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The motability page says you can, but the mini configuration page won’t let it combine those specs. Thanks!
BTW, you should probably tell Mini chat that info, seeing as they were the ones telling me it wasn’t available!
Thanks Noel,
Thats really helpful! Although it gives me a dilemma now ?. Can you get that spec in a Cooper S All4?
I love the Mini Countryman, and I’m glad to see it back on the scheme in greater numbers. The new features make it a really desirable motor even in base spec. It’s very strange how they’ve reduced the bhp of the Cooper S, all other variants seem to be the same. DBTruth, your explanation sounds the most credible.
The Mini made my shortlist, along with Mercedes GLA and Volvo XC40. The Merc is obviously awaiting return to the scheme, but I think it’ll be prohibitively expensive when it does, and the Mini has been crossed off despite its return because you can’t specify lumbar support at all. Not even as an extra or part of a pack apparently. I believe it used to be part of an electric seats pack, but the new model doesn’t allow it at all. Strange how such a highly specified car doesn’t have such a basic feature, especially since the beemers do offer it as an extra. So, it’s Volvo for me. Good job it’s such an awesome little motor ?.Yep, watched it right to the end. It’s like ‘How It’s Made’ without voiceover man ?. Can’t see any Volvos in the staff car park though? ?
Hi John,
How about the Mini Countryman? It’s back on as of yesterday, and comes in Cooper D form. I think it’s a BMW X1 with party clothes on! Good spec too if you go for the models with inclusive packs. Missing lumbar support unless you spec electric seats at excessive cost. That removed it from my list unfortunately.
Oh yes Haley, we’ve all got a brown car lurking in our past I think! In my case it was a Morris Marina my mum had in the late 70’s. It was an amusing shade of excrement, with a slightly darker turd hue for the vinyl roof and a diarrhoea tint for the interior plastics. A masterpiece of British design. Complimented by vinyl seats that fused your legs to them in the summer and froze you solid in winter. It did have a nice name though, we called it Katie.
On another note, and as Rusty mentioned already, I think Volvo have played with their paint sets a bit. It’s subtle if they have at all, but I regularly park close to thunder grey xc40 and I’ve never noticed that blue tint until now. The silver is really unusual, which is a strange statement for silver. Normally silver is, well, silver isn’t it? But this one looks quite special. The red is a funny one too, it’s not too far away from being dark orange. Nice, but not for me.
I think patriotism is enhanced by exile (in my case to ???????, lucky that it’s awesome up here!), a fact supported by the amount of dragons in my house ?, but even I’d draw the line at green leather! ?
Yeah, the blond is really nice, makes the interior much brighter as you say, but dog, country living, and double deckers make that out for me! They had a pebble Grey model (looks really brown) with amber leather in the showroom and I really didn’t like that! Looked like a self tan gone awry ?. Someone will love it though, that’s the joy of choice isn’t it? Mrs B is still suggesting my choice is flawed, the terms ‘Tart’s Boudoir’ and ‘1980’s furniture shop’ have also been mentioned. Problem is, she, unlike me, has no patriotic affinity to red! ??????? Maybe it’s just a Welsh thing?! ?
Adaptive cruise is part of a £1500 odd package but I use motorways so infrequently that it doesn’t really come high up the list. Rox, if I could get into a car like your new one I certainly would! I’ve had hot hatches all my life (having to say goodbye to Focus ST soon, I love it but haven’t driven it for 18 months. Mrs Bowly hated it at first but loves it now. She takes it and leaves hers at home!), and I’ve had my fun in them too. Sensible has been forced on me unfortunately! I’ve had to develop a new love for a different type of car. I’m just about there. With my pipe. And slippers. ?
And Macca, ?. The first thing Mrs Bowly said when I expressed my desire for red seats was ‘ yeah, see how nice they look with bits of double decker smeared into them.’ She’s so mean. Clever and wise, but mean.
’Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?’
Apparently not, at least not in SUV form, not for the moment, and not without likely significant extra financial input!
So, off to the other ‘top of the list’ car and a trip to Volvo to test out an XC40.
In my case it was an R Design Pro D3 in thunder grey, and it was very nice indeed. Read on if you’re not bored by all the Volvo reviews lately ?. As so much has already been written (including the comprehensive BionicRusty OP, nice BTW!), I thought I’d just post the things I didn’t already know or that might not be obvious from pictures, followed by a conclusion and what we’ve decided to do. Obviously, the following is an opinion, and thank goodness we all have a different one of those!
– Those 20” alloys look better in real life, and that’s saying something.
– The thunder grey paint was easily my choice prior to going, and rapidly went to the bottom. It’s got a definite bluey tinge to it which none of the family liked.– Getting in the car was ok for me, but only with the seat pushed right back. For me at 5’10” I could then plonk my bum on the edge and follow with my legs. I couldn’t do it with the seat in my own driving position though. To be fair I think the car would have to be significantly larger to accommodate this, and the seat movement is easy especially when electric. Worth bearing in mind that only inscription pro spec has both front seats electric.
– The seats are very easy to find comfort in. We were out for 2 hrs and I still got out ok. Lumbar support is electric on all front seats and all models, and is really really good. Buttons for seat movement are on the side closest to the door and are easily reached and operated. We found that the nubuck seats (it feels like alcantara) were lovely to look at, great to sit in, but picked up every hair on us! With a dog and three cats this might present a problem with keeping it looking nice. We spent a few minutes picking them off before handing the car back ?.
– The glossy black trim around the centre console and the infotainment screen is just a fingerprint magnet. Ok, it looks pretty when untouched, but as soon as you do it’s smudge city. What’s wrong with a matt finish? Or a tiny bit more leather? I’d give up my free Volvo cleaning cloth for that.
– Ride quality is good over every surface, and could never be described as uncomfortable. I found that I wished it was a fraction less hard.
– Space in the back is great for 2, doubt 3 would like it much.
– The stereo in standard spec is really good. I’m not an audiophile but I like to play my tunes, and I like them loud. I was contemplating the Harmon Kardon upgrade but its not necessary unless you want bleeding ears. Smartphone integration was also on my list and now crossed off, the Bluetooth works really well without it, allowing access to all folders on my iPhone, and it skips forward and back like the phone controls do. I imagine the interface on Apple or Android would be nicer, but not £300 nicer. Also, the car has a great map display on the tft screen behind the steering wheel, and that’s disabled unless you use the Volvo sat nav. The sat nav is pretty good too, nice clear displays, easy to program, quick to respond.
– The controls are all integrated, bar the heated screens and drive modes. This looks awesome, but I so wish they’d left the climate control on buttons. It is impossible to use the touchscreen without looking as there’s no reference points to use to navigate your fingers. You can do it by voice, but that’s not intuitive to me at the moment.
– I really didn’t like the checkered flag design aluminium trim of the R Design, but loved the driftwood design on the Inscription (can you see where this is going!). The R design trim looked a bit cheap.
– The D3 engine isn’t one on my list, the AP is prohibitive, but just in case any of you are interested, the engine is punchy around town, initial acceleration is strong, but it gets laboured quite quickly. Joining the motorway wasn’t as comfortable an experience as I’d want with my own car. Once up to speed it was quiet and refined. Activating the ‘dynamic’ drive mode just made it noisier when holding the gear longer, it didn’t provide much extra punch. Being a diesel, I guess all of these traits are normal.
So, we arrived back at the dealer with mixed feelings. Most of the car we loved, but there were definitely some niggles that might prove very annoying over 3 yrs, and we said as such. The dealer then played his trump and showed us his stock of already purchased cars waiting for delivery. And there it was, an Inscription Pro B4P in Glacier Silver, with a red oxide leather interior. Yep, that’s all the boxes having a tick then. It just looked right, the alloys aren’t as massive but they look great, and nicer in real life than photos, the chrome trim on the windows and grille melt into the colour of the car, and that colour! As BionicRusty says in his OP, it just pops out at you. Combine that with non hairy leather seats (oh that red is so nice), both front seats powered, front and rear parking sensors, and a rear view camera, and it’s a done deal. We go back next Wednesday to place the order, no deposit needed, delivery forecast to be mid to late October based on ordering next week. No discount at all though, and not a sniff that any would be forthcoming. I’m ok with that though, it’s a great deal when compared to other scheme cars anyway. All I have to do now is persuade Mrs Bowly that she does like red seats, and that black is boring. Interestingly, the black and cream seats come with cream coloured headlining, whereas the red and amber have a charcoal liner. Strange but true.
Finally, I had the opportunity to see both MY20 and MY21 models right next to each other. It’s fair to say that Volvo haven’t improved the specifications. The new models are electronically limited to 112mph (now I’m not allowed I want to do 113!), miss off the model script on the rear upper panel, the badges denoting model on the boot, the exhaust trim, the r design badge on the steering wheel, the model script on the seats, the flappy paddle shifters on auto models, the little plastic ticket holder on the windscreen, and a second proper key. This last one is bizarre, you get a main key, a service key which is orange, and a sports band type key. The latter two don’t work with the driver profile set ups, which is disappointing if you have power seats. I’ve never heard of a manufacturer only giving one proper key! Still, as I know about it pre decision, I know I can live with it.
I’m sure there’s loads I’ve left out, so please ask away and I’ll try and remember. Cheers
There is always a way through, it’s finding the path that takes the time. Knowing what you’re experiencing and how to define and combat it is so difficult when you have no personal experience to relate to and no way of adequately explaining where your thoughts lead you. It is good to read that you are on the path and making your way towards the exit, using the helping hands to guide you. Finding the pleasures in life, however big or small they might be, gives fortitude that aids the journey. In my case, I have always loved cars, so the chance to research and narrow down my choices has been a real boon when I’ve felt the need to divert my thought processes. A task that has now almost reached its conclusion. I’m going to start a new post about my experiences with Volvo, hopefully it won’t be too boring! And thank you all for your comments, all very helpful in keeping me on my path. Cheers
Isn’t it amazing, the power of positive reinforcement! Thanks Macca, your reply hits the nail right on the head. I’m sure I will adapt to the feeling in the same way I’ve had to adapt to a different personal circumstance, but it’s not an easy one. It really does help to know that these feelings are not unique though ?.
Thanks for the replies! To be honest this forum has already made me feel better about the situation that faces me, that’s why I’ve done a first in my life and joined it! And now I get to participate on occasion ?.
Thanks for the replies! Much appreciated ?. Yeah, I think it will always feel ‘odd’ parking where you wouldn’t normally park (although I’m quite looking forward to parking on double yellows ?). Rich, your experiences sound very familiar to me. I too am able to use sticks, I too am in my 40’s (just!), and I too live very rural. I haven’t experienced ‘going out’ very much at all recently, who has? And prior to that I was adjusting to my new life situation, and trying to gain some confidence back. But I imagine I will feel exactly as you have described.
I didn’t have to deal with a tribunal, although I would have if it had been necessary. Speak as you find, and knowing so many others haven’t, but I had no problem with DWP. I did go through the mandatory reconsideration process but the anomaly was really clear and they agreed. The only issue was the time, but I guess the current pandemic situation slowed that down. It took 9 months from initial phone call to final award letter. I’ve taken a while now to consider whether I should go down the Motability route, and have concluded that it makes sense. My current car has been brilliant and I’ll miss her, but there’s no way of getting in (or out if I ever did!) anymore, and the manual gearbox is not happening either. Faced with the prospect of having to change makes Motability a good choice. Hopefully tomorrow will go well! CheersI’d love to love the idea of a hybrid vehicle, but I just can’t get there. After years of using and being around electric forklift trucks I’m a fan of what electric drivetrains can achieve, but I can’t help but feel they’re a bit Betamax or HD-DVD. You can almost smell the obsolescence on them already. As the posts above reference, they don’t really make sense for most people, at least not in the way that IC engines or proper EV’s do. The people they most make sense to are the manufacturers. They need PHEV’s in the short term to avoid massive bills around non compliance of EU emission targets, and they can build them easily enough too. Same production line, same chassis, use an existing old spec IC engine, etc. There is much argument that a PHEV will actually be less beneficial to the environment, costing a higher carbon footprint initially, then relying on people being routined with their charging habits. If you have a proper EV you HAVE to charge it, even if it’s raining and you want a cup of tea after getting back home! If our mobile phones ran on a little fuel tank we kept in our pocket as well as battery power, I’m sure we wouldn’t be as habitual about charging them. And if you don’t charge a PHEV properly then you’re just lugging around a spare engine and being less efficient than an IC engined car. Sure, they’ll be some who have the discipline for it, and also have the home environment that allows easy charging, have the balls to run the risk of it depreciating like a lead balloon, and also travel less than 30 miles a day. But, that’s not me. And I bet it’s not most people either.
Nope, it’s good old IC engines for me this time around.
Here’s another scenario for you to consider, in fact it’s my personal situation right now.
I have a 4 1/2 yr old Ford Focus ST, which I’ve owned from new and which has been awesome. It was MOT’ed in February, with advisories on brakes all round and tyres all round. To be fair it owes me no favours with either, for a performance car it’s been very economical with parts. It also needs a service. This would amount to somewhere in the region of £1000 to sort out, and that’s with budget tyres. Combine that with the approximate £100 a month it’s still losing in depreciation, the car insurance at £55 a month, the car tax at £55 a month, and the AA cover at £24, and I have an expenditure of £234 per month, and that’s without any finance owing. Put those figures up against the lease through Motability of a brand new, high spec car, with no ownership worries or further bills to pay and it doesn’t take long to decide which way works out better. It doesn’t help the Ford cause that I can no longer get in it either! ?
Hi Ashley,
I think it’s more down to your own preferences, as with all things in life. Forgetting Motability for a moment, you can choose to purchase a reasonable second hand car for your money, or you can use similar amounts to facilitate a much newer or nicer spec car via a PCP. With this latter method you get a nicer car but end up constantly paying a monthly fee, hardly anybody buys the car at the end, they just have a new one and carry on paying. That’s what that form of vehicle credit is for after all. Now bring Motability back in and put it up against PCP finance, and there are very few circumstances where choosing the private route will end up being the cheapest option, especially considering the whole package aspect of servicing, tyres, insurance, mileage allowance, etc. And all of that is assuming you have the correct credit scores to achieve decent private interest rates.
For me, the choice of cars, the lack of hassle around maintenance, and the overall cost of ownership, dictates that Motability is the way to go.
Hello Timmy,
After many months of lurking on this site whilst considering the best course of action to facilitate the mobility part of my particular disability, I have now joined just to allow comment on this post.
Firstly, it would be easy to take shots at this post, so I think you need to clarify your situation to allow the educated and informed forum members to help you better. For example, assuming your particular disability is physical based on your difficulty getting in and out of a regularly sized car, did you not try the car first? Did you have a test drive where you examined your ability to live with this vehicle for 3 years rather than look at the style and badge kudos? Did you not sign to say you agreed that this vehicle satisfied your needs? If you weren’t given the opportunity to test drive the car or sign to say it was ok then you have cause for complaint, to both the dealer and Motability.
If, however, you did have these opportunities and still signed up for an unsuitable vehicle then you should expect the financial or physical impact on you to be significant. We all make mistakes, but you have to pay when you do, and to expect the business who supplied you in good faith to absorb the cost is both unfair and unrealistic. Also, and I think this is my main point, most Mobility customers experience some degree of difficulty with motor retailers, and it feels like a fair proportion of this is down to the ability to refuse the sale for any reason, at the last moment. This gives a great deal of power, one that retail customers don’t have in anything like the same way, but with that comes the responsibility to not abuse that system. To do so is to endanger the relationship that the motor industry has with Motability customers, and cause further distress to your peer group in the future.
I’m sure your particular situation has more to it than is evident, at least I hope it does. For what it’s worth, I hope you find recourse, either through mediation with the various parties, or by acceptance that you need to accommodate some discomfort to facilitate a Mercedes Benz. I just hope that recourse doesn’t reflect on those next in line.
