issue is that it would be the pre-facelift model that we test, whereas if we order we’d get a facelift model. I don’t know if it’s an error, but both power and torque are down on the facelift PHEV, even though there aren’t supposed to be any engine changes. I’ll see how we get on, but might want to wait and test the facelift model once it’s out before committing, even if that risks a higher AP.
I do wonder that given our lease agreement says we can extend for a further 2 years a this has been granted because of this. Without digging out an checking I wonder if it mentions about the option to also buy the vehicle too as if it does it would be the same situation they would have to agree to selling as both party’s would need to agree to the amended right
Hi Glos Guy
That’s brilliant news and glad you’re sorted but could I ask what the actual wording is in the MB agreement statement is? I ask because I’m not sure the exact date that MB made these changes so I quote word by word my agreement to see if its the same as yours, BTW for dates my agreement started the last week of February 2023.
Agreement quote under the “Duration of Hirer” section…
“The Hire Term is for a minimum period of three years starting on the date of delivery of the Vehicle (the “Minimum Hire Term”), but continuing until either the expiry of the period of twenty four months following the Minimum Hire Term (the Maximum Hire Term”) or the date on which the Agreement is terminated in accordance with the terms set out in the Contract Hire Terms and Conditions (Ref T&Cs 01/22)(the “Conditions”), whichever is the earlier.”
Has the wording of this clause been changed?
I got two years to go before I face this situation and her in doors paid the £3.5k upfront AP and adaption under her conditions we keep the car longer than three years so would like to make sure I got it right so when you say “minimum term is 39 months with an option to extend by 24 months“ are you referring to the bit in the above quote saying “minimum period of three years starting on the date of delivery of the Vehicle (the “Minimum Hire Term”), but continuing until either the expiry of the period of twenty four months following the Minimum Hire Term”.
Not a legal eagle myself but that sort of suggests 3 year plus 24 months and I cannot find no other reference under T&Cs 01/22.
Of course if AP’s were to be a bit more reasonable in two years time all this would be academic but can’t see that myself.
I do wonder that given our lease agreement says we can extend for a further 2 years a this has been granted because of this. Without digging out an checking I wonder if it mentions about the option to also buy the vehicle too as if it does it would be the same situation they would have to agree to selling as both party’s would need to agree to the amended right
As for the lease extension, I was originally told that we couldn’t extend beyond 6 months, even though the lease says that we can, as we didn’t meet the new criteria. The online renewal tool wouldn’t let me extend for 2 years either, so even though it’s mentioned in old leases they won’t agree to it unless you challenge it (unless of course you meet the new criteria, in which case it’s easier).
As for buying at lease end, I don’t believe that option has ever been in the lease agreement, so would not be contractual, it would be discretionary. On that basis there’s no variation of contract. I haven’t tested this though, as I’ve always asked for a price to buy at lease end and, without exception, the price has always been too high. I could have always done better buying privately and have the benefit of a warranty, which you don’t get if you buy from Motability. Just because the car has served you faultlessly (as our current BMW has) is no guarantee that a major repair won’t be 6 months down the line!
That’s good news Glossguy.
I’ve requested to escalate my complaint regarding the buy-back option being removed.
Does anyone know where I would find my original terms and conditions for my lease contract when I took it out in November 2019 as I want to check if it had the option of buying back the car.
thanks
@ChrisK The wording on our current lease is exactly the same as yours, so I think you are on safe ground. Also, you mention adaptations, in which case you might even qualify under the new conditions anyway! The 39 months thing is mentioned elsewhere on the agreement, but I don’t think it’s relevant as we are never held to that period. It must just be an admin thing.
@kmb786 To find your lease, log on to your Motability account, click on ‘Current Lease’ on the left hand side and then scroll down the page to ‘Documents’ and select ‘Contract Hire Agreement’ which is a pdf of your lease. You should have been sent a paper copy of that as well. Just to confirm my last post, I’ve just checked and there’s no clause about buying the car at lease end, so I believe that’s a discretionary thing that they are perfectly at liberty to remove.
@ChrisK having just looked again, the ‘39’ reference is to the number or payments, not months (because benefits are paid every 4 weeks, so 39 payments in 3 years)Congrats @Glos_Guy at least there’s a way to get your extension, even if it is painful.
Legally shouldn’t the new leases have different wording? If their leases continue with the same wording, wouldn’t they still be falling short of the contractual agreement? Surely they can’t be expecting a few social media posts about extensions to be considered a key part of the contractual agreement, as in ” if the customer knew that an extension was only available in certain circumstances because it has been shared on all our media outlets and posts in various discussion groups have shown that this is common knowledge” then it can be understood that the customer could only “expect” a lease extension of up to 6 months.
There needs to be part of the lease agreement that clearly states that extensions can be granted for 6 months but only for up o 24 months if these terms are met… Without that, it’s a unilateral change to the agreement, which may not be legal?
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.