Motorbility cars available for under 25s

Rosehip73

My son is under 25 and a wheelchair user, we are trying to get a new car on the Motability scheme that meets his needs. This means that preferably it would need an electric boot and drivers seat, but there aren’t any on the scheme within the insurance allowance for his age! We are currently in the process of appeal to Motability and the insurance company to be able to go up an insurance group so he can get a suitable car. If he was 25 + it wouldn’t be an issue, but once you put in the filters necessary, it reduces the options available considerably.

Has anyone else had this problem? Any advice, thanks.

Albus_Scope

Hey there @Rosehip73 and welcome to the community.

I'm afraid I can't advise on your situation, as it's not something I've come across before.  But I'm going to move your post into a different category, so more people in the know will be able to see and hopefully offer some top advice. I hope that's ok? 

Rosehip73

Perfect, thank you Albus.

Albus_Scope

Not a problem at all @Rosehip73, if you wanted to stick around whilst waiting for a reply, our Coffee Lounge is a great place to have a chat, or we have our Games Lounge if you fancied a little quick game of something.  

66Mustang

Is a small WAV/van an option, as they I believe don't have insurance limitations.

Rosehip73

He has been used to driving a Ford Focus ST line X, and being a youngster, likes a bit of a smart car, but unfortunately it is no longer on the scheme, as insurance with Direct Line raised the insurance category on this vehicle, but he would like something similar 

CATP

Rosehip73 said:

He has been used to driving a Ford Focus ST line X, and being a youngster, likes a bit of a smart car, but unfortunately it is no longer on the scheme, as insurance with Direct Line raised the insurance category on this vehicle, but he would like something similar 

hi @Rosehip73 , i understand he wants a smart looking car, its a shame theyve took it off motability-and a strange one to,unless theyve took them off the site due to a big backlog of people waiting for one-they have done that with a ton of cars over 2023. im fairly into cars and i think your son had made a good choice with that version of the focus,i used to see some of them cruising near my parents house every week.

there might be some similar beefy cars available but with a higher advance payment?

if you can find any at all that may fit the bill,i forget the exactt rules but is he aware of the grant available to motability customers? if not, theres a form thatt can be filled in and it takes around 8 weeks to get a refusal,a partial or full award. i had been awarded full award for a WAV citroen berlingo and mines coming in late march- i know WAVs dont exactly scream horse power,but theyre very modern now-i went on a test drive when the guy from allied mobility came all the way up the country (from devon i think?) to show me it and its got aall the mod cons and music sounded fairly good on the speakers.

i can recomend go for a look at one i went to look at in the citroen garage, the citroen aircross C5. i forget the specific sub name for it but you can get the C5 aircross with all mod cons inc reverse camera, USB ports, easy access-electric open/close boot,and a average rigid or foldable manual wheelchair will fit in the boot without taking chairs down or wheels off,depending on size,i am sorry i have memory damage but i am pretty certain they can be driven by under 25s.

-the citroen guy told us that there may now be an added cost as citroen were possibly adding a hybrid engine at the time (he didnt know this back when we went,before november 2023) and you dont need the extra cost of a hybrid model,if all you do is small journeys as it doesnt allow the owner enough time to build up electricity.

-there are some fab colours in this aircross model and nice wheel trims but its not that high horse powered if you compare it to your sons previous model of the focus or another example of high horse power; the SEAT leon FR 1.5 hatchback (definitly not getting even a foldable wheelchair in the boot and they only let over 25s drive it,awesome car though).

Rosehip73

Hi CATP
Thanks for your advice, we have decided to borrow a Krypton R wheelchair, and trial it in a couple of cars that may be suitable, but are 1 higher insurance category allowed for his age, then make an appeal to Direct Line.
we are aware of the £750 you can get from motability towards a new car thank you.
Its going to be an expensive few months with a new wheelchair and car needed, so every little helps! 

poppy123456

The reason for the restrictions is because those that are under 25 are restricted to 120bhp or less. Citroen C5 aircross is 25 and over because the bhp is more than 120. 

In all honesty I've never heard of anyone that's challenged the decision for the restrictions. 

There's always less choice if you're under 25 but unfortunately, wanting something smarter doesn't really help.

If he needs an electric boot because of a wheelchair can they make adaptions to allowance for this, have you been to speak to a dealer? I don't mean adaptions as in allowing him to drive vehicles for 25 and over. 

Rosehip73

Good news to share,
We put in an appeal to Direct line and Motability to up the trim levels, which would increase the insurance category allowed for the Hyundai Kona so that he could get an electric boot and memory seat, and we won! 

We have now ordered the car my son needs! 

The dealer was so helpful, he spent hours on the phone going between Direct line and Motability, as although they had accepted the car, they then couldn’t find it on their system! 

After going round in circles, they finally did and we got there in the end! The whole experience was very stressful though! 

Thanks for listening 😊

Hannah_Alumni

Woohoo! That's great news @Rosehip73