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The simple answer is yes, you can cancel. The dealer won’t be terribly happy, but the car was already built. It’s not as if it was a bespoke factory order to your specification.
If you are going to jump do so first thing tomorrow morning, as they may register it tomorrow ready for your collection on Wednesday, and that will really cause an issue, although you are still able to cancel right up until the point that you input your PIN on day of collection.
Also, you need to be aware that the dealer will have to cancel the order on the Motability system before any other dealer can allocate a car to you. Another forum member had an issue recently where the dealer deliberately delayed doing this as they were miffed. Ultimately, they must do this and Motability can intervene if necessary.
3 years is a long time to live with a car that you aren’t happy with, especially as Motability cars cost £13k plus AP just to lease. However, with all due respect (as I have sympathy with dealers when people cancel at the very last minute) you really do need to research thoroughly, including a decent (minimum 2 hour) unaccompanied test drive on all road types. If a dealer won’t play ball, try another, even if you don’t intend to order from them. Too many people make a major decision on a huge financial commitment of this nature based on a 30 minute accompanied test drive around a pre determined route, which is never going to give you a proper sense of whether the car is right for you.
Mitch has the advantage of driving very few miles, it means all fuel costs are relatively small. He also put in a deal of calculation based on all outcomes and was happy to go with the EV4. Last I was aware he was working with kezo for a home charging solution that’ll suit his needs, I believe that’ll help with any cost challenges he finds. It’s very difficult to simply state that charging away from home doesn’t work. Admittedly, things were much easier back when supermarkets and some car parks were offering free charging (I once managed Cornwall to Southampton for a long weekend and home again for no electric costs). If there’s solutions including charging at work or somewhere regularly visited at a discount, it’s not unaffordable.
I wasn’t directing my comments to @mitch. As you say, he does negligible mileage, so the issues that my nephew has faced won’t apply. Ultimately, you can make anything work if you want it to.
I am sorry but getting an EV without a home charger is going to cost you more per mile than a 40mpg petrol. I lived with a Megane EV for 8 months like this and at first it was all good as I collected it in spring. By winter time, it was costing me £45 to drive 150 miles! No need to tell you that I returned it ASAP. I just hope you have done your homework otherwise the stress and cost will grind you down like it did to me. I really don’t mean to sound so negative but I was exactly like you, full of optimism.
I thought of you this morning as I was chatting to my nephew who, as I’ve mentioned on here before, had an EV but had to rely solely on public charging. The novelty of public charging wore off quickly and he couldn’t wait for the lease to end. Sadly, it wasn’t a Motability car so he was stuck with it for 3 years.
He’s now gone back to a petrol car and tells me that, even with petrol prices as they are at present, his running costs have almost halved, and the range is almost 3 times what he was getting versus the real world range of his EV. He does quite regular long journeys so this has made a big difference to him. I’m sure that EV ranges have improved a lot since his EV was built, but he says he won’t go back to one until he has a house where he can charge at home.
@Rhodgie If the car had done a further 600 miles after your lease before they reported the damage, I’d be telling them to do one. The alleged damage probably occurred on a subsequent rental. It would be wise to get Motability on board and the proposed challenge from @kdwolf is an excellent start. Good luck. Let us know how it ends up.
Well my expectation from July is the because I ordered my vehicle before July I will not pay any vat on my advance payment. If they try to say anything I have alot of adaptations on my vehicle and I am a wheelchair user so I shouldn’t be paying vat on it either way. I will also refuse to pay it till it get sorted, I havent budgeted to pay an additional over £1300. The only reason I am able to pay this advance payment in the first place was a sale of my old car.
No need to worry. It sounds as though you will remain exempt from VAT on APs even for cars ordered after 1st July.
Good advice @MFillingham Amazingly, when we took delivery of our PHEV, the Hyundai dealer had not only fully charged it (which takes quite a while with a PHEV) but completely filled up the petrol tank as well. I was very impressed!
The bottom part of what I wrote was copied and pasted from the Motability website. Your Advance Payment will not change, no matter when you collect your car. Our price freeze means the price at the time you apply is locked.
Yes, the AP doesn’t change as the price freeze applies as normal but, being pedantic, VAT is a tax on top of an AP. In other words, if you order at £1,000 AP, Motability could argue that your AP has remained at £1,000 but you still have to pay £1,200, comprising £1,000 AP and £200 VAT. Only £1,000 goes to Motability as an AP, the remaining £200 is over and above as it’s a tax that goes to the government and not an AP.
In reality, VAT applies to the AP on all cars handed over from 1st July, even if ordered before, but the wording on the dealer portal does rather imply that Motability will front this cost, rather than the customer. It’s all a bit confusing and could easily be interpreted either way, but I think that customers will only have to pay the VAT on cars ordered after 1st July, with Motability paying the VAT on the APs of cars ordered before 1st July, but handed over on or after 1st July! My brain now hurts 😂
@belfast4 The info that I quoted is from the Motability dealer portal that has been published on here previously, but I will repeat below. It is confusing, as it states that the AP is guaranteed at the time you ordered (as I stated) but that the ‘Standard Rate’ of VAT will apply if the car is ordered before 1st July but delivered on or after 1st July, whereas the zero rate only applies to cars handed over before 1st July. The way it is written can be interpreted either way, but when they say that the standard rate applies that means it’s subject to 20% VAT. Of course, what they might mean is that Motability will cover that 20% themselves, but it’s not 100% clear, although reading it again I think you might be right.
My understanding that as long as the order placed before 1 July all the current rules of no VAT, 20,000 miles pa, etc. apply. Is it not the case?
If you order before 1st July, but handover is after 1st July, the following changes apply;
You will be liable to VAT on the AP that applied when you ordered, VAT on Early Termination fees & excess mileage fees (5p per mile becomes 6p) BUT you will still have 20,000 miles Pa mileage, the lower excess mileage rate (plus VAT), 8 tyres over 3 years and free overseas cover.
I recently went to look at a car and was told they wanted a non refundable £1,000 deposit as they were sick of people cancelling their order. I told them not for me then, why should a multi million pound company have a £1000 of my money in their bank for 6 months.
Dealers are allowed to ask for deposits but, as you rightly say, we are free to refuse and take our business elsewhere – as I would do! However, they can’t make any deposit non-refundable, as we don’t enter into a legally binding contract with them. Ultimately they would have to refund it if you cancel, but most people wouldn’t want the agro, so they achieve their objective by making the threat.
I am sorry but getting an EV without a home charger is going to cost you more per mile than a 40mpg petrol. I lived with a Megane EV for 8 months like this and at first it was all good as I collected it in spring. By winter time, it was costing me £45 to drive 150 miles! No need to tell you that I returned it ASAP. I just hope you have done your homework otherwise the stress and cost will grind you down like it did to me. I really don’t mean to sound so negative but I was exactly like you, full of optimism.
To be fair to Mitch, he did research it and many of us advised against getting an EV unless you can charge at home, for exactly the reasons you mention. My nephew had a mirror image experience to you (plus added irritations as he did regular longer journeys). Mitch is obviously confident that he can make it work as he does very little mileage, so won’t need to charge regularly, so hopefully it will work out for him. Thankfully, Motability are very good at allowing early terminations if things don’t work out as anticipated, as you found, so at least there is a safety net – something that you wouldn’t have if you bought an EV privately.
I’ll be 70 by the time the next renewal comes about in Apr 27 so private leasing is highly unlikely with only a pension income stream. As much as I would like to have the latest Beemer/Audi, I will quite gladly settle for any vehicle on the scheme with an affordable AP capable of towing my caravan. I only drive circa 8k annually, haven’t needed a tyre in 2 years (all still legal as per recent service), don’t drive abroad, only myself and wife as drivers, so the effect of new rules is minimal, apart from rising costs.
Like you, we are unaffected by the changes that take effect from 1st July. Our reason for leaving Motability is purely down to the fact that we can no longer get a car that we would be happy with through the scheme and we aren’t prepared to pay the huge costs of running a Motability car for something that would be a compromise. If you are happy with the limited choice then the scheme remains a viable option.
Away from the scheme I always buy rather than lease. We are only buying new due to qualifying for VAT exemption. If we didn’t qualify I’d buy a used car in a heartbeat.
Exactly the point I was trying to get across Elliot, that I can’t get the car I would like ie BMW. I loved my old X1 Xdrive and I would have liked the chance to try the electric version.
As I recall, we both had our X1’s at the same time and, like you, we loved it. If it’s any consolation, I had extended test drives in both the iX1 20e and iX1 30e and didn’t like them at all. They were a very different driving experience compared to the petrol models that we had, and not for the better. Yes, they are cheap to run, but that’s never my top priority when choosing a car. If BMW had remained on the scheme and the X1 23i had appeared, we would have happily stayed with Motability but alas…….😂
Can I cancel if dealership doesn’t deliver on time
Yes you can. You are not committed to the car until you enter your PIN on the day of collection although, personally, I don’t think it’s fair on the dealer to cancel once the car has been built (unless the car that arrives isn’t as ordered).
Quite a few forum members have cancelled due to delivery dates slipping, but you need to be confident that whatever you re order will come quicker, as you will go to the back of the queue again. Also, good things are often worth waiting for. I would never choose a car just because I can get it quickly!
The only thing that amazes me is that you managed to talk to someone at DVLA, they must have improved something because 6 months ago I couldn’t get anywhere near to talking to someone there about removing a Code 20 (adaptions to brakes) from my licence. It’s been removed now but only by contacting their medical department by snail mail that on average took about 4 months toing and froing all told.
The number that I have called (and obtained a human each time) is;
DVLA Helpline 0800-1900 (Sat 0800-1400) 0300 790 6802
Hyundai take bings and bings to the extreme. Even when I mute the ones that I can (which you have to do every time that you start the car) the car still bings and bongs for all sorts of reasons – not all of which are even apparent!
The BMW that I am buying was blissful silence in comparison to the Hyundai. Whereas I mute the speed warnings in the Hyundai I will leave them on in the BMW, as there are less bings each time it sounds and they are a much quieter and a far less irritating tone. I’m sure that there are other manufacturers available through Motability who are more in line with BMWs approach than the ‘nanny state’ Hyundai’s 😂
Sorry @Azzy I forgot to answer your question. If you do 500 miles a week and your car is 3 years old, you must already be up to around 70k miles? If so, I’d think that you’d want to renew the car?
The lower mileage limits from 1st July and, more importantly, the punitive 25p per mile surcharge for additional mileage, would surely make a Motability car uneconomical for you? If so, I’d either be looking to ditch Motability ASAP (if you are able to) or, if you are tied to Motability, change now and at least have 3 more years before you need to look at options away from Motability.
As for car type, given your high mileage, I’d personally look at either an EV with a good real world (as opposed to claimed) range – but only if you can charge at home – or a diesel. However, the choice of the latter through Motability is dire.
@Glos Guy The difference between our processes is I needed Motability to inform DWP that I no longer had the Motability car before they would issue the Statement of Entitlement. You need the DVLA to inform or show the DWP she is not claiming VED exemption on a vehicle, so they will issue a Statement of Entitlement for your new car. I have check “is my car taxed” on the DVLA website, and it shows my car last change of V5 as the 1st April, car first registered 4th March. So you could check your Motability cars last change of the V5 to see its status. Don’t know if this will help.
The ‘check if a car is taxed’ .Gov website showed that DVLA altered the tax renewal date after 2 weeks, which told me that they’d processed it. However, when I called DVLA to ask how long it would take for them to send the new V5 to Motability, they told me that this can take up to another 4 weeks and until then their system wouldn’t be fully updated, due to the levels of fraud they experience and the checks that they have to go through. I could sort of understand this if I was exempting a car for the first time, but I’ve given them money that they weren’t expecting. Utter nonsense.
I then called DWP in the vague hope that they might issue the Certificate of Entitlement now, but the person said that they will only issue one when we no longer have the Motability car. I said that this must be incorrect, as many people have a Motability car which they pay the VED on because they use their exemption on a private car, but it was a case of ‘computer says no’. BrokenBritain.com
I’m going to call DWP every week from now on in the hope that they can see that the DVLA have updated their system and that they will then issue the certificate. As I understand it, once we are finally rid of the Motability car things will become very straightforward every time we change a car in the future, but all this kerfuffle would make me think twice about ever rejoining Motability.
@Azzy I currently have a Tucson Ultimate PHEV. It’s incredibly well equipped, but dull as hell to drive. I also don’t enjoy driving it because of Hyundai’s OTT implementation of all the warning and message bings and bongs, which drive me demented. Other manufacturers implement these things in a less obtrusive way. As @kezo says, when the very limited EV range is depleted, it’s an uneconomical car. I haven’t been convinced by the whole PHEV experience over the last 2 years. It’s a faff having to charge it after every single use and if I add the charging costs to the petrol it costs more per mile than the 2.0i petrol BMW X1 4WD Auto that we had before – which didn’t need charging!
@chastw Interesting to hear your experience. The timeline that you experienced fits with what Motability told me used to happen, but they informed me that what used to take 5-7 days is currently taking the DVLA 4-6 weeks.
I know that the worst case scenario is that I pay the VED in order to take delivery of the car and then change the taxation class afterwards, just as you did, and claim a refund but there’s a big problem with that. The first year VED on my new car is an eye watering £5,690 which I’d have to pay in addition to the cost of the car, so even after a pro-rata refund I’d still end up out of pocket by £474 per month that I shouldn’t have to pay. This is why I started paying the VED on the Motability car from 1st May, when the delivery date on my new car was the end of July, in order to give me plenty of time. The delivery date has now come forward to the end of June, which has narrowed my window by a month!
@kezo I’m not at all surprised to hear that. When discussing the early termination, Motability told me that my wife would start receiving the additional PIP payments from the week after we hand the car back. Yeah, right. That’s never going to happen! We are less worried about that aspect though, as it’s just going into a savings account to build up a fund to cover tyres etc on the new car, which I hope not to need during the first year 🤞
If we still haven’t got the ‘Certificate of Entitlement’ by the time the new car is ready for collection, I’m going to chance my arm with my wife’s PIP ‘ongoing’ award letter and the letter from Motability confirming that the disabled exemption has been removed from their car.
Oddly, the VAT exemption aspect is a dead simple two page self-declaration form that I have printed off from the net and will take me just a few minutes to complete, yet getting the VED exemption, which is worth a lot less, is a nightmare in comparison! This country is nuts 🙄
@Glos Guy When you get the certificate of entitlement the instructions are to write down your reg number in black ink in the top right of the certificate. And yes, the image that @kezo posted is what I have. As I said in my post, they sent me 2 certificates at the same time back in 2021 and I only have used one of them . The 2nd one is unused and that’s the one I’m thinking of using as opposed to asking them for a new one. Going by what you said it’s probably best I wait a few weeks until DWP finally update their system and then apply to change my tax on new car. Can’t see that I need bothering to get a fresh certificate as it will only be exactly the same as @kezo shows in his picture. For all the details on putting disabled tax on a car whether new or used it’s all set out at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67eb99310678ace40a7f27be/ins216-how-to-apply-for-free-disabled-tax.pdf
Ah, I see. Many thanks for clarifying. As I’m buying new, all I need to do is hand the Certificate of Exemption to the supplying dealer. Dead easy – well, when I eventually get hold of the ruddy thing it will be. That, sadly, is not so easy 😂
You need a new certificate if you change vehicle or the registered keeper changes, as it normally gets stamped by main post office to “x” vehicle.
As we are buying a brand new car we don’t use the post office. The supplying dealer processes it with DVLA. As it’s a private car, I’m hoping that we get to keep the certificate so that we can use it next time. Either way, I’m hoping that all the hassle this time is purely down to the rigmarole of removing the VED exemption from a Motability car and DWPs refusal to issue a certificate until that has fully run its course. In future it should be much easier 🤞
Thanks @kezo That’s really useful. As I thought, it’s just confirmation about the benefit recipient and their eligibility for VED exemption. No reg number. @UncJ what kezo has just posted is what you need. Maybe you have something different confirming that a previous car was exempt? That might be different and may not be what you need.
As for timescales, I think (and hope) that I’m still OK as the latest that DVLA and DWP should get their act together is mid June and my car is due end June. However, neither seem to be very competent so anything is possible. I just don’t want to have to pay the ginormous first year VED and then claim a refund. Even if I cop for just one month it’s £475 😰
