Ex motability vehicles - why or why not ?

property.advert

It seems people are divided on this one but why ?

What is there to knock on a 3 year old motor with FSH and 1 owner which has not been smashed up ?

steveo3002

i worked at a vauxhall dealer that had those through often

they were always filthy and abused , lots of accident damage/neglect etc

im sure theres the always the odd owner that cars for them like thier own , but be very carefull to check for tarted up accident damage and knocked about interior trims

property.advert

Thanks for the comments. On the other hand my father has had these and you'd buy his cars in a shot. No adaptations, low mileage, always serviced ahead of time. Really just great. Unfortunately he hasn't got one for me.

missile

Like most cars your eye is your guide. If it looks like it has been unloved / neglected then it probably has. On the plus side, few will have been thrashed boy racer drivers.

They are very popular when they come up at my local car auction.

bigjl

I have bought one ex Motabilty car to sell on, A Class diesel, three years old, looked OK, on closer inspection, all four wheeltrims needed changing for resale, it needed 4 tyres, worn, damaged and all different makes, it had a door mirror held together with glue, wouldn't even adjust, had to replace that, the spare was missing, as was the jack, stereo had the face missing. I am not the first to find such things on Motability cars, a lot of the people getting these cars are getting them because a relative has full rate DLA and lives with the extended family, so the car is used by the family as a "pool car". They are used and treated as a commodity by some, others, like my now deceased uncle, treated it like his own car, washed it, looked after it etc.
Ten year ago, ex motability where sought after by the trade as the people who got them where older and retired, now any chav from a council estate that has managed to get full rate DLA has one, all due to the recent increase in entitlement syndrome. Have seen have a motabilty car due to depression, skin conditions in his youngest son, even seen a family in London have a motability car where the recipient was bedbound after a stroke.

These cars are now on my avoid list, too much fraud and suchlike. For example my wifes friend managed to get full rate DLA, when not even legal in the country, after she slipped at work, has been off on the sick ever since, due to having a long term medical condition she can't be removed from the UK, as it would be detrimental to here health. She rented her motability car out, I believe it was £500 a month that she charged, or at least that is what she offered it to the wife for.

the hirer is also responsible for damage to the tyres, so one useful thing to look at would probably be the tyres, if they are a matched set of quality tyres then it would indicate a responsible owner, though my opinion is once bitten twice shy.

steveo3002

also get thier fair share of vandal damage from locals that hate the owner for abusing the system /having a better car than them or wahtever

comes out of the taxpayers pockets to repair em anyway

property.advert

Good points again and thanks a lot.

I'm pretty anal when it comes to tyres and stuff. Always get the brakes done before they really need it, chuck tyres away when one gets punctured, even if only 10 minutes old, always buy new good quality tyres well before any legal minimum, send it for service as required and have the tracking done regularly and after any even minor kerbing, including scans on the alloys for warping or invisible damage etc.

What I am seeing is that if you see a motability vehicle which costs quite a lot more than the motability allowance, then you might be ok but poverty spec is not on my agenda.

Superficial stuff could be seen when viewing and priced up if you knew your costs and with a few telephone numbers in your phone, you could get prices when out and about, especially if you had a mate back home in front of a computer.

As in my other post, being able to contact the previous owner would be a great help, perhaps ! If on some dodgy council estate then avoid.

vickssinex

As a driver whose licence is restricted to automatics, I have bought ex-Motability cars for 15 years. I've never had any real problems but have always had a local mechanic check them over before buying. As some previous posters have noted there can be some horribly abused examples around but as long as you take your time and do the necessary checks you should be OK. Some owners do actually look after them!

ariba10

Son in Law bought one from a Ford dealer eight years ago, still has it, and not able to fault it

bigjl

As I have said on another thread my wife had an Ex motability, 97P, Hyundai Accent and that was a good car, it was an Auto, and as has been stated elsewhere maybe the Autos are looked after a bit better, perhaps because the user required an Autobox because they have mobility issues and see the car as an essential item to be looked after due to it allowing them extra freedom and independance, rather than as some view them, something that I am entitled to use and abuse as they see fit. One exmate used his motability car to do minicab and courier work in London, he did 50k a year and just got it clocked every year, he didn't even change the oil, just ran it into the ground.

harveybobbles

Smackability cars, generally have more hits than the Beatles.

Yes, there are some nice examples out there that get washed and loved. But the rest, which is a big chunk dont.