- This topic has 49 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated 5 years, 2 months ago by
.
- Topic
Since the Witch hunt of the Daily mail a few years ago the Motability choice seems to have gone downhill. I can remember being on the scheme since 2001 that the choice for automatic and even manual cars has steadily decreased.
Now it as a disabled person i had choice, like able bodied, to go down the contract lease or buying a car. I can if i have the funds buy anything automatic but as we do not get a credit check with motability that is our best option. I still have a car and thank god we have the scheme as i am a great supporter of them but they have been got at by the media and it is the cost aspect i know but it used to be better.
When it comes to some cars the Abarth new updated 2021 model year car for instance semi automatic there is only one car on motability, the manual, on contacting the Abarth management they told me last year that they would put the whole range on the scheme tomorrow but motability will not have it and they are sad they cannot offer there model range and there must be other manufacturers that are in the same boat. It looks like it is the policy of motability now to restrict many cars on the scheme and no i am not talking about very high priced cars i am only talking about choices of Automatics where sporty or not it is a policy which like the hire purchase of new and used cars was taken away and even the wav highly adapted cars that you can no longer get any help with advanced payments on if you do not work or you have to be doing voluntary worth for more than 16 hours a week and prove it to adaptations team that was sneaked onto the policy not much was told to us about this but disability rights uk said it was unfair even a lady that already had a wav car on the scheme for 5 years was unable to renew her car and although she used to do voluntary work she was too unwell to carry on and there must be many thousands that are no longer entitled to any help for these high price wav highly adaptive cars i did not know though that the wav or drive from wheelchair advanced payments were so much.
- Replies
That was unreadable sadly but since the witch-hunt, our choice of vehicles has been obliterated. Full stop. Thank you the Daily Mail.
Looking at the Motability price lists put up on this forum for tgat tine, apart from the Land Rovers, there is nothing in those lists I would want.
much better choice today
Only if you cannot read english mr P or if you did not know the actual Daily mail article concerned.
Nobody bothers anymore with punctuation marks that is old school you need to keep up there with it man.
Humans evolved 300,000 years ago because of opposable thumbs which in one great leap of evolution enabled young people to spend all their time messaging each other…
Nobody bothers anymore with punctuation marks that is old school you need to keep up there with it man.
Daveblue,
No disrespect but knowing at least two forum users that use screen readers (Dragon) to read the postings as they have eye disabilities (one has only 15% total visibility after being shot in the head whilst serving in Iraq) they do have great difficulty reading unpunctuated posts. It comes out as a continuous unintelligible jumble of words when using text to speech software.
The veteran with the 15% eye sight is a Motability customer and a self-confessed ‘car nut’. Obviously, he can no longer drive, but does enjoy reading the forum.
Hence punctuation can be particularly important to people with certain disabilities.
Much the same as in posters who use ‘text speak’ such as ‘cul8r’ etc, screen reading software cannot differentiate ‘text speak’ from normal speak and again causes problems.
I support that view. MrsW relies on Dragonspeak for her work.
If I come across unpunctuated text as in the above post, I don’t read it.
@daveblue That is one of the most pathetic excuses I’ve heard in a long time ?
Your post was, at best, hard to read.
Did you notice the correct use of commas and paragraphs there?
it seems the Only Witch Hunt are those wanting to pick fault with the original post ,being a Forum with posters of varying abilities and understanding im sure we are all aware of the many reasons and circumstances that could be behind the formatting. reading between the lines im sure most are able to to see the posters reasoning behind the Thread without picking fault.
the Thread has also become jumbled as we have already had to delete a few rude or disrespectful posts which Daveblue has replied to, due to still seeing them via the thread email reply notification.
may i suggest if you dont have an opinion on the topic as meant by the original post the best and kindest thing to do is Not post a reply.
it seems the Only Witch Hunt are those wanting to pick fault with the original post ,being a Forum with posters of varying abilities and understanding im sure we are all aware of the many reasons and circumstances that could be behind the formatting. reading between the lines im sure most are able to to see the posters reasoning behind the Thread without picking fault. the Thread has also become jumbled as we have already had to delete a few rude or disrespectful posts which Daveblue has replied to, due to still seeing them via the thread email reply notification. may i suggest if you dont have an opinion on the topic as meant by the original post the best and kindest thing to do is Not post a reply.
Respect to you JS many thanks
The gradual decline of available cars is a worry. Perhaps with Brexit now sorted and hopefully with better Covid news ahead planning will be easier and maybe we could see an uplifting of the AP limits. I do have to say that in my opinion the scheme is generally better value now than in 2006-2009 when AP’s in excess of £5000 was the norm on mid range cars although I an sure there are exceptions to this.
There seems to be a rewriting of history to suggest we have never had it so good. Yes, if you want a VW Average or a Ford Blandus, you get great value. Probably the best value ever. The issue I have is that since the Daily Fails’ witch hunt, the CHOICE has completely narrowed down as a direct result. Not the value but the choice.
The number AND variety of cars available is now much lower than ever before and we, as disabled drivers are not allowed, yes, not allowed, to have control of anything with any oomph or pizazz. Something that may brighten up a dull day, something to stir the soul.
Obviously not every Motability customer is a petrol head and may have some pressing practicality priorities and it’s good to see that generally they have been accommodated long may that continue. But it would be nice to have the CHOICE to choose something impractical, a bit left field. As an example, I have had, on Motability, a bright green Scirocco, a copper coloured Volvo V40 and a Skoda Superb with 220 horsepower- all in consecutive order and all were a joy to drive for 3 years apiece, for which I will always be grateful and thankful to Motability. I will never forget how blessed I have been to have these choices.
Sadly, the current choice is much more limited and generally bland. The only promising light at the end of the tunnel is electric cars. I am hoping beyond hope to be able to choose something futuristic, smart and interesting- with enjoyable pace- when I next change in 18 months.
Here’s hoping. But not holding breath…
There seems to be a rewriting of history to suggest we have never had it so good. Yes, if you want a VW Average or a Ford Blandus, you get great value. Probably the best value ever. The issue I have is that since the Daily Fails’ witch hunt, the CHOICE has completely narrowed down as a direct result. Not the value but the choice. The number AND variety of cars available is now much lower than ever before and we, as disabled drivers are not allowed, yes, not allowed, to have control of anything with any oomph or pizazz. Something that may brighten up a dull day, something to stir the soul. Obviously not every Motability customer is a petrol head and may have some pressing practicality priorities and it’s good to see that generally they have been accommodated long may that continue. But it would be nice to have the CHOICE to choose something impractical, a bit left field. As an example, I have had, on Motability, a bright green Scirocco, a copper coloured Volvo V40 and a Skoda Superb with 220 horsepower- all in consecutive order and all were a joy to drive for 3 years apiece, for which I will always be grateful and thankful to Motability. I will never forget how blessed I have been to have these choices. Sadly, the current choice is much more limited and generally bland. The only promising light at the end of the tunnel is electric cars. I am hoping beyond hope to be able to choose something futuristic, smart and interesting- with enjoyable pace- when I next change in 18 months. Here’s hoping. But not holding breath…
Great stuff P that is what i really meant i had some great cars skoda fabia estate vrs now that was rapid and the dsg box was very quick and loads of space, even the Mazda MX5, MG TF Stepspeed back in 2004 used to be on the scheme and what about the MX5 F Hard top Automatic was on a scheme a few years ago.There are some cars that are too high if you are in a wheelchair when i used to get MG magazine there was a disabled wheelchair user that bought his own MG TF automatic and had adaptions for his leg problems and a wheelchair carrier on the back boot that was in british racing green very nice.
I put in another post there is a point, for example with extras I choose to have on top of ones I need for comfortable driving I am currently priced out of what I would consider a decent phev, I actually stopped driving at night until adaptive hba headlights, I worked out over 4 years (i normally extend leases because of the extras) it works out roughly including motability lease cost I spend about 500 a month (including saving for next AP).. So I had a look and for the same money I can get a PCP on a 5 series BMW hybrid and would be able to pay 4 monthly payments of 329, leaving enough for insurance and for bmw warranty (which includes breakdown recovery) at the end of those 4 years a final payment of 8956 would be due on the car which would be worth paying out as BMW warranties (under 100,000 miles) would be possible so for same money I am spending out now basically I could own my own hybrid…
Or just get a ford kuga st line x model that if i wanted to buy after 4 years would cost more and would of lost more value… and yes I did want electric but would need a real world range of 250 living in the sticks and family 145 miles away, add seat heating on top, winter driving and night time driving that would need a 200 plus real world rang to be right and only car on the scheme like that is the kona, but the big issue with that is its measly 300 litre boot lol…. its so measly that when I was looking the car up I found a lot of people had stripped under the bonnet plastics and made a storage container fit with 3d printed items under there just for a bit of extra space lol.
It keeps me on this fence of do I or dont I, Ill hang on to what I have for another year though as my light touch review is next year and then another 10 years (fingers crossed will make my decision for me).
It is sad to see whats on offer and level of kits dropping, the dealers are even not giving out discounts on extras no more.
I put in another post there is a point, for example with extras I choose to have on top of ones I need for comfortable driving I am currently priced out of what I would consider a decent phev, I actually stopped driving at night until adaptive hba headlights, I worked out over 4 years (i normally extend leases because of the extras) it works out roughly including motability lease cost I spend about 500 a month (including saving for next AP).. So I had a look and for the same money I can get a PCP on a 5 series BMW hybrid and would be able to pay 4 monthly payments of 329, leaving enough for insurance and for bmw warranty (which includes breakdown recovery) at the end of those 4 years a final payment of 8956 would be due on the car which would be worth paying out as BMW warranties (under 100,000 miles) would be possible so for same money I am spending out now basically I could own my own hybrid… Or just get a ford kuga st line x model that if i wanted to buy after 4 years would cost more and would of lost more value… and yes I did want electric but would need a real world range of 250 living in the sticks and family 145 miles away, add seat heating on top, winter driving and night time driving that would need a 200 plus real world rang to be right and only car on the scheme like that is the kona, but the big issue with that is its measly 300 litre boot lol…. its so measly that when I was looking the car up I found a lot of people had stripped under the bonnet plastics and made a storage container fit with 3d printed items under there just for a bit of extra space lol. It keeps me on this fence of do I or dont I, Ill hang on to what I have for another year though as my light touch review is next year and then another 10 years (fingers crossed will make my decision for me). It is sad to see whats on offer and level of kits dropping, the dealers are even not giving out discounts on extras no more.
I’d love to see that offer in writing…
Your £500 x 48 months = £24000
Plus final payment of £8956against a BMW 5 Series Hybrid starting at around £47000
So the lease company are going to lose over £15k and make no profit?
Previous Motability Cars
2006 - 2009 Skoda Superb VR6 2.0tdi
2009 - 2012 Citroen C5 2.0tdi VTR Nav
2012 - 2015 Nissan Qashqai 1.5dci tekna
2015 - 2018 Ford Kuga 2.0tdi Titanium X
2018 - 2021 BMW 220d X drive 2 Series Active Luxury
2021 - 2023 Hyundai Kona Electric Premium SE
2023 - Hyundai Kona Electric UltimateI suppose that it just comes down to choice. Motability is an option (in my circumstances the best for me) there are other options out there. Some cheaper and some more expensive. Last time I looked no one was forcing anyone to sign up for Motability. As I say it suits me at the moment and there is no way that I would be buying a new car without it.
Rico i do believe your figures are out by about 20k
Bit irritating to suggest that if you are not happy with the way Motability is going, ‘go elsewhere, no-one is forcing you.’
Firstly, we know that. We don’t need to be lectured on the principle of choice.
Secondly, Motability exists to serve people like me and others, many who now feel it is not offering the products/ services/ choice we would want. That’s feedback; we are allowed to give feedback. In fact, it’s essential for modern businesses to listen to feedback.
Thirdly, some people don’t have the choice; it’s Motability or nothing. They are fully entitled to feel frustrated if their needs are not being currently met.
Forums like this are designed to give a voice to opinion- let us voice it without patronising us.
The problem could be that not many people have actually written/e-mailed/telephoned Motability to formally express their displeasure with the choice of vehicles available on the scheme, (I don’t really recommend telephoning as whilst the call handler may be sympathetic, the message rarely gets beyond the individual call handler).
It is one thing complaining on an internet forum about choice, but Motability could well be oblivious to it.
If an awful lot customers started writing to the new Motability Operations CEO (Andrew Miller), formally expressing their displeasure, something may happen (no guarantees though). But at least the management of Motability Operations will get the message that there are a lot of very unhappy customers.
Not being patronising, just saying that there is a choice. I have looked at a lot of options to motability. The closest I could get to a better deal was through Jaguar Landrover family scheme but even that was a fair bit dearer than a similar car on Motability.
I personally think Motability should be prepared to offer all cars available on the market. but as they dont want to get into collecting payments and financing deals we would be stuck with eye watering AP,s.
The other alternatives are creating another finance arm of Motability who could finance cars and collect the balance of payments that however would exclude a lot of current motability customers.
Or going back to second hand car scheme.
All alternatives are possible but have their drawbacks..
I would ask you what would you like to see come on the scheme and at what AP
I have never subscribed to the notion that we are not “allowed” certain vehicles because we are disabled. As in most things it comes down to pure economics. We all have aspirations in life and if we didn’t we would never progress but sometimes you have to go with the flow. Without Motability I suspect most of us probably wouldn’t have a new car every three years. It’s a choice I wouldn’t want to lose. Stay safe everyone.
I would argue that we are precisely ‘not allowed’ certain vehicles because we are disabled.
The scheme is for the disabled; I am not allowed to order certain vehicles because Motability (in response to public concerns whipped falsely by the Daily Mail) deems I CANNOT have a 201 bhp petrol vehicle. The same vehicle is available to able bodied people on other schemes. Conclusion: I am not allowed that vehicle because Im disabled.
The financial argument is a non starter; one of my friends once ordered a Saab 9-3 at an AP of £8,000. Madness, but its what he wanted and the figures stacked up to that massive AP. Let Motability calculate the figures- let us choose whatever WE can afford.
Because insurance is included, i am totally fine with high insurance group vehicles being unavailable- there’s a logic to that.
The rest is about politics with a small p. Motability will not allow me certain vehicles because of a nasty newspaper article and campaign.
I salute Motability for providing a magnificent scheme but lets not pretend we are being deliberately restricted because of suspicion and jealousy from outside observers. That can’t be right.
Good to hear, Sir, but I wasn’t referring to hybrids. Hybrids are generally tuned for economy not fun. Im not allowed pure petrol warm/hot cars tuned for driving enjoyment.
Which raises the question, why is Motability Ok with giving us control of hybrids over 200 bhp? More media friendly?
As I said, I am all for opening up Motability to all cars provided you are prepared to pay the AP. under 25s may need to have some restrictions, and I suppose your driving /claims history would have to be taken into account when calculating what the AP should be. But that I guess reflects what everyone outside Motability has to deal with.
Aside from that, it seems crazy that manufacturers are producing ever more powerful cars, does anyone really NEED over 200 bhp, particularly on todays congested and regulated roads. Before you say anything I have driven many much more powerful cars than that, (and more powerful than most people here have) but in day to day driving I just dont see the need.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.