Buying a 3yr old car.

Ted_Hutchinson

In the past I have suggested to people wanting to buy a lowish mileage, one owner second-hand car to consider buying an ex-Motability Lease car from a Motability Auction at either BCA Motability Auctions or Manhiem Motability Auctions.

Motability is a scheme to enable those on the High Mobility rate of Disability Living Allowance to lease a new car. These leases generally last for 3 years and so ex-lease vehicles from this source are generally 3 yrs old, one user, have been fully serviced and are likely to be a low warranted mileage.

In the past Motability Customers could buy their current lease vehicle at end of lease, either from their local dealer or from Motability direct however the prices offered were generally about the same as one would expect to pay from a dealer. Motability have recently upgraded their system for exchanging ex-lease vehicles between dealers see article here Disabled charity and car dealers benefit from web portal and now one smart dealer has taken advantage of this to offer a service to enable anyone wanting to buy an ex-motability vehicle to do so visit LMCassociates here

I haven't had a good look at their prices but the first example for which Parkers quote
Dealer Retail £ 5815
Private Good £ 4835
Private Poor £ 3895
Part Exchange£ 4385
The price at lmc associates is £4750

To put this in perspective I would expect Motability/local dealer to charge £5800 for this as they don't, in practice, offer any discount to the ex-leasee buying their current car.

If I was buying the above car at auction I wouldn't expect to pay more than the Part Exhchange price £4.385 and I would also have to pay a buyers premium and delivery and I would have wasted an afternoon hanging round the auction room. So I'd be lucky if in total it cost me less than £4585.

So in conclusion I'll be checking out LMCassociates when I start looking to replace my current car which is an ex-motability bought at auction however that won't be till later this year as it's easier to search their stock list than churn through the auction lists at BCA and there won't be the waste of time element-- going to auctions and being outbid.

Nobby_Nomates

Hello Ted do you have any association with this company?

Just had a look at the registrant of the web site it seem a strange address.
Domain Name:
lmcassociates.co.uk
Registrant:
LMC Associates Limited

Registrant's Address:
The Boat
Tidbury Green Golf Club
Tilehouse lane
Shirley
West Mids
B90 1PT
GB

Ted_Hutchinson

Hello Ted do you have any association with this company?

No I have no connection at all with the company. If you had read my post you would have noticed that I haven't, as yet, had any dealings with the company. I bought at my current car at a Manhiem Motability auction although I have also used BCA Motability Sales previously. I have a progressive condition and am aware I may not be able to attend Auctions in the future so when I saw the service this chap was offering I thought it sounded reasonable.

If you think all he has to do is to take the listings from the Motability Website and put them on his own site and collect the cash it does seem to be money for not much work however when Motability sell the cars directly to the current leasee they charge over Dealer retail, although I gather some Ford dealers do enable the end of lease purchaser to pay less than Dealer retail, they are the exception rather than the rule. I am not aware of any way the non-leasee can get ex-motability lease cars apart from hanging around the auction hall and if you can't do that either because you are too ill or are working, then the only option is to use the services of a broker such as LMC associates.

When I posted I had no doubts about the company however I did post a similar post to this thread at Honest John's discussion forum and I gather LMC asked for it to be removed.
I asked LMC to explain why and they have not replied to my request as yet. I suspect the reason has something to do with Motability. They are a charity whose aims are supposed to be the provision of cars for the disabled. However they are in practice an organisation who put the needs of the banks and the Garages ahead of the needs of the disabled. Hence they charge higher rates of interest to the disabled than the likes of Tesco and others. Similarly the prices they charge at end of lease are disgraceful. They would rather try to skim a £2000 more from the disabled than let the disabled person have the car at the same price they themselves would get at auction. I suspect that if Motability knew this chap was selling direct from their website at a price lower than they offer the cars to their disabled clients they would want to stop him. But that is merely my supposition I have no evidence to support the claim.

However one thing you can be confident about. I have absolutely no connection with LMCassociates. If you are aware of any other route to access ex-lease Motability cars other than auction or Dealer retail I'd be very pleased to hear from you. Similarly if anyone has used LMC and found them OK that to would be useful.

barrynewquay

Motability sell many of their vehicles direct to the motor trade via their secure web site. To protect the resale values, it is only possible to access these cars via an authorised account holder. The prices are similar to auction prices but have the advantage of no buyers fees and a 'no see guarantee' for added protection. You can also track the cars history and service record via the web site. The best way of learning how and where to buy cars at genuine trade prices is to learn about the trade. You can then use this info for years to come for your friends and family to save thousands. Check out this web site.
http://vehicles4u.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk