[Oscarmax]

Popped down to Halfords for a replacement rear window wiper £8.99, the rear screen was smearing and rubber had a 20mm split, I had to replaced both front wiper earlier this year they were smearing. No point in contacting the dealership or Mobility in the past they have just ignored my request.

Is the scheme starting to die on its feet, I have an extension until August 2027 lets see if thing improved, to be honest I have been looking at private leases and buying used. There is still the possibility of Drivesmart lurking in the background, Mobility’s ability to alter lease condition midterm at will, I no longer have any confidence in the scheme.

• This topic was modified 1 month, 2 weeks ago by Oscarmax.

Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.

Topic

[jojo22]

I am pleased that you lease was extended when you asked for it and that end of life wiper blades can be one of the small downsides of doing so

The savvy among us like you would always opt to pay to replace them at little cost rather than have to faff around at the dealers

You said

{Mobility’s ability to alter lease condition midterm at will,}

Generally, Motability cannot unilaterally change the conditions of your active lease mid-term without your agreement, as it breaches your original contract. However, Motability routinely updates its rules for future or renewing leases

[Oscarmax]

You mean like the lease extensions, Mobility record the phone conversation, when Mobility reviewed the recordings, prior to paying a £6999 AP and earlier in 2025 on both occasion the call handlers assured me I could extend my 24 months, Mobility met me halfway and extend my lease for 12 months, if I knew Mobility were going to end lease extensions I would have not paid a £6999 lease.

As regards the wiper I either have to pay the dealer £30 to collect my vehicle or drive 25 miles each way for Mobility to make a decision, much easier and less hassle to buy the wipers myself.

Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.

[Glos Guy]

Oscarmax wrote:

Is the scheme starting to die on its feet, I have an extension until August 2027 lets see if thing improved, to be honest I have been looking at private leases and buying used. There is still the possibility of Drivesmart lurking in the background, Mobility’s ability to alter lease condition midterm at will, I no longer have any confidence in the scheme.

The scheme will survive. As is evidenced even on this forum at times, most people see the only cost as being the AP which, even with the VAT added, sound like (mostly) reasonable figures. Also, most people aren’t particularly in to cars and just see them as a means of getting from A to B, so still feel that there’s a reasonable choice. Then there are those who want the cheap running costs of an EV but don’t want the huge risks that exist if you buy one privately. Finally, there are many who don’t have the means or credit ratings (or confidence) to shop elsewhere. For all of these groups and others (most likely, in total, adding up to the majority of Motability customers) the scheme still has a place, even after all the adverse changes.

Those of us who jump ship will be those who do the maths and realise that even a car with nil AP costs them £13k in sacrificed benefits – a sum of money that could easily buy a very tidy used car and run it for 3 years, having a nice deposit (trade in) at the end, those who like their cars and can’t find something that excites them within the scheme, those for whom an EV is not suitable as they can’t charge at home but the remaining ICE cars are too restricted in choice and those with the confidence and financial ability to go their own way, where they are completely free of all the restrictions in choice and ever increasing rules and regulations that somewhat make a mockery of the ‘worry free motoring’ claim.

With the enormous growth in Motability customers in recent years, even if 20% of us leave the scheme will simply go back to the numbers that it had just a few years ago, when it still made a handsome profit, even after funding the lavish pay and benefits of all the Motability Operations staff – something which, from next month, I’m very pleased to say that my wife and I will no longer be paying for.

[Rene]

In fairness, despite getting the overall point, i’d never have Halfords or a Dealership replace my window wipers.

“Vision” is one of those things in a car that i do value quite a bit, so they can keep the absolute dogwater they sell for wipers.

On the GTE within months, on the Hyundai within days we replaced the “OEM” wipers with Bosch Aerotwin wipers. I had them ordered before we even picked the car up, although that was in part because we did test drive the actual car we were picking up in the rain and noticed the smearing immediately, even if only slight.

While, again, i see what you mean, it’s one of the things where i value peace of mind/clear window over the £40ish i’d save by having MB replace them. Particularly if you live near salt water and trees, no way around it. We replace wipers all around twice a year at least.

Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.

[Oscarmax]

I always fit my own wiper, I would not trust those clowns at Halfords

Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally I get confused and often say the wrong thing.

[Author]

Replies