Purchasing Motability car/other car

MoneySavingUser

Hi,

My mother's lease ends in October - in order to get another car on the scheme she needs to have 12 months of allowance left at the time but she will only have 11 and can't get it extended as she is in a dispute with the DWP about something.

So we are thinking about purchasing the car we currently have from them - it is a 59 Toyota Auris 1.33 5dr TR model. According to the valuation at http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/prices/used/

• Original Price
  More info £14,565
• Franchised Dealer
  More info £6,790
• Independent Dealer
  More info £6,375
• Private Good
  More info £6,015
• Private Poor
  More info £5,090
• Part Exchange
  More info £5,540

The prices above are based on:
A mileage of 30,000 (average for age)
Options selected: None

I am planning to write to them asking how much they would want for it and from what I understand they work on a fixed price basis depending on how many miles you have done (the current mileage on the car is about 37000). It is in good all round condition.

I understand that they tend to charge a premium over market prices. We are happy to pay a bit extra as we'd be getting 'our' car and know it doesn't have any issues.

What I'd like to know is what is the maximum I should pay them for it? I am thinking perhaps a maximum of £7000?

----

If the price they offer is too high then I will look for a used car

I have a list of cars that would be suitable and plan to look on local dealers, car supermarkets, autotrader etc. - is this an ok strategy? I'm not keen on ebay/gumtree.

skivenov

I wouldn't mention a price to them just yet, just ask if you could buy it and how much.

They normally sell the good ones direct to dealers and send the rest to auction, so even if they add a bit over what they'd sell it a dealer for, it could still be a bargain.

harveybobbles

You will probably find it is cheaper to buy it from a garage.

We'd buy Motability cars and sometimes the driver of the car would track it down and buy it back at a lot cheaper than what MFL were asking for it.

Sir_Roger_deLodger

I tried to buy my dads car off them when he died, but they wanted silly money. Got a similar one from a dealer much cheaper.

skivenov

harveybobbles wrote: »

You will probably find it is cheaper to buy it from a garage.

We'd buy Motability cars and sometimes the driver of the car would track it down and buy it back at a lot cheaper than what MFL were asking for it.

Good point!

YorkshireBoy

Sir_Roger_deLodger wrote: »

I tried to buy my dads car off them when he died, but they wanted silly money.

That wasn't my experience, under similar circumstances this time last year.

Ford Fusion Titanium
22 months old
6,000 miles
£6,700

Maybe things have changed since then?

wazza

harveybobbles wrote: »

You will probably find it is cheaper to buy it from a garage.

We'd buy Motability cars and sometimes the driver of the car would track it down and buy it back at a lot cheaper than what MFL were asking for it.

How can a driver locate his ex motability car? Sister's ex motability car is not shown as insured on askmid so we assume it is on someone's forecourt

forgotmyname

Its probably gone through the auctions or bought in bulk so wont be traceable for a while.
Maybe in a yard if it needs any touchup work.

Until someone registers it somewhere along the line. That could be the next private owner though.

MoneySavingUser

They have written back to us and offered a price of £5800

For 2009 (59) 1.33 Toyota Auris 5dr TR model with 38000 miles on it now.

From what I can tell from similar cars it seems to be a reasonable price (I'm a bit surprised I thought they would ask for about £7k!)

Can anyone comment on the price quoted?

NeverEnough

Sounds good, you were expecting £7K! so should be pleased - plus it has a full history and your mum has driven it from new, so sounds like a better deal than an unknown vehicle plus its much cheaper than you expected them to offer and its priced pretty well.