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Unfortunately, it’s articles like this one in Auto Express that cause the negativity towards Motability. They purely mention the £749 AP as if that’s all it costs, completely overlooking the far more substantial cost of the sacrificed benefits. If the article more correctly said “the lower advance payment of £749 means that it will now cost a Motability customer £13,000 over 3 years to lease the car” people would be far more enlightened as to the true cost of leasing and much of the jealousy and hostility would disappear.
The luxury car tax makes no difference to Motability as they are exempt from it, just as they are exempt from the regular car tax and first year ‘showroom tax’. Private buyers with higher rate mobility component are exempt from all elements of these taxes as well.
Trying to figure out Rachel from Accounts thinking is impossible, but as she is all for pandering to poorly thought out sound bites, it would appear that having a £55k Hyundai on your drive wouldn’t bother the neighbours, but a £30k BMW would 🤔 Sadly, I don’t think that the pointless removal of the premium brands will be subject to one of the countless government u-turns
@Glos Guy Thanks for correcting and making it more clearer, first time on motability, got a little bit more to learn.
No worries @Jay We are all here to help each other through the ever changing minefield that is Motability!
@Jay Motability allow you to order a new car 3 months prior to lease end, BUT in the scenario that you describe (where the car arrives very quickly) you still cannot take delivery of it until your existing lease has expired. During this intervening period you can still cancel or ask the dealer to adjust the AP should it fall at a new quarter, as the contract doesn’t commence until the day you take delivery and enter your PIN.
Possibly some people may be better off paying the penalty to end their lease early to order the next car at the old prices before they rise later in the year? Especially for a car with a high AP!
Having discussed early termination with Motability earlier today, you have to have an acceptable reason for them to agree to it. I don’t think that would qualify!
Thanks @BigDave That’s extremely useful. Isn’t it incredible how antiquated and manual the systems of these organisations are? I guess that to modernise and computerise things, and bring them into the 21st Century, would reduce the head count needed, so they probably resist them!
At least I have a route map now and I shall probably start the ball rolling two months out to allow for the bureaucracy and competence levels!
Quick question – Once you are in possession of a certificate of entitlement, do you just have to show it each time that you change your car (and retain it), or do you have to surrender it in order to get the vehicle VED exempt and then apply for a new certificate each time? Thanks.
@jojo22 Did you post the above in the wrong thread? Motability haven’t done anything wrong! It’s Civil Service bureaucracy that I’m stuck with!
As it happens, I have called Motability this morning and the lady that I spoke to couldn’t have been more helpful. If their choice of cars was as good as their customer service we wouldn’t be leaving! Anyhow, she suggested my option 1 as @Peter(Original) suggested.
Apparently I have to pay a full year VED (£620) from when I ask them to remove the VED exemption from the Motability car, and as soon as I end the contract (on the day that I pick up the new private car) they will refund me (pro rata) all remaining full months. I’d far rather be on the hook for £50 a month for a few months than paying £5,490 on the new car and stressing over claiming it back! Also, as Motability deal with it, rather than the DVLA, I would be far more confident that it will be done properly and efficiently. The potential issue is that I’m still relying on the DWP processing the notice from Motability and agreeing to send through the Certificate of Entitlement, hence why I’ll probably make the change a couple of months before I get the new car.
I shall be relived when we have excited Motability and are back in control of these things again!
Thinking about it, we had a problem with our person hoist and the installer came to our house to rectify it.
UPDATE
I called the DWP PIP helpline this morning. They will not issue a ‘Certificate of Entitlement’ for VED exemption as we already have exemption on the Motability car, and you can only have it on one car. I explained that we would not end the Motability contract until the same day that we take delivery of the new (private) car, so how are we supposed to get the certificate in time? They couldn’t help on that one. I then tried to call DVLA to ask them, but it said that the minimum wait time was 45 minutes, so I hung up. Broken Britain exemplified!
I guess I have two options. Option 1. Call Motability a month or two before I take delivery and say that I will pay the VED (£50 a month) on the Motability car and hope that they do their admin, let DWP know, I can then get through to DWP to request a certificate, they agree (having hopefully been notified by Motability) and send us the certificate in time. Or, option 2, I pay the VED on the new car and then attempt to claim it back. That’s a big risk as the first year VED (showroom tax) on the car I’m buying is £5,490 so I don’t fancy handing that amount over in addition to the cost of the car and if, for some reason, I end up having to pay for even one month that’s over £450. Neither option is ideal.
I’ll speak to the dealer later, but any thoughts?
The adaptation issue isn’t a Motability problem. It’s either down to you ordering the wrong adaptation (if you didn’t specify that you needed the inline version), or the adaptations company fitting the wrong one (if you ordered the inline version and they fitted the standard version). That being said, you would expect the adaptations company to check that what they were fitting didn’t foul something as critical as a gear stick! I’d suggest that you call the adaptations company and explain the problem. Hopefully they will rectify it for you.
As for the issues with the car itself, that’s for the supplying dealer to resolve. You do seem to be exceptionally unlucky don’t you? My concern for you is that if these issues aren’t resolved to your satisfaction, and you request yet another early termination from Motability, I think that there’s a very good chance that they will terminate your access to the scheme. Early terminations are costly for the scheme and affect the prices that we all pay, so they have to draw the line somewhere.
Good luck and let us know how it works out.
It was indeed and looks like removed. I think they are working to introduce another button – “Cars Removed due to Public Pressure”.
😂 Another button could be “Cars available to Motability customers as private buyers don’t want them” 😂
But 99% of new cars have auto lights…. It’s not something I have seen in years and I have done 35k miles in the last 25 months so it’s not like I am not on the road in the dark! Maybe it’s a location thing.
Strange, because I see it regularly. Perhaps it’s just that I notice it and you don’t! As I said, some auto lights (including mine) can react later than I would want them to.
To be clear, I’m not talking about pitch darkness, but when lighting conditions are poor (dawn, dusk, fog, heavy rain etc), when auto headlights don’t always react and rear DRLs would be brilliant. I see no negative to that idea.
So now I know why I occasionally find myself behind someone who seems to keep braking for no apparent reason. I’d assumed that they were an apprehensive or poor driver 🤣
I don’t remember it but, then again, I don’t remember most things these days 😂
In all honesty, I rely totally on the superb (and much appreciated) work done by @wmcforum in providing daily updates on additions and deletions to the scheme.
@djkav Make sure that you don’t agree to pay for any options at the point of ordering. That way cancelling is simple and you can walk away with no hassle and no commitment. If you have paid for options the dealer still has to refund you, as the contract is between you and Motability Operations and doesn’t come into place until you accept the car using your PIN, (there is no enforceable contract between you and the dealer), but make sure that you do it before the car is built, as the dealer can then change the spec for another customer. Some forum members have had some hassle trying to get back pre paid options from arsey dealers but, with a bit of help from one or two of us on here, have eventually been successful.
you see the circles i go in round and round lol.
If you think that’s bad @mitch, I decided on which car I wanted fairly quickly, but have spent the last two weeks having four extended test drives, spanning seven days in total, in four versions of the same car but each with different engines!!!
Thankfully I have a very patient BMW salesperson who has known me for 10 years and goes out of their way to help, and never puts me under any pressure, even if I decide not to go ahead (as once happened when I had two different extended test drives in the iX1 20e and 30e when they first came on to Motability). This has been the same regardless of whether it’s been a Motability car or, as is the case this time, a private purchase.
I don’t think it follows that just because Motability prices will increase from Q3 that dealers will be pushing hard in Q2 and offering greater incentives. Several reasons;
Firstly, only one in every 12 Motability customers will be able to order in Q2 anyway (as there are 12 quarters during a 3 year lease).
Secondly, I don’t think that there will be a big drop in Motability customers in Q3. Again, only 1 in 12 will have a lease expiry in Q3 and, given the number of Motability customers who don’t have the up front funds for a deposit on a private vehicle, or who don’t have the confidence to run their own car, I should think that the overwhelming majority of customers will grumble about the increases but will just suck them up – or perhaps trade down to a smaller or lower spec model.
As a point of interest, I have been chatting this week to a few people in the motor trade and January has been a strong month, even at a major BMW dealership that is no longer able to take Motability orders. What is still a problem for them is the continuing low take up of EVs. The BMW dealership is only selling one in every five cars as an EV (which surprised me, given the huge range of them that they now sell) and the Dealer Principal of a major Ford group tells me they are only at one in four sales being an EV. Surprisingly, the announcement of the pence per mile charge hasn’t slowed sales any more, although I wasn’t surprised at his view that it’s only a matter of time before charges on EVs will equal the fuel duty that ICE car drivers pay, as a few of us have been saying that for a while.
Many thanks Peter. I’m glad that I asked. I shall call the DWP on Monday as we were never supplied with that certificate. They aren’t needed for Motability but we are buying privately so require one. Thankfully I won’t need it for quite a few months due to lead times, but better to request it now. Thanks again.
A strange article, as the final quote undermines the entire piece! However, with the current government (and PM) being so unpopular, as the next general election draws closer, we can expect even more U turns if their back benchers don’t like the policies!
@jojo22 If your motivation for leaving Motability would be to get a car that will never be available on the scheme (as is the case with me) then that’s one thing, but I wouldn’t let the issue about your wife driving the car be your primary motivation for leaving. As I have posted several times in response to similar comments (including this week), your wife is already allowed to use the Motability car for purposes that aren’t always for your direct benefit.
When we retired, and my wife could no longer drive safely, we needed to go down to one car. My preference was to hand back the Motability car and keep my private car, but whilst my private car was far nicer than the Motability car (it was a BMW 5 Series), it was a saloon and not as practical with the wheelchair. My wife also wanted a higher car and felt that we should stick with Motability. I decided that I’d call Motability and lay it on thick that most of the journeys would be without my wife and not for her direct benefit, so that I could say to my wife that we had to buy another (better) private car 😂 They said that it was fine. The wording was in place to avoid abuse (such as a adult child or grandchild keeping the car at their own house and using it as their own car, only visiting the Motability customer once a month). They completely understood that in the scenario where a couple living together only needs one car, the disabled persons partner will use the car for personal reasons.
I’ve had the same conversation with HMRC about our impending private VAT free purchase and they confirmed the same thing, even putting it in writing for me. Thankfully my wife is now of the same view as me that the Motability scheme is no longer for us, so her mobility element of her PIP will be going towards the private car instead.
I’m still on DLA and have been for almost 30-years now. I haven’t been reassessed for a good 10-years I would guess. I have recently turned 65 and I don’t even know what, if anything, changes once I reach retirement age next year?!?! I’m assuming DWP will write to me nearer the time? I’m hoping that once I reach retirement, I am still entitled to PIP or its equivalent and allowed to keep my car? Apologies for my ignorance.
My understanding is that as long as you have been entitled to the qualifying benefit for a Motability car prior to state retirement age, you will be able to retain it for life. You can’t qualify if your first successful claim is beyond state retirement age.
The only caveat to that is that the Timms review might suggest restricting access to the scheme for those with physical disabilities only, rather than mental health issues (as seems to be the call from most corners at present). However, as the equal treatment of mental health issues was only implemented a few years back, and you have been a recipient for almost 30 years, I’m guessing that you wouldn’t be affected even if that did happen.
Thanks @jojo22 Much appreciated.
I know not to hold out any hope from this government, but sadly the Conservatives and Reform UK seem to also have the disabled in their sights. This is one of the reasons why I’m biting the bullet and buying a private car now, even with 18 months to go on our Motability lease (I’ll do an early termination). I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the VAT & VED exemptions for private buyers get restricted in the future (price cap etc), which is why I’m going to fill my boots now whilst I can. Not that I am doing so, but you can even get full VAT relief on a Rolls Royce at present 😂
BTW I enjoyed reading your post about your new car search. You have a good way with words. My new car search was quite enlightening as well. Although I dodged the pretty young female receptionists at each dealership (curious that 🤔) with a cursory “I’m just looking around thanks” I was amazed that, given the price range of the cars that I was looking at, nobody approached me at the Porsche, Range Rover, Audi or Mercedes dealerships. Perhaps they thought that I didn’t look the part 😂 Their loss!
Thanks all. I thought as much, but always best to check.
@jojo22 It’s a private car purchase – nothing to do with Motability. There’s no question of my wife ever losing her entitlement as she is a full time wheelchair user and not even able to stand unaided, let alone walk. I suspect that there will be a light touch review at around 10 years, but that would just be an admin irritant rather than a cause of concern. I believe that one of the aims of the Timms review is that people such as my wife, whose condition will never improve but only worsen, shouldn’t need to even do that, but we shall see.A bit of AI searching confirms what I thought, that the current Santa Fe (which was an all new model, not a refresh) went on sale in the U.K. in April 2024 and deliveries commenced in Summer 2024. That makes sense, as when we went to collect our Tucson in August 2024 the dealership had just taken delivery of their first showroom model. Hyundai do their mid life refreshes much sooner than other manufacturers (2 years is very quick) and they are often substantial. The interior of the facelifted Tucson (that @kezo and I have) was like an all new car, rather than a refresh. The description of the Santa Fe refresh above makes me think that it’s going to look quirky (like some of the other current Hyundai’s), which is a shame, as I like the more conventional frontal styling of current Santa Fe.
Just to clear up this ‘luxury’ car thing, Audi, BMW and Mercedes are not Luxury brands. They are Premium brands. The Luxury segment covers brands like Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin etc. Premium brands have been removed from Motability. Luxury brands have never been part of the Motability offer, nor will they ever be!
One of our favourite seven-seat SUVs is getting a big midlife update later this year, with new images serving as concrete proof Hyundai is working on substantial changes for its Santa Fe. We’re yet to get a full scope of the upgrades, but they will include a fresh look outside, new tech inside and improved hybrid powertrain technology.
Good news if correct. I like the front of the Santa Fe and the side profile is OK, but the back end is awful IMHO. The light clusters are far too low. If they can sort that it could be a nice looking car. It reminds me of a previous generation Discovery.
The PHEV battery needs an upgrade. Our Tucson (with an identical battery and engine) struggles to get more than 30 miles out of it. The range vanishes very quickly on the motorway if you drive in the 70-80 mph range.
The petrol engine sounds strained and holds on to revs too long, which makes it sound unrefined. I would think that it would be inadequate for the heavier Santa Fe, so they really need to upgrade the engine as well.
