Ex Motability

From_St_Neots

Bring back the days when Motability meant you got a Reliant Robin, much better for the tax payer.

Joking aside, what is wrong with Mobility doing a fleet deal with Kia utilising the 7 year warranty etc. Surely this is more cost effective for the tax payer with bulk purchasing and only replacing cars every 7 years instead of 3.

£2,499 to upgrade a Poverty spec to a V40 for 3 years. A good upgrade at the cost of which the tax payer bears the bulk of the cost. The tax payer still has to bear the additional cost for servicing and insurance. I doubt the £2,499 covers the premium in model spec, increased servicing, insurance and I bet tyres cost more for this than the poverty spec.

I don't deny those that need car due to disability but a car is a car at the end of the day and should be provided giving tax payer vfm but does the job for the recipient i.e. get from A to B.

mystic_trev

From_St_Neots wrote: »

Bring back the days when Motability meant you got a Reliant Robin, much better for the tax payer.

I think you mean one of these!

From_St_Neots

mystic_trev wrote: »

I think you mean one of these!

Yep, that's the one. Must be less of a burden to us taxpayers :rotfl:

vikingaero

From_St_Neots wrote: »

Joking aside, what is wrong with Mobility doing a fleet deal with Kia utilising the 7 year warranty etc. Surely this is more cost effective for the tax payer with bulk purchasing and only replacing cars every 7 years instead of 3.

The only problem with that is that one size/make doesn't fit all. Some Motability customers with for example a bad back can't abide by the firm seat designs in some German models and go for cars such as the Picasso with its soft seats and comfort biased ride.

The other problem is if a worldwide recall affects one brand. Imagine 100,000 Motability Kias needing a safety widget replaced. Far better to have 10,000 Kias affected and others still mobile.

There's all sorts of abuse and anomalies from Motability users:

One guy I know uses his Motability car for his computer servicing business arguing that his disabled wife would suffer financially if he couldn't use it (he was purged from his employers company car business for dangerous driving).

A good friend of mine has a nice Honda Civic Motability car. He has haemophilia yet works as a nurse so is perfectly capable of controlling his condition if he bleeds. Yet he is always caving with us and is 100% fit and yet gets a car.

But on the grand scheme of things the Motability scheme does a good job for providing mobility although it should be pared even further - maybe use all these new and cheap Dacias......

Lum

vikingaero wrote: »

The only problem with that is that one size/make doesn't fit all.

This.

Disabled doesn't automatically mean in a wheelchair with a carer in attendance and even when it does it doesn't automatically mean you can't use your legs or still walk a short distance.

The "typical" motability box-car would be no good for my partner for example as they are too high up for a comfortable transfer and these days they're all 5 doors which makes it harder to unload her chair by hand. She also mostly uses it travelling alone, mainly for commuting to/from work.

almillar

Motability have deals with certain manufactures for fixed prices on certain models and specifications of cars. This changes either monthly or quarterly, I can't remember. If the car's not on the list, you can't have it.
I worked out that it's pretty much £20K towards the LIST PRICE of a car. You could have a Land Rover Freelander and contribute £8K. List price was £28K.
If you take a Clio worth £12K and don't have to make any contribution you're not 'using up' (whether you think it's right or wrong) your 'allowance'.

CB1878

I worked in a dealership for years, and we actively bought Motorbility vehicles. The servicing cost the users nothing, and they usually wanted for nothing. The odd one did look like it had never been cleaned, and have a few dents and scrapes. Like anything they just need to be looked at on an individual basis, but there should be no effect on the future value of the vehicle, certainly better than having Avis or Hertz on the V5!

ontrack

A little bit of Jealousy creeping in here, hiding behind ignorance and pomposity.
IF you qualify for higher rate mobility allowance which despite all the daily mail ranting is not an easy task, you are awarded a payment which is designed to assist you in dealing with your mobility needs which will be additional (read more costly) to those of an able bodied person.
You have this money to use as you see fit,
Some use it to lease a car, as mentioned above there is a premium on some models, some use the money to buy a car privately and some no doubt use the money to get taxies to work or to the shops.
only those who chose to take up a mobility car are targeted with "wasting the taxpayers money" whereas ALL higher rate Mobility recipients get the same amount of money from the state.
This perception of tax scrounger is the main reason my wife who is a higher rate DLA mobility recipient absolutely refused to consider a new car on the scheme and we fund a second hand purchase from this money.

Lum

We don't use the motability scheme either.

Couldn't actually get a suitable wheelchair from the NHS, which is to say one that I am physically capable of lifting, ended up having to get two, one that fits in her car and one that I can lift, plus a set of power assisted wheels. Total cost 8 grand.

Even though it's bought on a 0% card, that's all the DLA money taken up for quite some time.