Is Mobility Car Worth It ?

positivitygoing1

My predicament is my car is old it's 2007 and it needs everything , it's done 127k miles , I live in a small village in the middle of nowhere and it's 30 miles to Tesco ! ,

I've never had a mobility car before because I've never been awarded enhanced before ,

Do they want deposits of you ? And does anyone know how long it takes to get one ? 

At the moment my car is going to need a clutch really soon , that's £600 , a service £150 and other things which im looking at £1000 and as the car has done 127k already is it worth it ,

Any help with anyone who has had experiences with mobility cars I'd really appreciate it , people's different views 

Thank you 

OverlyAnxious

I'd definitely say it's worth it!  Sadly I don't qualify and haven't been able to find another deal that comes anywhere near Motability for a 3 year old car, let alone the brand new one you'd get!  And that's without all the maintenance and servicing that Motability cover as well.  My Nan had Motability cars which were fantastic for her needs.

If you only want a small, cheaper model, you often don't have to pay a deposit.  Large models, automatics, etc do require a deposit.

Time to get one again depends on what you choose.  If you buy a ready built showroom model with no adaptions you could have it within a week!  

You can look on the Motability website to see what cars are available and at what cost.  Or if you already know what you want, you can now go into showrooms again while following social distancing rules.

positivitygoing1

Thank you overyanxious , 
I've never qualified for one but with my health gone so bad , and I was shocked the assessor wrote what I told her but obviously the medical evidence helped her choice , 

She has only put it for 18 months (my award) , but the stress on having a car as old as mine I'm always thinking "I hope the car makes this trip" ,

Do you get one that's brand new or a few years older ? 

Thank you for replying 

OverlyAnxious

positivitygoing1 said:

Do you get one that's brand new or a few years older ? 

You can only have brand new cars on the Motability scheme so they're all factory fresh!   

You need to have 12 months left on your award to qualify.  So if you only got an 18 month award, best to get looking as soon as you can!  The downside is that you could lose the car if you lose PIP at the next review, but personally I'd try to ignore that for and just enjoy it for now.

Here is the Motability website.  It looks like Motability are closed until July 1st but there's nothing to stop you looking around before that.  

https://www.motability.co.uk/products/search/cars/?subType=1&originalTotalRows=1948&allowance_type=PIP&Find=

66Mustang

A lot of people say it is cheaper to keep the money and run an older car yourself but I disagree as I believe they are ignoring some of the costs incurred with an older car such as repair costs, or maybe they just got lucky and their old car didn't need any repairs. I think a Motability car is well worth getting.

Being a bit of an accountant I work out the average cost per mile of my vehicles as I like to know exactly what they are costing me. My old 2002 Mini Cooper cost me £0.36 a mile for everything - fuel, insurance, repairs, etc. My current Motability car costs me £0.37 a mile for everything - i.e. the lease and the fuel. 1p a mile more to have a brand new car with no worries about breaking down seems very worthwhile to me!

positivitygoing1

That's really helpful thank you all , 

Do you just walk into a "Ford" , "Vauxhall" garage and ask for it , 
Or is just one garage that does it ? 

Sorry I just don't have a clue how it works 
Thanks again 

positivitygoing1

I've just looked at the website and it says on them "length of lease" 3 years but my award is 18 months ? 

katho31

hi @positivitygoing1, in my own experience, i had a motability car for almost 28 years, the car is new, lots of dealerships have them, lookers, ford, middlehurst, chapel house just a few of the ones i know of. everything, car tax, tyres repaired, service, m.o.t is included. if you need any adaptations to the car its extra cost. a basic  car to get to from a to be is a good choice and petrol goes further. those are the positives. the downsides are very significant, if your benefit is stopped, ie, your award ends and you have to reaply for the benefit, you have to hand the car back to the dealership, this happened to myself in november 2018, i attended a medical for DLA, 2 weeks later i got a letter to say i had failed the medical, it was devastating, made me very unwell. anyhow motability operations, my hubby rang them, they told us we would be receiving a cheque for £2000, i wasnt aware that they did this, and we purchased a car for £2000 from a local dealership, its great, takes £30 to fill up {once a month}, yes you have to pay insurance, tax etc but it will be your car, you own it

positivitygoing1

Thanks katho31 , 

Will defiantly be thinking it over and not rushing (well even if I wanted to they mobility place isn't open until 1st july lol) 
Thank you all again ❤️

katho31

hi @positivitygoing1, as always, you are more than welcome  there are always positives/negatives and you weigh them up and decide whats best for yourself, best wishes 

66Mustang

There is not just one car company that offers the scheme. You can pick just about any reasonable car you want. I say reasonable as brands like Porsche or Maserati obviously aren't in the scheme but all of the mainstream brands are - even some "premium" cars like BMW and Mercedes are in the scheme which personally I find odd but there we go. This is why it is such a generous scheme if you ask me.

Check out the list of cars on here https://www.motability.co.uk ... as you can see they have over 1,900 cars available to choose from.

griff11

If you don't qualify for a mobility car it might be worth looking at a PCP deal.  it doesn't include servicing, road tax, mot or insurance but you can get the reliability of a new car for £99 a month.  It will be a small car - think Corsa though.  I bought a PCP car when my husband had an accident and when he was allowed home from hospital for weekend visit we found he couldn't get in his car easily.  I had to get a SUV type vehicle but I saved a lot of money by buying online via Drivethedeal.  I also looked at carwow.  There maybe other websites but they basically do the searching for you and your ca comes from a maindealer and they willl deliver free.  I reiterte though it doesn't include servicing, road tax, insurance etc.