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Well was ready to sign on the dotted line for an explorer (waiting conformation if a hoist could be fitted or not)only to be told it had been pulled from the scheme the day before, fast forward a a couple of weeks and its back on with a massive AP jump, Enyaq was another possibility but the AP on that has gone through the roof.
Very little choice for sensible money if you require a hoist friendly vehicle, automatic that can be fitted with a flip accelerator pedal.
Extended the lease and will keep looking.
I think when answering this question you need to look at from both the perspective of those claiming it and those that in the main pay for it.
Motability was originally mainly for those people who with life changing mobility problems hence the the blue invacar, thankfully times have moved on and better vehicles have become avialable however so has the eligabilty for PIP and hence the the number of people that have access to the motability scheme.
Many people who have life changing mobility issues generally have requirements such as automatic transmission and something big enough to fit a hoist and enough boot space to accomodate various mobilty devices and its almost immposible to find a vehicle now that fits without a 4 figure up front payment especially when the cost of adaptions are added,this is especially the case for claimants that have had conditions from birth and as such have not or are no longer able to work and rely on benefits who find it hard to save the money even with assistance.
So yes I believe the system is no longer fit for purpose when those with the greatest need of mobility vehicles are increasingly have to pay more as percentage to stay mobile.
I can only comment on my personell experience of living with somebody with chronic spinal issues who uses a powered mobility device and who still goes to out work everyday and have seen the choice, avialability and cost continually rising to the point where its debatable on wether its more cost effective for the mileage to lease or buy outright.
As for the general public it is the perception of many that its easy to get a ‘free’ car all you need is a phoney limp or pretend your child has ADHD etc to qualify for PIP and recieve a lovely brand new free car the ‘likes of which us workers could never afford’ is a usual comment and to be honest when 20% of new car registrations in the UK and a whopping nearly 50% in N.I and only 10% of all motability vehicles actually have one or more adaptions fitted you can see how those with no or limited knowledge of the system end up thinking that PIP has become a con and joke and why many politicians especially from the right have jumped on the motability bashing bandwagon, despite the best efforts of many of us to educate them inline the tide is running against us.
If someone were to loose their free perscription entitlement (a) what would happen to those the take medication to keep them alive (b) by removing their free perscription, surely it would mean the claimant would see theit condition worsened. By doing this it will either kill the claimant or delay getting them back into work, due to an increase in pain from not having any medication. Is this even legal!
Exactly its just electioneering, I’ve lost count of the amount of times candidates have turned up for work sent either from the Job centre or agency that are have been sanctioned only for them to stay long enough to satisfy the terms of the sanction (ie turn up for work for at least 4 hrs etc) then dissapear never to be seen again or show absolutely no interest in anything and are not asked to come back.
Hi I assume you have already confirmed with your dealer that the hoist fit the vehicle?
The reason I ask is that sometimes a hoist that fits perfectly in a ICE only vehicle may not fit in thr Hybrid / electric version due to the location of the battery pack / motors etc.
I was in our local MG dealer the other week and had a look a the MG4 X power that was fitted with a rear wiper.
As always it comes down to preference, does the vehicle do what you need it do, after the initial excitement (for want of a better word) of the initial test drive and purchase is it a vehicle you can live with on daily basis.
I had a quick look at one the other day and was quite impressed (not sure if I was impressed enough to buy one though its one on the list for the possible for a test drive), feels and looks well enough put together, plenty of room inside and a big enough boot for our mobility gear.
Hi had ours since November, main attraction was the compartively low ‘AP’ compared to similiar sized and equipped SUV’s as well as the dealership.
Pro’s
Exceptionally well equiped for the price, has all the driver aids that helps the wife blind spot, collision warning, adaptive cruise, rear camera, leather heated electric seats also came with full glass pan roof and tinted windows.
Big roomy interior, boot not as big as might think though you can make more space by taking the false floor panel out, its big enough to fit a electric hoist for a motorised wheelchair.
Was quite surprised by the overall build quality and the interior which feels more premium brand than economy brand.
Ours is the DCT which goes well enough car handles and rides quite well, I have read some comments about lag on DCT gearbox nothing I have noted.
Cons
We have encountered some elecrtical gremlins such as every now and agian the electric tailgate stops half way shut, the info system can be laggy and has rebooted a couple of times when driving, also dont like the way all the heater controls are on the touch screen makes it awkward changing the settings while driving.
Fuel consumption is not the best either, not really an issue for us as the wife doesn’t do that many miles.
I personally just make sure all the removable interior items and accesorries that came with the vehicle are present ansd that all the rubbish is removed from the interior, though its not much as I tend to keep the interior vehicle clean anyhow.
Exterior if its dirty its dirty I am not to bothered especially given how the weather can change so quickly and to be honest there’s nothing more a vehicle inspector likes more than a nice shiny vehicle to inspect as you can clearly see any scratches and dents etc.
The vehicle once handed over will be shipped to a refurb centre and washed and valated again so I dont really see the point in washing and cleaning it throughly before handing it back but each to there own.
Always best to check with your adapter first.
Never had a problem with the left foot accelerator on any vehicle we have had, though depends on the vehicle if you can fit a flip pedal or the removable plate type pedal.
I sometime think were our own worst enemy and It does make me cringe a bit when I see the vast majority of threads in this forum about how wonderful EV’s are and how much cheaper they are to run and everyone else is a mug for not getting a no risk of deprecation EV on Motability while those who work hard and unable to afford anything but an old diesel car get penalised for driving those cars to their work. I can imagine there feelings as they struggle to get to work and stumble on this forum. Oh no, I hope I haven’t killed this forum.
Don’t know much about the NHS system other than my daughter is an NHS nurse who does local community work now after giving up her post on the central city oncology ward because the council introduce residential parking permit system so could not park at work. Anyway I pointed out to her about a year or so ago about the NHS leasing system (after see this subject before in this forum) and that she or any of her work mates who knew hardly anything about it but after sussing it out she settled for buying her own car because it was cheaper, much like Motability I suppose as its cheaper to buy your own car too than to have one on the scheme, that is of course, if you can afford the upfront cost and your not renewing every 3 years.I concour
Me too V/X dealers un my local area be it E/H or Bristol Street were shocking.
You couldn’t get parked at the E/H dealership even at 8 in the morning, no spaces cars parked within inches of each other , found oil dripping on the drive thought the lazy tech hadn’t cleaned the filter change oil residue but found that the entire undertray was missing, apparently removed as part of recall asked for it back told I couldn’t have it as it had been destroyed would have been nice to have been informed.
Tried another one only to find upon picking the vehicle up there was loose tobacco, a pair of car keys and lighter on the drivers seat apparently the valeter had lost these earlier and had been looking for them! Got half way down the road noticed the steering wheel was at least 90′ out and the airbag light illuminated!
Picked the sons car up from B/S after it had had an MOT and full service, drove it home parked it up but didnt leave it in park noticed the hand brake had a lot of travel on it, started to get out and the bloody thing started to roll back put it on a jack and found that the handbrake was not holding at all, phoned straight back but unfortunately with it being a bank holiday weekend no one from the workshop would be avialable until the Tuesday so bring it back then!
One of the reasons we went with the MG was that I couldn’t fualt the customer service we have had from the dealer when it was a Mitsubishi franchise.
The rule of thum is that you usually get better service from the smaller franchised dealers than the large groups, as staff are usually retained longer and have an ehtos, many of the large dealer groups rotate managers regulary while everytime you go in all the sales people have changed.
I used to work for a small independent franchised dealer many moons ago and can state that in general the customer service was outstanding in all aspects, it was quite a shock to the system when as a customer I started to have interactions with other delaerships.
I had such a appaling customer service from all the V/X dealership in my area of the NE that I ended up taking the vehicle to a smaller independant dealership up towards the borders an hr away.
Your not even guaranteed good service from the premium brands have experienced terrible service from Alfa.Merc and BMW dealers whicle I have had excellent service from Citroen, MG and Fiat delears the factor in all was that the good service was provided by smaller dealer groups and the bad was nearly always from the larger delear groups and I can only see the situation getting worse.
Unsurprisingly there is still a great deal of reluctence among private buyers when it comes to EV’s be the main reasons I would think being range anxiety and charging facilities especially if you can not charge at home, but the biggest issue is still the cost.
EV’s as someone as already stated make great sense for company’s as EV price can be offset against tax and charges can be fitted with substantial grants towards the instalation costs, for most employees its a no brainer B.I.K on a 40k EV works out at around £200 a yr substantially cheaper than Hybrid or ICE vehicle.
VW’s woes dont surprise me as they have lived on there reputation far to long, overpriced compared to many cheaper better alternatives.
Most cars have teething troubles though it would seem MG’s have quite a lot.
We have a MGHS which luckily has minor issues such as every now and again the electric boot stops half way or the info mat system freezes reboots.
Our local dealer also used to be Mitsubishi (our last vehicle was a Outlander) now MG and we found them to be excellent one of the reasons we went for the HS, they have been very good also in regars to the MG though we have not had it back yet with any issues will see what happens by the time of the first service.
I did however get the impression talking with various people that MG motor doe things differently and there are a lot of unhappy owners on the forums that cannot get there car repaired quickly and efficiently which does worry me as I was considering purchasing a MG4 privately.
MG’s have a 7 yr 80k warranty which should cover most things and I would be very annoyed if I was asked to pay £120 up front for a diagnostic check on something that turned out to be a warranty issue, it should be the other way around it always was when I worked in the industry.
Someone mentioned dealer servicing for the warranty, since the block exemption rules you no longer need to have the vehicle serviced by the dealer network but can take the vehicle to any reputable garage as long as long OEM or equivalent parts are used, many people prefer to use the franchised dealer for peace of mind.
Not sure how they do it now but that was the case some years ago.
Ex mobility vehicles would be brought to a refurb centre and graded upon arrival, those vehicles requiring anything more than minor cosmetic work would be shipped of the the auctions, while the others would be refurbed if required and when ready the detials and photgraphs would be uploaded on to site where dealers bidded agianst each other.
We have 4 Cupra Born’s where I work, being in the market for a second vehicle I have had a good look at them and have drove them a few times, I have also had a good look at the MG4 includign a test drive and while I think the Cupra is probably the better car overall theres not to much in it, however considering the difference in AP the MG is the far better proposition inless there is a specific reason to go for the Born.
Megane looks really nice, Renault have been in the EV game a while so it be a good vehicle, the main issues historically for Renaults was poor build quality.
Hi Kezo, tbh its always fustrating when we go to buy a vehicle with the VAT exemption, as the majority of dealer reps, even the mobility specialists dont ahve a clue.
The screen shot looks like an opinion on a forum, maybe the govt ran an official affinity scheme at one point and you couldn’t apply both who knows, the MG offer got my wifes interest as its was an EV, though at this point we are not decided on what vehicle we will get and to be fair most of these offers are based on the RRP of the vehicle and you can probably get a better discounts by haggling etc.
I think we will do what I have always done in that once we have decided on the shortlist of vehicles spend a weekend towards the end of the month visiting various showrooms and see what deals can be done.
Hi Kezo, thanks for your input would it be possible to provide a link that states you cannot claim VAT relief along with a manufacturers offer in this case MG Affinity.
I was under the immpression the MG Affinity scheme is MG’s own promotional scheme for blue light workers and families etc, the only restrictions in the terms and conditions I can see is that it cannot be used in conjunction with any other MG UK offers.
We have purchased a number of vehicles with the VAT exemption over the years and any deals or price discounts I have managed to negotiate on the vehicle have had nothing to do with the VAT exemption which has always been removed once the sale price has been agreed between myself and the supplying dealer.
What clouds the issue further is after speaking to another MG dealer who when asked siad that as long as all the crtieria for the VAT exemption are met the VAT exemption would be applied to the affinity price as the affinity pffer is completely seperate from the VAT exemption.
If the health centre was shut then you cannot be in breach on the implied contract or enter your detials on the tablet.
I would appeal with the main defense being that I had been advised by the NHS etc park in that area as the as it was the closest avialble parking avialable for the medical emergency, also mention that the health centre was closed on the day in question and so I could not use the tablet in the health centre etc etc.
