Do you want an ex-Motability car?

GlynD

One of my neighbours recently lamented that he can't get his hands on a good quality ex-Motability car because they go back to main dealers before being sold at auction.

I've got a Motability car as a result of my War Pension so I phoned Motability up to see what the crack was.

It seems that: if someone is returning a Motability car and a friend or neighbour wants it all you've got to do is get the registration number of the car and phone Motability when you know the car is about to be returned. They will offer you the car for a price and include a 12 month warranty. As far as I remember they said the car would be checked and serviced before being sold in this way.

The Motability customer doesn't get any reward for this.

So if anyone wants a Peugeot 207 1.6i Allure automatic with less than 15,000 miles (only 10,000 at the minute) mine goes back on the 29th July.

dmxdave

I wonder how this price compares with the auction price? I had a look at the motability cars up for auction on 13th November and it would seem some bargains can be had, subject to price paid and auctioneers fees etc. Obviously you need to know what you are buying.

forgotmyname

Seen a few posts about the price they want and it maybe cheaper to hand it back and goto a main dealer to buy it back.

They ask far too much it seems.

GlynD

I can only see an advantage in this if you know the car and its former driver. If you're buying at auction you're still buying blind and the car could have been a load of trouble.

when I used to drive motors on business contract hire the finance company would sell the car direct to a buyer at Current Auction Price but that would have been on the basis of caveat emptor.

dmxdave

GlynD wrote: »

I can only see an advantage in this if you know the car and its former driver. If you're buying at auction you're still buying blind and the car could have been a load of trouble.

Hence my comment

Obviously you need to know what you are buying.

GlynD

dmxdave wrote: »

Hence my comment

Fully understood but I was stressing my point that it was a neighbour who initiated me making the enquiry - thus he knew my car.

For me there would be no advantage for a fellow MSE-er from NI to be recommended to buy my ex-Motability car if I had experienced any problems with it. So it appears to me to be the correct moneysaving thing to do in letting others know that for example: they could buy a relative's Motability car, or even mine and even though they wouldn't get it at auction price they'd have the security of knowing it had, up to that point, been a good, reliable car.

Of course that's not the be all and end all of cars. They can go wrong at any time. But say you took mine: at the moment it's only got 10,000 miles and is unlikely to put more than another 2,500 on by July. With the added security of a 12 month warranty you could be reasonably confident you'd made a good purchase.

If in the meantime mine started to give problems I'd warn you. It's no advantage to me if you buy it and certainly none if you buy it and have problems.

dmxdave

I know where you are coming from but as I said

I wonder how this price compares with the auction price?

You know your car and how well it has been looked after, but what does that mean pricewise including a 12 Month Warranty? I am not sure how it works but warranties can be bought from around £100.

What I was meaning was how much would a similar vehicle make at auction compared to dealer price?

GlynD

dmxdave wrote: »

I know where you are coming from but as I said

You know your car and how well it has been looked after, but what does that mean pricewise including a 12 Month Warranty? I am not sure how it works but warranties can be bought from around £100.

What I was meaning was how much would a similar vehicle make at auction compared to dealer price?

I'm no expert on this so I can't give you a conclusive answer. It would be less however - how much less I don't know. Ballyblack's your man for that. Hopefully he'll look into this thread tomorrow.

qwert_yuiop

I've bought great ex motability cars at auction several times with good results.
I cannot understand how a modern car can be considered defunct at three years of age. Surely this scheme's days are numbered in this supposed age of austerity?

GlynD

qwert_yuiop wrote: »

I've bought great ex motability cars at auction several times with good results.
I cannot understand how a modern car can be considered defunct at three years of age. Surely this scheme's days are numbered in this supposed age of austerity?

The cars aren't considered defunct however. Motability is just another contract hire company and after they've had three years of revenue from each car they sell them on for the best price as other finance companies do.

The scheme did go through some changes as a result of the austerity drive. A lot of high value cars which were previously available with a large deposit are no longer advertised. It's far from defunct though and isn't likely to get that far as it's a core policy of the government's care package for the disabled.

icookalot4u

Can you tell me where and when the auctions are held?
I did know a family who wanted to buy their daughters car and where quoted a unrealistic price from Motobility and bought it for half the price at auction.