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Motability Scheme Now Kaput?

MrHappy2

On the 1st October the latest quarterly Motability car scheme numbers were released and its pretty clear the scheme is now in a world of trouble. All premium vehicles have been removed and if one takes away the electric cars all that's left are 384 petrol cars. A far cry from the days when over 1000 petrol cars were available each quarter. Couple that with yet another hike in advance payments its looking increasingly likely the Daily Mail's campaign to have the Motability scheme permanently closed is gaining ever more traction.

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Comments

ChrisR777

Is there a reason you require a 'premium' car? Many full time workers can't afford such a vehicle.

MrHappy2

@ChrisR777 Where exactly in my original post did i say i require a premium car? I do not have nor do i desire a premium car so please refrain from making factually false accusations.

ChrisR777

Why mention premium cars then? Any old make will carry your wheelchair, as long as it has the correct dimensions.

If I had my way, there would be several sized hatchbacks and estates, also an adequately sized MPV for those who need to transport a wheelchair, and or need the extra height.

Rosie_Scope

I don't think we're at the point where the Motability scheme will be closed completely, but I can understand the worry behind that. There are certainly conversations happening over the affordability of the scheme in some places and whether it could be better managed so that it's sustainable for years to come.

There's a bit about recent changes on the Motability website here: Motability Scheme changes | Motability Scheme

Do you think any of the changes will affect you much @MrHappy2?

MrHappy2

@ChrisR777

I mentioned many things in my original post including advance payments, diminishing numbers of vehicles across the entirety of the scheme, the removal of premium vehicles, the substantial reduction in petrol vehicles, and the Daily Mail's relentless campaign to end the Motability scheme. You chose to highlight only my reference to premium vehicles and then you chose to falsely accuse me of requiring a premium vehicle.

Rosie_Scope

Hi all, please try to keep things civil here. Tone can be difficult to read through text and there might be disagreements or misunderstandings sometimes. Try to give each other the benefit of the doubt if you can as these things can easily escalate.

OverlyAnxious

It's not rich people complaining about premium cars on Motability. It's working class people who see others on benefits getting things for free that they could never afford while working multiple jobs and missing out on life with their families…

People who are actually rich can afford cars that have never been on the scheme…Bentley, Rolls, Maybach… They really aren't interested in someone with a blue badge driving a BMW.

ChrisR777

I wish I knew why some Motability customers are obsessed with driving premium cars? I think they should be damned grateful the scheme exists at all.

OverlyAnxious

I don't think those cars are particularly premium in all honesty. Nowadays the quality of all cars has declined. The ones on MB were generally smaller models and low spec as well. If people can afford the AP for a car, it doesn't make any difference to the price Motability pay, so why does it matter to anyone else if it's just about money?

I've even noticed they've removed the Audi A1…those are no different to a VW Polo. I find it weird that people obsess over a badge and assume any car with that badge must be 'premium'. Even BMW's aren't that premium nowadays, horrible cloth seats and ugly solid paintwork on the lower end models.

ChrisR777

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1153914#Comment_1153914

So their removal from the scheme is of no consequence? It's just a badge after all.

I remember when a Land Rover Duscovery and a Jaguar XJ could be leased, before they tightened things up. This was about 2007, the first time I leased a Motability Car (Vauxhall Astra - no advance payment).

The salesman told me that in his opinion, anyone who had ten grand to use as an advance payment, they should be buying their own car, and I agree.

If a person hasn't worked in decades, why should they get to cut about in a premium car, a car most working people can't afford?

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1153965#Comment_1153965

Partly correct. Where there are equivalent cars, it's no consequence to the people on MB. For example, the equivalent Skoda is better specced than an Audi nowadays.

But in some cases there aren't equivalent cars from other brands. Or the equivalent model is only EV for example, which doesn't work for people without access to charge at home. The idea of removing cars just based on badge doesn't make sense.

The consequence is actually to the brand - who loses out on a lot of new car sales, and therefore pays the UK government less tax. And the working class people who would have bought those cars second hand. Motability buys a huge number of new cars every year, they make a considerable contribution to the economy and the car market every year.

I disagree about the AP as well. Some people need larger cars, which inevitably cost more. For example, a parent with disabilities themself, and two kids with different disabilities. They need a car with a high seating position, large boot, automatic gearbox, space in the rear. That type of car costs more than a regular hatchback, and therefore has a higher AP. The highest AP's tend to be on WAVs, where even the cheapest one requires a £5k AP.

Personally, I've had a large number of different used cars over the years, because I struggled to find anything that met my medical needs and a quick test drive was never enough to know how it would be over a longer time. I didn't rule out any model just because of the badge on the front or the price when it was new. That seems like a bizarre way to decide which cars disabled people should be 'allowed' to me.

As for working class people not being able to afford the car they would like, they are right to be angry about that. Working doesn't pay nowadays. Everything costs too much and wages are too low in comparison. But that anger should be directed towards the government, not disabled people.

ChrisR777

I would encourage anyone who feels they are being victimised by the state, because they can no longer lease a BMW on Motability; I would encourage them to write to their MP, see how much public sympathy they can attract.

JW77

I wouldn't call it kaput.. EV's are cheaper to run, even without a home charger.
https://www.uswitch.com/electric-car/ev-charging/charging-ev-without-home-charger/

There as much misinformation/mythology out there about cars as there are as there is about 'those disabled scroungers'! Although people are entitled to their views on tech.
And personally 'The Daily Smell' while I don't read it, I do get the OP's point of view to some degree.
The changes are going to affect some new applicants thats almost certain.
The VAT on advance payments for one.
https://govtschemes.org/dwp-confirms-major-changes-to-the-motability-scheme-2026/
Both the DNS & BBC have covered this.

ChrisR777

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1156248#Comment_1156248

I think some of those who complain about no BMWs, they only play Into the hands of the Reform crowd, who would like nothing better than to close the Motability Scheme entirely.

I have heard that no other European country has a scheme that is comparable to Motability, so we need to appreciate what we have.

66Mustang

@OverlyAnxious I agree and think the fact that small cars with a "premium" badge have been removed while more expensive cars which carry a "budget" badge remain kind of indicate to me that it's about the signal that the badge gives off to the public, not about cutting costs to Motability

Rightly or wrongly the signal matters politically. Politicians do it right at the top level, I remember reading about a presidential Skoda that a head of a state ordered which cost several hundred thousand dollars; choosing a Skoda over a Mercedes made no impact on the cost of the vehicle, but the signals sent by having a more pedestrian brand were probably worth a lot to their public image

OverlyAnxious

I honestly can't believe this 'BMW badge' debate is still going. Car people know small BMW's aren't premium cars. It's only the public who know very little about modern cars that are basing everything on a badge…

Coincidentally, I was watching a video on social media just yesterday where a couple of car guys were making a semi-humorous video about which cars scream 'PIP'. Not one BMW was mentioned… They mentioned Seats and Kias and a few £0 AP superminis, tbh they were surprisingly accurate for what I see myself locally, but weren't in the slightest bothered about any publicly perceived badge premium.

There is a guy on my road with a BMW that's clearly on Motability… I haven't once thought I'd like to drive it, let alone spend four grand a year leasing it. Each to their own, I preferred a different make when comparing for my own needs…but I certainly didn't make that comparison based on the shape of the badge!

I also suspect the same general public who wanted to see 'premium' badges removed would also say that disabled people shouldn't be getting any additional 'free money' anyway. I'm really not sure we should be pandering to that type of prejudice.🤔

66Mustang

@OverlyAnxious I totally agree about brand image among car people and non-car people. I just suppose that, because most of the public are non car-people, a government that wants to appeal to the majority will do something economically insignificant but which sends the message that most people want to hear.

I can only assume the same thing is done in other sectors where I'm part of the ignorant majority and I go along with it because it "seems like the right thing to do"?

All that being said, I wonder if I can have a Mustang as my next Motability car? It's only a Ford, after all… 😏

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1156399#Comment_1156399

Not sure about a Mustang but you can still get a Capri! Ford have even called the top trim level 'Premium' on those…so they must be premium cars, right? 😁

Not sure I go along with much without educating myself on it a bit further. I would rather say 'I don't know' than insist I was right about something that I have limited knowledge on. I think that sort of ignorance is what really annoys me with this sort of thing. Ultimately I don't care whether someone can drive a BMW or not. What I do care about is the general public making (or at least pushing) decisions on things that they simply don't know enough about to make an informed choice.

ChrisR777

Some people have delusions of grandeur, even when in receipt of state benefits. The BMWs are gone, and that's all there is to it.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1156432#Comment_1156432

Sorry but I disagree. This isn't about the claimants. This is about the general public making decisions about claimants based on nothing more than a faulty perception. What next, they choose the brand of petrol you can put in the car? The brand of clothes you're allowed to wear? The brand of supermarket you're allowed to buy food at?