Buy or motability

sheeps68

Chorlie wrote: »

First car I ever had I bought (took a loan out) and had it nearly 3yrs, the next 3 cars were on Motability only real way I could afford a new car and insurance (being young) but after working for a few years being 10yrs older etc I did the maths and bought my last Motability car and run it for another 3yrs and it worked cheaper.

If you don't have to pay VAT on a new car (you're a wheelchair user & the car is adapted), have the funds to buy the car outright and the insurance isn't a stupid price for you, then if you select a low depreciating car it will be cheaper by a long way to buy it. However if you have to pay VAT, High Insurance, Need to have a loan (therefore interest to pay) and you select a car with higher depreciation than it might not be.

The only way is to decide on the car, workout the cost via Motability (The Allowance plus any advance payments / extras), then workout the cost of buying the same car (whether Ex Demo / Pre Reg or New) and include Insurance, Servicing, AA Membership, a set of Tyres etc and subtract what's it should be worth after 3 yrs and see if it's cheaper or not, if it is cheaper is it cheaper enough to really make a difference (After all Insurance my go up, you may get less after 3yrs etc)

There is no simple answer, it depends on several things....it's cheaper for me to buy a car, but if I was to buy an Astra or Focus I'd suspect Motability my be cheaper.

Thanks thats helpful. I'm not a wheelchair user and still work part time so its WTC (disabilty) for me. If I go the motability route I shall ensure there is emergency cash to keep me mobile. (Current car + small inheritance) I know there is no reason to suspect they'd pull DLA on me but in this climate we all worry I'm sure. Insurance whilst it seems high to me I think its fairly standard pricing.

Shame I'm looking at a car thats only been around about a year so difficult to judge costs long term. I'm looking at the Nissan Juke as like the idea of sitting up bit higher and felt easier to get in and out than others I've tried so far. And same goes for getting things in and out of boot. Definately trying to accomodate lung issues this time hence serious research going on. Bending and breathing is big issue hence like the higher car seems better and the only other cars I've found that are higher are much bigger cars than I want or need.

shegar

robus wrote: »

You will get just over £8000 HRM over the next 3 years.
Insurance for a car for a driver with no points is around £1500 over 3 years.
Servicing of a modern car is around £2400 over 3 years.

That leaves approx £4100.

I have a 5 year old BMW, owned from new having done 29,000 careful miles that is currently losing no more than £1000 a year in depreciation.

That will still leave me with just over £1000 in my pocket and I still own and drive my own car after 3 years.

Why pick a BMW over a Ford Mondeo?

Reasonable running costs
Reasonable insurance
Very low depreciation
If looked after, the quality of the vehicle will mean that it still looks and drives as new even if it is 15 years old.

Servicing over 3 yrs = £2400, :eek: £800 per service I dont think so.......:eek:

robus

sheeps68 wrote: »

Thanks thats helpful. I'm not a wheelchair user and still work part time so its WTC (disabilty) for me. If I go the motability route I shall ensure there is emergency cash to keep me mobile. (Current car + small inheritance) I know there is no reason to suspect they'd pull DLA on me but in this climate we all worry I'm sure. Insurance whilst it seems high to me I think its fairly standard pricing.

Shame I'm looking at a car thats only been around about a year so difficult to judge costs long term. I'm looking at the Nissan Juke as like the idea of sitting up bit higher and felt easier to get in and out than others I've tried so far. And same goes for getting things in and out of boot. Definately trying to accomodate lung issues this time hence serious research going on. Bending and breathing is big issue hence like the higher car seems better and the only other cars I've found that are higher are much bigger cars than I want or need.

With that car I would expect you to lose at least 55% maybe 60% of its new value over 3 years!

robus

shegar wrote: »

Servicing over 3 yrs = £2400, :eek: £800 per service I dont think so.......:eek:

That £2400 servicing covers 3 MOT's (£150), 4 tyres (£640 - high performance run-flats), battery (£130 - for a BMW E90), an exhaust (£395), 3 services (£660) and associated repairs/replacements (£425).

sheeps68

shegar wrote: »

Servicing over 3 yrs = £2400, :eek: £800 per service I dont think so.......:eek:

Afraid with bad luck etc my service & MOT with current car has cost me in excess of that over the last 2 years hence I'm seriously looking at my options but at same time could not judge average or normal costs. Just had expensive electrical issues, alternator, huge suspension issues Car will be 8 in March and fairly low mileage for a diesel VW polo. I did much higher mileage at purchase hence had diesel at that point.

I'm getting closer to decision to buy outright I think but there again may well change mind again & again.

spiff

Can you buy the motability car at the end of the 3 yrs lease?

Richie-from-the-Boro

spiff wrote: »

Can you buy the motability car at the end of the 3 yrs lease?

Yep .. .. they'll sell you it no prob !

Chorlie

spiff wrote: »

Can you buy the motability car at the end of the 3 yrs lease?

I'm not sure you can now, when I bought my old one it was 15yrs ago and you could request a price direct from Motability to buy it from them when you took delivery of the car, so I knew how much I needed to save over 3yrs to buy it (it was the same price as the Advanced Payment for a new one).

As for yearly running costs of a car; well it depends on the car, your milage and some luck, so it's near impossible to tell.

I work on the lines of:-

£450 Insurance
£300 Service
£50 Breakdown Cover
£50 MOT (car is 2yrs so won't need one yet)
£400 Tyres (£800 a set, which I'll need every other year)
£200 Exhaust (£400, which I'll need every other year)
£150 General Unexpected bits (Wiper Blades, Battery, Flat Tyre Repaired Etc)

So that's about £1600 a year to run a car (Jesus that's a lot), but I have a big car doing average miles (12k to 15k a year) so I need a set of tyres every couple of year and I expect an exhaust around 30k miles...

If you have a small car and do low milage then these figures will be lower.

mum2one

I have an old car,
Insurance - £300 fully comp, protected no claims, 2drivers
AA (share with dad) £130
Road Tax (free as High rate Mobility)
Service +Mot - £100

£530 yr

Based on last 2 yrs, new tyres, wheel arches, need to have some welding done = £1500 (inc the I need work)

over 2 yrs £1500 + 1050) = £2550 - which is 10 months mobility... some people its a godsend, others perfer their own cars and use the money for other factors.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Chorlie

- yes you can buy, a mate of mine was quoted and agreed to buy his 3 year old just last week !