nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Motability car advance payment rises

Redeemed

Okay so I haven't had a car since 2019 when I was robbed moved onto PIP and only got the lower rate back via telephone appeal.
My condition however is deteriorating such that I feel I would be eligible for a car when next reviewed. Out of curiosity I looked at the latest models available and unless you want an electric/hybrid go-kart then you are looking at £1k plus for stuff they were giving away not so long ago.
With Motability reserves sitting in the billions, what excuse can they have for people having to find £1500 plus for a car?

Find more posts tagged with

Comments

poppy123456

Although there are a lot of cars that have an advance payment, there are also an awful lot that don't have an advance payment. Of course if the car you're looking at is a high spec then it's natural the AP will be more. Same for automatics, the AP is always more for these than it is for manuals.

OverlyAnxious

New car prices in general have gone up recently due to parts shortages, Brexit, Covid, etc.

However I agree the advance payments for even standard cars are ridiculous now. An auto diesel Golf is £3500 AP!

The selection on Motability is pretty poor currently as well. Though it is a slight improvement over Q3 this time.

poppy123456

The selection on auto's is a lot less than it usually is and even worse if you're under 25. Better selection on the manuals.

Redeemed

@woodbine the free cars are all small little things, their powertrain is irrelevant except that they are almost ALL electric.
I'm 6'3" and 19 stone, so firstly I couldn't get in one due to joint issues nor could I drive it safely due to my size - hence a go kart.
Also I am not convinced as to the affordability in fuelling pure electric as opposed to pure petrol/diesel.

Auldyin

How do I purchase an electric car when I live in a terraced house.the cable would be a hazard to anyone walking bye especially at night in the dark when charging is cheaper?

poppy123456

Auldyin said:

How do I purchase an electric car when I live in a terraced house.the cable would be a hazard to anyone walking bye especially at night in the dark when charging is cheaper?

You wouldn’t be able to charge it that way but there are other ways of charging it. Fast chargers are one of the ways.

Auldyin

How do I find one.

Auldyin

Vauxhall are doing the electric mokka on good deals, I have a Mercedes GLA 180 with under 12,000 on the clock and thought about keeping for another year but noticed Petrol in Glasgow has reached £1.46 a litre today diesel £1.49 .Ripping off all drivers. Brexit was supposed to be good for us . This rise is before the gov shaft us in the budget.

poppy123456

Auldyin said:

How do I find one.

Information here https://www.edfenergy.com/electric-cars/charging-points

Auldyin

cheers pal, appreciate your help.xx

OverlyAnxious

woodbine said:

The one thing driving (no pun intended) up the price of new cars is the shortage of micro-chips, in fact recently we have produced fewer new cars than at anytime since the 1950's, this in turn has pushed up the price of pre-owned cars, it's nothing to do with brexit (some might say thats a shame) as it's a world-wide shortage.

That's only one of the current shortages...there are also shortages with rubber, magnesium and aluminium. Plus the haulage issues of course. And limited staff in factories due to Covid.

However, Brexit has increased the cost of some new cars considerably due to tariffs that manufacturers didn't have to pay before. You're looking at over £1000 extra on some Ford Fiesta's for example, purely due to Brexit.

As always, there are multiple issues at play here.

racyguy

No one seems to be mentioning the fact that there is, and has been for many years, a limit to the price of a car you can get for no advance payment.
This limit which I believe is £25,000, has not changed since it was forced on Motability customers due to the furore created by readers of the Daily Mail of the disabled being allowed to have posh cars for free Obviously the prices of cars has increased but not the limit. Thus that is why you no longer see cars such as the BMW X1, 1, 2 & 3 series saloons as well as Mercedes.

Wibbles

It's still cheap - if you buy a £20k car for cash - the moment that you drive it off the dealers forcourt - it will lose at least £2k - so I guess that Motability are only covering their costs

More importantly - has anyone had any sucess haggling with dealers over extras on a new Motability car - or is the price "nationally set" ?

Auldyin

racyguy said:

No one seems to be mentioning the fact that there is, and has been for many years, a limit to the price of a car you can get for no advance payment.
This limit which I believe is £25,000, has not changed since it was forced on Motability customers due to the furore created by readers of the Daily Mail of the disabled being allowed to have posh cars for free Obviously the prices of cars has increased but not the limit. Thus that is why you no longer see cars such as the BMW X1, 1, 2 & 3 series saloons as well as Mercedes.

Auldyin

I got a Mercedes Gla180 in Feb 2019 cost was over £35k including the cost of colour nil payment, My recent order was over £34k with zero cost to me.Think both cars were new to the market hence no upfront payment to get them seen on the road.

racyguy

Auldyin said:

I got a Mercedes Gla180 in Feb 2019 cost was over £35k including the cost of colour nil payment, My recent order was over £34k with zero cost to me. Think both cars were new to the market hence no upfront payment to get them seen on the road.

Mercedes & BMW cars were heavily discounted for Motability.
Same went for the Vauxhall Grandland and Ford Kuga. Both of those were offering the top of the range models to get rid of stock for the new models which were in the pipeline.

There were huge discounts being offered 18/24 months ago. As an example I could have bought a Jaguar XF Portfolio model for under £34,000, now and second hand that model is for sale as between 2 & 3 years old.

There are a huge number of cars with huge discounts that I am offered
Special Offers - Griffin Tax Free - Tax Free & Tax Paid Cars for the Forces & Diplomatic Corps.
Very few of these cars feature on Motability

poppy123456

The new price list for motability came out at the beginning of April. There's currently 71 cars with zero AP. However, those cars are fairly small and low spec. Several of them are same make/model with different spec. Not my choice of cars to be honest.

The increase in AP in the past 3 months is insane. In December i test drove a mini, which had an AP of £499. Today, that same car/spec is over £2,000. (auto)

I went for a Toyota because of the fuel economy mostly because it's a hybrid. This had an AP of £1,500 (auto) with the new price list this month, this AP has increased to £1,800. Thankfully, i'll pay the AP it was when i ordered the car.

Auldyin

poppy123456 said:

The new price list for motability came out at the beginning of April. There's currently 71 cars with zero AP. However, those cars are fairly small and low spec. Several of them are same make/model with different spec. Not my choice of cars to be honest.
The increase in AP in the past 3 months is insane. In December i test drove a mini, which had an AP of £499. Today, that same car/spec is over £2,000. (auto)
I went for a Toyota because of the fuel economy mostly because it's a hybrid. This had an AP of £1,500 (auto) with the new price list this month, this AP has increased to £1,800. Thankfully, i'll pay the AP it was when i ordered the car.

Auldyin

I went for the Mokka-e sri, delivery date since Nov 26 still not certain but with just under14,500 on the clock i don't mind apart from the price of fuel.

Auldyin

I don't drive a lot in my car I get from motability as we're a family of 4 with one wage 2 sons at uni /college, so always go for something with no deposit and hope for the good condition bonus, I'VE had 3 emails for my previous cars to check the mileage was accurate. Always take a picture when it's dropped off. always had my bonus as I treat the car as being a bonus/ on loan /not mine , latest car is nearly 3 months late without a date for my new order, but will accept it as it's a bonus we get for 3 years or more from our benefit that others can't afford.And without it most of us would be lost and stuck at home.Remember we all have different disabilities, but there's always someone worse off than us. At least we have the use of a car. Take care All. xxxx