Help advise about Motability

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skdirect

Can someone advise me please on Motability cars?

I had a Renault Austral on March 1st 2024 on Motability and that had to be terminated within six months due to its reliability and the engine whining so badly. I paid an AP of £2,500 myself.

I then got an electric Volkswagen ID3 on October 10th on Motability and I paid an AP of £1700 and had to pay £1200 for a home charger as I couldn’t get the free charger. (Too long a story on that matter)

The suspension damping on the ID3 is awful, if you hit a bump in the road, the car bounces a few times and pitches all over the road. 

 The ID3 is a horrendous drive and shakes my spine. It scares me to drive as it just will not keep in a straight line on the motorway, and my confidence has been shot.

I’m a heavy mileage user the ID3 has covered 1,400 miles in my first 2 weeks. Normally I do around 400 miles a week and have had to do some long drives since delivery. 

I love being in the electric vehicle world as it’s so cheap to run and wouldn’t go back to a petrol car.

I did have an extensive test drive; however, I was nervous being in a unfamiliar car and my full concentration was on the different car driving. The dealer has also checked the suspension and reports there is no problem. The salesman has also informed me it hasn’t got an independent suspension system, that was an extra I didn’t have.

 My question is what would Motability say about this and what would my options be?

 Any advice would be warmly appreciated.

OverlyAnxious

Have you checked the tyre pressures? Often brand new cars have the tyres pumped up high at the factory. They are expected to lose pressure during transportation and don't want the tyres to go flat enough to cause permanent damage to their internal structure. The dealership should reduce the pressures to the correct level at the PDI check but they often don't.

Sadly it is difficult to find a salesperson who understands different suspension types. Independent rear suspension was one of my necessary criteria when choosing a new car around 4 years ago. But the sales people didn't know at various dealerships and I had to do my own research to find out which models got IRS and which just had twist beam. Sadly most small cars no longer have IRS. Even the Ford Focus dropped it in 2019 for the vast majority of models. The Golf is also twist beam for smaller engines.

I'm not sure what options Motability will offer, but I would say you'd have to try and find a more suitable vehicle before contacting them anyway, which isn't an easy task nowadays.