Adding named driver

@debs182 

  Hi,   Just to clarify I think I'm correct in saying that with Motability there can only be 2 drivers on the lease, one of which must/may be you.  That means that you can only add one driver apart from yourself.  If however you buy your own car there should be no problems adding extra drivers as there would be no lease agreement complicating the issue.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Hi 

Please see my earlier post.

You can have two named drivers on motability scheme. It is not a requirement that the PIP recipient is a named driver.

As previously explained, all it takes is a simple phone call to change a named drive.  This means if I phone now, I could change a named driver instantly.

It is completely flexible and there are no limits on number of times, you can change.

You can add named drivers for £75 pa, say if you need three drivers.

The only restrictions are based on the car and young drivers, were excess  increases.

I too have to use high off-the-ground vehicles and, as I only had a wheelchair at the time, my first car was an SUV. By the rime I got my current car I had begun using a scooter as well as a wheelchair and so went for ah MPV. Both cars meant an up-front payment which was difficult but I managed it both times as well as having to cover the cost of the hoist last time. I am now due to change again but I have to wait for my PIP decision before I can either get a new one or give up driving, which also depends on my health settling down and being moved to more suitable accommodation.

Here's hoping things go well for you @debs182.

TK

@debs182        I also went for a small MPV, with a hoist so that my scooter fits in sideways [no dismantling!!] and still leaves all 5 seats useable.  It's a Citroen Berlingo Multispace diesel automatic which suits my needs even though the build quality isn't nearly as good as my previous Skoda Yeti. The extra width of the boot space is great and it returns around 53mpg so it could be worth looking at.

Best wishes.

My current car is a Renault Grand Scenic and the boot size lets me just swing the scooter in without being turned sideways which leaves a little room for bags and stuff. One thing I find really useful is that the rear seats can be taken out of the car completely, which I have done, and this allows me to put my wheelchair in place of the seat and I can secure it using the normal safety belt. I also use one of the seat belts in the boot area to secure the scooter. It's a 7 seater auto diesel hence the rear belts. There is a non Grand version which is a little smaller.

I have been very impressed with the car and the options it gives me with cruise control and telephone answering on or behind the steering wheel which means I hardly ever have to take my hands off it. It also comes with ABS and Traction Control and the only downside is that the speakers are a bit naff for music but great for telephone use. It has various menu's and allows for up to 5 phones connected by bluetooth and has a proximity key so I never have to take the key out to get into or out of the car which locks when I move a few metres away from it. There is a manual option for the key but I've never used it because there was a little black button right next to each door handle which, when pressed and with the key in range, unlocked all the doors. There is also the added safety of not locking itself if you get out of it without the key and when it doesn't beep it reminds you to get the key to lock it. The display is digital and the car comes with a built-in road map and destination (sry the name escapes me right this minute) setter with road display which is only a little to the left of the speedometer. I've had no problems with it at all in the 3 years I've had it.

By comparison my previous vehicle was a Puegot 308 which had less bells and whistles but was maybe very slightly more comfortable. The big disadvantage was that despite a drop down part to the boot it was still an unfortunately high lift to get the wheelchair in (I had no scooter at that point) and the boot was pretty much full with the wheelchair collapsed and laid on it's size. I could nit imagine any way they could have fitted a hoist into the boot to make it easier and, when I couldn't lift my old steel wheelchair that high I had to buy a recent aluminium wheelchair which was much lighter. Lifting the wheelchair in and of the 308 was more difficult than it was in the Scenic.

I did look at a Yeti and the boot was higher than the Scenic but slightly smaller in flat area space but I disregarded it when the Skoda garage did not have an auto for me to try out.

In general terms, for mu type of car, I have found that Ford and Vauxhaul tend to be the highest up-front cost with Puegot and Renault a little less however, if they are clearing out prior to a new update they often reduce the prices a lot. I did look at a Honda once but they were very very expensive with Mercedes even more. I did try out a Toyota which was quite reasonable but didn't really have sufficient boot space. I was going to test drive a Fiat 500 which was surprising large inside and high enough off the ground but the auto was shared between 3 or 4 garages and although I saw it could not test it that day and would have had to wait 3 or 4 weeks before it came back that wouldn't have given me enough time to sort the paperwork out. I did fancy trying out a Citroen out but the sales guy was very unhelpful and was short with me when I asked to compare the boot size with one my daughter spotted. The guy was short with me and very uninterested so I didn't bother.

The name I couldn't remember was Sat-Nav, lol!

TK