[Carl Williams]

After a long 14 month battle, I have had my pip reinstated and I am in a position to look for a mobility vehicle.  My only concern is the huge AP for most decent spec vehicles.

Does anyone have figures for previous years in respect of quarter 1, 2, 3 and 4 pricing.  Is there a quarter that usually offers better value in terms of AP and value.  Any comments would be welcomed.

Topic

[BionicRusty]

Carl, I’m pleased for you that your PIP has been reinstated.
And a very good question. It’s one I’m pondering on myself as I am due to change in September.
There are two main factors to consider I think.
1) The AP cost, which relates to your question, and

2) Any available dealer contributions.

I’d also be keen to hear any views on (1) but regarding (2), this has to be considered random and usually based on a dealers desire to meet monthly/quarterly targets. For example the recent BMW dealer offering any BMW at £0 AP. That was incredible.

? I will be remembered for nothing but had great fun doing it ?

[mitch]

its a difficult one, what sort of vehicle are you looking for.

i can only speak regarding the vehicles i have been watching the last couple of years.

the mini countryman has been pretty flat within £250. i am on wpms and a while ago the cooper s auto was zero ap it went up to 500ish its now 205. the spec has changed a bit in that time they did away with the chilli packs etc and now do classic sport and exclusive.so over 3yrs its not moved much.

the toyota hcr when it first appeared the top spec was zero ap on wpms and went up gradually to 250ish but then it disappeared and came back as a hybrid with much larger ap’s.

this at the moment seems to be a pattern the ice vehicles are going off the scheme and coming back as hybrids of some sort but with much higher ap’s. not good.

the bmw i3 has gone down this quarter which is a good sign given the gerally high ap’s of electric offerings.

[JS]

No facts or figures to back it up but, I’ve always noticed as a group we tend to be underwhelmed with Q1 and manufacturers/dealerships tend to not give the discounts around Q2 due to the new registration and good sales,come the end of Q2 the manufacturers have an idea or indication on how targets are going and at this point we often see incentives from dealers and lower AP’s due to some manufacturers offering Motability better deals, so I would say Q3 is on average the better one for us the customers, Q4 again see’s a new reg again but again depending on manufacturers/dealers end of year targets Q4 can see some good deals. My own thoughts but I seem to notice better deals overall towards the latter part of the year.

[Carl Williams]

<li style=”text-align: left;”>Thanks for the info Wayne, Mitch and JS.
1. I’m considering an electric vehicle or an SUV.  The electric offerings on here at the moment are few and far between as I need s larger vehicle (family commitments)  the electric cars on offer are small and not suitsble.  Or indeed an SUV.  The last time I looked which was about three years ago the Audi Q3 2.0 diesel was on the scheme for £250 AP and all said that was an excellent deal for a premuim brand.
2. The only vehicle I can see which combines my two desires is the Mitsubishi phev but has an AP of an eye watering £1699.
3. Im considering whether to wait until q2 or q3 to see if the AP becomes  more affordable??
4. Just a thought can you lock in an order at the end of Q1 and if the Ap goes down in Q2, can you cancel prior to delivery and lock in the new lower price ??

[Colin]

I think it’s very important to factor in the potential savings in fuel with the outlander PHEV – it might be a bit of a sting on day one laying out that money but if it’ll save you as little as £48 a month, it’s going to pay for itself in fuel savings alone but that very much depends on how you’ll use it (lots of short drives starting or ending at home so max use of the 25-30 mile pure electric range) and if you have off-street parking to have a charge point etc.

Of course, if you’re in a position where you point-blank don’t have the £1700 it’s a non-starter and many of us would struggle to do that – I had to borrow against the good condition bonus to find the £2000+ for the Tiguan we got last week so I absolutely get that for some, the money just isn’t there no matter how much it’ll potentially save longer-term.

On the plus side, I had the same thing a few years ago, the whole year+ appeal fight and it was the back-payment that allowed us get a £2500 AP on our last car even after I repaid the family loans I’d had to take during the appeal process

"Man is born in freedom, but he soon becomes a slave, in cages of convention, from the cradle, to the grave."

[Carl]

Thanks for the update colin, you are right as about 90% of my journeys are under a 30 mile round trip, so essentially the majority of my driving will be using electric only..  and when travelling further afield then the hybrid kicks in and still delivers around 40mpg which is fantastic for a 4×4

I did have a nice back payment so do have the £1699 AP ready to go, but then I weigh up what else I could do with that money ?

[Author]

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