- This topic has 60 replies, 24 voices, and was last updated 2 months, 2 weeks ago by
.
- Topic
The scheme is no longer fit for purpose in my opinion. Looking at the prices and the cars available within my budget and those that i actually need specifications wise, I don’t see a single car that meets my needs. Electric has the answers but i have no where to park it for charging or even offers a range that meets my needs. With the current bill going through Parliment you almost wonder if Motability is actually deliberately pricing the people out of the scheme. They talk about how it enables us to find and get to work, but limited choices and prohibited costs is actually going to cost me those oppurtunities.
Renault Grand Scenic 1.5 dci Dynamic S x2,
Skoda Yeti 1.6TDI Elegance, Seat Ateca 1.6TDI SE, Citroen C5 Aircross 12 Puretech Flair And Citroen C5 Aircross 12 Puretech C Series 1.2 Puretech Auto 200.000+miles of Happy Motoring.
- Replies
I suppose that’s what I meant – if it is so lucrative – you would expect competition.
If you look at it another way, Motability lease payments are paid directly by the government out of a persons Disability entitlement, therefore it is guaranteed!
Should a another business want to offer competition, will the government offer the same service and therefore guarantee payment, in the way they do with Motability. If not and it is left to the customer to pay for the lease directly out of their disabilty benefit every month, there becomes a risk of missed payments. How would the competition deal with this!
JLR have touted becoming a competitor couple of times, via subscription based, but how would this work in reality and would it be, as cometitive, as if JLR were on the scheme!
@ElTel I agree with many of your points but must just correct one. You say that there is now more choice. The polar opposite is the case. At its peak the scheme offered (from memory) something like 5,500 cars, and they were all petrol and diesel so were suitable for anyone who could afford them. Now it’s less than 900. Take off all the EVs and PHEVs, which aren’t appropriate for many people, and that choice is far less again. During that time, the number of manufacturers, makes, models and trim levels of cars in the general market have increased substantially. If it were possible to work out what percentage of the total available makes, models and trim levels were available to us at Motability’s peak, versus the same statistic at today’s level, the contrast would be amazing.
@wmcforum Interesting that even after a few years of really pushing them, 760,000 of the now 860,000 Motability customers (88%) have been unwilling or unable to make the transition to EV. Meanwhile the choice of ICE cars on the scheme has fallen and APs rocketedFinally, several people have rightly flagged that if you compare a Motability lease with a private lease then the Motability lease is the better offer. No doubting that, as Motability get a block VAT exemption. However, it’s almost as though people think that there is a law that says that you can only buy brand new cars. The vast majority of private motorists don’t buy brand new cars (which aren’t brand new for long anyway). The average age of cars on our roads now is around 10 years old. Most modern cars will easily last 20 years plus without major concerns, especially at the sort of mileages that most Motability customers drive. Buying a car that’s just a few years old means that the first owner has taken the hit on the initial depreciation and during that time any initial glitches have been sorted out. The £12k sacrificed benefits, plus the AP, plus any options all add up to a huge sum of money that will cover the bulk of the costs of ownership and when you come to get rid of the car you have an asset for trade in. That’s certainly the way we are thinking (having done it before and it worked extremely well cost wise). I’d rather have the sort of car that would never appear on the Motability scheme that’s a few years old, than a brand new one that wouldn’t be something I’d personally choose, and isn’t brand new for long!
Imo
Currently the Motability EV numbers assist the government figures for Eletric vehicle transition
If they don’t promote Electric over ICE then I’m sure some of their current perks will be withdrawn by the gover
Motabiliitys current Block vat exemption, no restriction, applies to all their vehicles.
Private disabled vehicle purchasing only allows VAT exemption for significantly modified vehicles, not for unadapted cars or minor changes. Even then , only once every three years.
@pazlaz Be careful what you wish for. The abolition of the block VAT exemption would cause the whole scheme to collapse. It’s what makes it so competitive versus other options.
That is correct
If you took an average £6000 vat exemption and over 200,000 cars per annum, Mrs Reeves could pocket over £1.2 billion pa.
Well, if Zia Yusuf gets his way, we’ll be back to driving Invacars.
He’s on a mission to destroy Motability.
Some interesting stats released today
According to the latest data from New AutoMotive, 46,700 new electric cars were registered across the UK in June, securing 24.9 per cent of the new car market.
One in four new cars sold last month was electric, with 46,000 zero emission vehicles registered; marking a 45.5 per cent increase compared to the same month last year and bringing the 2025 EV total to 223,729 electric cars.Im guessing someone will know what percentage are Motability – they were also suggesting EV drivers save 90% over ice – not sure if that is taking into account all the cost ie purchase, resale, insurance, servicing etc – But interesting.
Well I’m on my 30th year with Motability, and remember the uproar when they introduced the vehicle price cap and AP cap. I think an automatic was allowed an extra £1k at that time, over the manual cap.
Before that, I’m sure people were getting Range Rovers etc, and the paper media didn’t like that so much.Who knows what it’s going to be like when I come to look at my next one, next year. I do have off road parking on my drive at least. I am saving for the AP, I just don’t know where it will be.
I have ASD and thus have difficulty with social and understanding information, written and verbal. I process information in logical blocks, before I reply. Sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong.
I also have a corneal visual condition, which makes me visually impaired without daytime, or daytime bulbs, among other disabilities/conditions.I think the current prices force you to consider the value of the scheme and how it might suit your needs. It remains fit for purpose in my view.
It is not a race to the bottom, but people’s desires and aspirations have increased over the years. Those of us who have been on the scheme for decades will remember how small and basic the cars used to be. Compared to the Invacar, the choice was amazing and welcome.
Of course, you can vote with your (proverbial) feet and whilst we are on metaphors, the grass isn’t always greener the other side.
Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
Those of us who have been on the scheme for decades will remember how small and basic the cars used to be. Compared to the Invacar, the choice was amazing and welcome.
If the choice on the scheme had grown progressively upwards from the Invacar to what we have today then I’d agree but, as you’ve been on the scheme for decades you will know that’s not the case. Choice grew to (from memory) something like 5,500 cars, including cars that we could only dream of today (Range Rover Sport etc) and were far from small and basic. Over the last 10 or so years that choice has fallen and fallen to now less than 900 cars. If you consider the fact that EVs (and all their new manufacturers) didn’t exist back then, plus there were far fewer model variants of even ICE cars than we have today, the choice, as a percentage of models available to the open market, is a tiny percentage now of what it was in Motability’s heyday. For those who want (and can accommodate) an EV, I’d agree that the choice is pretty good (Tesla aside), but for the majority who want an ICE car and whose needs require something of a decent size and specification, it’s getting a bit desperate.
Upfront admission – I have an EV I am about to swop to another and my car before was a PHEV – so I cannot pretend to have researched ice for a number of years.
But I would have to agree the scheme grew from when I got my first car xtrail and probably peaked around the time I got the Prius PHEV. That said – I am very grateful to be on the scheme and there isn’t a viable alternative – I would hate to have to go back to buying myself and that entails, depreciation, insurance servicing etc etc.
I very much appreciate the total lack of hassle the scheme provides me – however if I had a wheelchair – I suspect it’s not far off – I can see that the choices would be much reduced – my knowledge of what space I would need – hoists etc is practically zero.
So my conclusion – Motability is fit for purpose FOR ME – but can also see why it may not be for others.
it’s getting a bit desperate.
I don’t disagree with you.
What should the scheme be like? Or put another way, is it possible to have it better??
I feel Motability play a game with us when it comes to the AP. It needs to be more flexible, open and transparent. As for the choice, we should be able to choose anything we like.
Skoda Enyaq Race Blue
I think we also have to take into account the vast diversity of the scheme’s customers. We literally spread from the loss of benefit for a car being a considered stretch to affordability, all the way up to those who have the income/savings to buy any car they wish (within reason) but can choose to use the scheme.
When you think some are choosing cars that are in keeping with the cars they’d be choosing should they not need the scheme, having cars like BMW and Mercedes is a requirement. For others, these luxuries are unattainable, even with the advantages the scheme provides and having any new car is beyond the capability they’d normally have. Without looking at salary sacrifice schemes and other financial considerations, the scheme offers a hugely essential opportunity for some people to have a reliable car they’d never have otherwise had.
So, when considering whether the scheme is fit for purpose, the answer has to be yes purely because there are numbers of people who would be unable to have an independent mobility without it. However, there’s also people for whom the selection from the scheme is vastly inferior to the options they’d have purchasing elsewhere and it’s purely a cost benefit from staying on the scheme.
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
As for the choice, we should be able to choose anything we like.
I’ve always felt that should be the case. After all, APs are derived by being the difference between the cost to run the car (depreciation, servicing, tax, tyres etc) and the customers sacrificed benefits over the 3 year term, so as long as the AP reflects all additional costs then why not? Of course, at the risk of answering my own question, public (and, more importantly media) perception is the challenge. Sadly, the scheme is all too often described as being “tax payer funded ‘free’ cars”, so there has to be a limit but, IMHO, that bar is set too low, especially for ICE cars.
I think this really sums it up. There has to be a limit, the debate is where to set that limit, and like many things it is subjective. My old neighbours feel £60 for a Sunday roast for 2 with wine in a pub is good value, I think its exorbitant. Sadly, whether we like it or not, public perception will play a part with Motability.
After all, APs are derived by being the difference between the cost to run the car (depreciation, servicing, tax, tyres etc) and the customers sacrificed benefits over the 3 year term, so as long as the AP reflects all additional costs then why not?
How can they then justify the sharp increase in AP over the past 2 quarters? Volvo XC40 for example Q1 £1499 Q2 £2499 Q3 £3199. So March 31 it was £1499 and yet July 1 it is now £3199. More than double and in those 13 weeks, I do not believe that car prices have increased wholesale. It feels like they are not using the AP for the difference between the cost to run the selected car, but to average out the loss of EVs that they have had over the last few years on the scheme to keep their profit margins healthy.
@BrokenDude Both are true! The AP remains the balancing figure between total leasing costs and sacrificed benefits over 3 years, and the reason that they can jump so much (up and down) is primarily down to short term deals that manufacturers will offer (and then withdraw). There may be a month when it suits a manufacturer to encourage orders on a particular model (so the AP drops) and the next month it may suit them to discourage orders, but they don’t want to remove the car from the scheme (so the AP rockets). There will undoubtedly also be some profiteering going on as well. If a manufacturer thinks that they can hike the AP and get away with it, they will.
However, your second point is correct. The main reason that APs have risen across the board is because of the increasing exposure that Motability Operations now have to the used EV market. EV residual values are on their knees, as demand from private buyers isn’t there. As Motability are under pressure to push EVs to assist with government targets, and so as not to kill off demand for them through the scheme, they have taken the decision to absorb this hit by increasing APs across the board to all cars, including ICE cars.
Can’t say it’s not fit for purpose. Looking at cars from NIL to 500, there are frontiera, capri, dacia spring, peuguot 2008, Kona, Nero, Ford Explorer.
All very good cars. Mobility is a lifeline, it’s not a trifling organisation.
Can’t say it’s not fit for purpose. Looking at cars from NIL to 500, there are frontiera, capri, dacia spring, peuguot 2008, Kona, Nero, Ford Explorer. All very good cars. Mobility is a lifeline, it’s not a trifling organisation.
With Ford you miss out on HUD, Active Park Assist, 360-Degree Parking Camera and Hands-free Power-operated Tailgate, with the latter two being top of list for disabled drivers.
Can’t say it’s not fit for purpose. Looking at cars from NIL to 500, there are frontiera, capri, dacia spring, peuguot 2008, Kona, Nero, Ford Explorer. All very good cars. Mobility is a lifeline, it’s not a trifling organisation.
With Ford you miss out on HUD, Active Park Assist, 360-Degree Parking Camera and Hands-free Power-operated Tailgate, with the latter two being top of list for disabled drivers.
Here’s the problem For some the car itself being brand new and reasonably well put together is enough, for others there’s some necessary items you need to have included in the car (360 camera and hands free powered boot) and for others again that list increases depending entirely upon disability (comfortable seats for spinal injuries, huge boot for scooters or large door openings) for some these ‘extras’ are absolutely essential, for others a ‘basic’ car will do and what’s offered for free is by far enough for their needs and they’re more than grateful.
Then you add in the ‘Petrol Head’ or the automobile connoisseur. Those of us who are on here to use our expertise in cars, for we’ve studied them for far too long and have plenty we can share but also have a certain standard that we maintain in our own vehicles. Those who have an image to maintain or who would have cars that represent a certain social standing (or any other external expectation on why we buy cars in the first place). Not having suitable cars would exclude these people from the scheme completely, which is unfair.
However, the scheme has previously been painted very successfully as an example of the benefit scrounger rubbing our noses in their ability to have cheap motoring the working middle class reader couldn’t afford. This is why the scheme dropped from thousands of cars to having a thousand in a very good month. Is it right? Of course not but there again, should someone who could otherwise have purchased a vastly expensive car not be required to fulfill their esteem needs with their own and not the public money? Could it ever be right to have a new 7 series BMW on the scheme again? Would that not immediately attract the attention and public (press) outcry and we all find that the, at best, thousand cars becomes 500 or less while the heat dies down, again…
There’s no right answer, there’s always someone who wants more, more choice, more money, more car. Then there’s those who complain that there is a top limit of £8,000, some because ‘How the hell is that justifiable for a lease?’ others because ”How am I supposed to get the right car when what I need costs so much more?’ (Excluding WAVs) but where does that limit go? Which ever way it’s moved the end result will just be a different number in the same pair of complaints.
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
So a car needs to be fit for the individuals disability needs – not a status symbol – if you want status and you find it on Motability – that’s a bonus, but shouldn’t be an expectation!!
So a car needs to be fit for the individuals disability needs – not a status symbol – if you want status and you find it on Motability – that’s a bonus, but shouldn’t be an expectation!!
{Devils Advocate} Why shouldn’t someone who has a senior managerial/professional job be able to use the scheme? A disabled person should be able to make use of the scheme and if they decide to take advantage of the scheme, should they not also have the opportunity to have a car that gives them parity with their peers?
It is possible to say that one of my needs as a senior professional is to have a car that represents my status at work, should it be wrong to say that if your disabled?
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.