motability- pros and cons?????

homealone_2

i have just entered my second year of receiving dla high component of mobility and it will last till jan 08. we currently have a t reg ford escort that is very difficult to get in and out of. my husband uses it daily to drive from north london to wembley to work. i think he just likes the idea of getting a new car and is mad keen for me to get one through motability, he says he is concerned for my comfort but i feel i am not in it often enough to warrant bothering. i know the scheme covers all costs involved in running a car and of course this does sound appealing. but i guess deep down i feel a bit resentful that i will be giving up the mobility part of my dla for him to drive around in a shiny new car. i am not even sure how impressive a car he can get with just my allowance as i am sure our budget would not run to adding any further money to it monthly. i myself have not driven since i injured my back a couple of years ago and i doubt i will be taking it up again any time soon due to the high doses of morphine that i need to take daily, so it doesnt really warrant keeping both as the majority of the time one would be sat on the drive. am i being selfish??? what are the pros and cons of getting a car through motabilty and how have you found leasing a car through this scheme??? some feedback would give me something to chew over as i dont know anyone who has ever done this??? thanks

Dave_G_5

My wife has had a few cars on motability and it is a good scheme and improving all the time. I'm not sure if you will qualify though if your allowance is only until jan 08 as the lease is usually for 3 years. You get 3 years insurance for 2 drivers, breakdown cover, and all servicing. You are allowed upto 4 new tyres and have a mileage allowance of 15000 per annum. Excess mileage is payable seperately.
The main downsides are that you are stuck with the same car for 3 years (so choose carefully) and it isn't yours at the end of it. We currently have a new Megane Auto (my wife needs the auto) which cost us £295 deposit and the full monthly allowance, but auto's tend to have a higher deposit than manual cars.
Have a look here for more details http://www.motability.co.uk/ and it also includes the prices though sometimes the dealers will discount these even more.

homealone_2

thanks dave, will take a look through prices. they have changed rules now in as much as that you can still apply even if your entitlement does not run until end of lease as long as you have at least 12 months to run. this is only a recent change and was the reason why we did not apply before. my first entitlement just lasted a year. dont know how long it will be before they do it for a minimum of 5 years. sounds as though you think in general it is a good idea???

Dave_G_5

It has been good for us, but the car that we have got has always been predominantly for my wife's use. I do approx 16k miles a year commuting but I've just got a cheap £800 turbo diesel to rack up the miles in. Cheap insurance, cheap to run, just what I need for the daily grind!!

We did try opting out of the scheme one year and bought a car for my wife, but I think it worked out more expensive in the long run. My wife has her entitlement for life so we have never had any problems with the time limits for getting a car. It's also worth noting that the prices are updated every 3 months, so if there is a car on the list that you would like but the deposit is currently too high, then it might be worth waiting to see what the new prices are like. But bear in mind that they can go up or down!! As an example, the deposit on my wife's Megane was £295, it is now £995, but the Focus was nearer £995 and is now about £400. They have also introduced a good condition bonus, so if the car is handed back in good condition at the end of the lease, you get some cash back (approx £100 I think).

Hope this helps.

SO171NOT

What you have to look at very seriously when considering whether to buy or lease is insurance. This post relates to Motability generally. "Free" insurance through Motability is the only real cost benefit of going for a lease as most new cars come with a 3 yr/60000 mile warranty which is enough for most peope so it shouldn't really cost you anything anyway. I bought a good quality used car that meets my needs and I'm saving a stack of money. Motability is only really any use if you need a small car with no deposit and you have no other money. They treat every small scratch as an individual insurance claim at major cost to you! Plus, if you need adaptations, you need to pay to have them installed and removed evvery 3 years. It may be nice to have a shiny new car but I don't want to pay £6500 over the course of a lease to have nothing to show for it except an adaptation bill. I bought a VW Passat which is full of luxury without me throwing money away! :money:

Dave_G_5

It's not just free insurance, but also free servcing and break down cover for 3 years. Also the rates tend to be a lot less than you could buy or lease the same car from anywhere else. We have never had any costs incurred due to any small scratches when returning a car, and if you do need a lot of adaptions they also now allow you to extend the lease for an extra 2 years so it doesn't have to cost as much. I agree that not every car on the scheme is good value, but it is easy to see which ones are.

homealone_2

thanks for all your comments, any other findings most welcome?