Buying an ex Mobility vehicle

custardy

Mercedes55 wrote: »

I am sorry if I am spelling the word wrongly, I've just got myself so upset with it all that I didn't think to check the spelling.

We paid nearly £18,000 for the car and before my husband went up to them they offered us just under £8,000 for our car. Once they had looked the car over their offer went down to £7,100, even though I know the car was immaculate. My husband should have just walked away at that point and I regret that I didn't encourage him to.

I think they should have told him it's tax status as we bought a car we couldn't legally drive and still can't as there is nowhere open on a Sunday to sort things out.

As I said before I wouldn't have agreed to my husband buying the car if I had known it's history. I have spoken to a few people on a car forum who have had negative experiences some time down the line after purchasing a car like this and have been advised it was not a wise purchase.

Forget your trade in cost. The real cost is the cost to change to the new vehicle.
Was that a good deal?

TheBanker

I bought a 3 year old ex-Motability car a few years ago and it was the most reliable car I've ever owned. It hardly needed any work for the three years I owned it, until this year when the coil pack needed replacing which was done under the extended warranty.

When I was picking my new car up at the weekend the couple at the next salesman's desk were swapping their Motability car for a new model and it sounded from the discussions they were having like they'd looked after it as though it was their own. Whilst you shouldn't judge a book by its cover they looked like what I would call a "sweet old couple" and not the kind of people who would abuse a car.

Like the others on the thread have said the fact it's been used by a Motability client doesn't mean it's been abused. It's just a second hand car which could have been well looked after, or not.

At least with Motability you should get a full service history.

Apart from the tax issue which is annoying and should have been sorted out by the dealer, is there actually anything wrong with the car?

photome

Mercedes55 wrote: »

We bought the car yesterday. If it had been advertised as 'ex Mobility' I wouldn't have bought it

why not?

I bought an ex motability about 20 years ago, one of the most reliable cars I have owned

facade

It is the stereotype.

In The Olden Days, cars were advertised as "one lady owner" then a stereotype appeared that meant you wouldn't touch 'em with a barge pole.

When I bought my ex-motability car (who else buys small automatics?) it was right at the tail end of the "nice" stereotype that they were looked after.

Now the stereotype of a motorbility owner is very negative indeed.


Doesn't change the fact that there are good 'uns and bad 'uns though, same as any other car that someone is getting rid of, there is always something wrong with it or they would keep it.

photome

facade wrote: »

It is the stereotype.

In The Olden Days, cars were advertised as "one lady owner" then a stereotype appeared that meant you wouldn't touch 'em with a barge pole.

When I bought my ex-motability car (who else buys small automatics?) it was right at the tail end of the "nice" stereotype that they were looked after.

Now the stereotype of a motorbility owner is very negative indeed.


Doesn't change the fact that there are good 'uns and bad 'uns though, same as any other car that someone is getting rid of, there is always something wrong with it or they would keep it.

thats not true though, many people , private, lease and motability get rid of cars when there is nothing wrong with them

GwylimT

Why buy a second hand car then? If you don't like using a car a disabled person has used, surely you can't buy any second hand car as disabled people are allowed to drive a non-motability vehicle.

You seem to have a problem with wheelchairs, my non-motability vehicle has a wheelchair in the car boot most days, you wouldn't know if you bought it. My wifes motability vehicle has never had a wheelchair in the boot, despite the fact that her and her being able to drive is unsavoury in your view.

facade

photome wrote: »

thats not true though, many people , private, lease and motability get rid of cars when there is nothing wrong with them

You hope that all that is wrong is the lease has run out, or they fancy a different car, but there is definitely something wrong with them, if only the warranty is up and they can't face the likely bills.

(I'm still looking for the Holy Grail of cars, the big luxury motor that someone bought when they retired, did 30,000 dry miles in over 12 years, kept garaged, waxed and vacuumed every Sunday, and now they have died, the children want rid, and WBAC offered £250 so they advertise at £500, same as the 275,000 milers in the cheapies. What will be wrong with that is it is too old, costs too much to tax & fuel and is "in the way".)

takman

custardy wrote: »

Forget your trade in cost. The real cost is the cost to change to the new vehicle.
Was that a good deal?

That's abit of a strange way to think of it and is a tactic used by salesmen to make the deal south better. They say stuff like "This new car will only cost you £5000 to change to which is good because your getting a £10,000 car", which isn't good if your car is worth £7000 in a private sale.

Even if you get a really good deal on the car your buying say £2000 off the price, but the dealer offers you £1000 less on trade in than it should be. If you just look at the cost to change it will still work out a good deal so you may go for it. But if you sold the trade in car somewhere else you would save another £1000.

So you should ALWAYS consider ALL the figures.

custardy

takman wrote: »

That's abit of a strange way to think of it and is a tactic used by salesmen to make the deal south better. They say stuff like "This new car will only cost you £5000 to change to which is good because your getting a £10,000 car", which isn't good if your car is worth £7000 in a private sale.

Even if you get a really good deal on the car your buying say £2000 off the price, but the dealer offers you £1000 less on trade in than it should be. If you just look at the cost to change it will still work out a good deal so you may go for it. But if you sold the trade in car somewhere else you would save another £1000.

So you should ALWAYS consider ALL the figures.

Not really.
Trade in is £X. Cost of car is £Y
So the gap in the middle is the cost.
Sell car privately for £x,buy car for £Y.
The gap in the middle is the cost.

takman

custardy wrote: »

Not really.
Trade in is £X. Cost of car is £Y
So the gap in the middle is the cost.
Sell car privately for £x,buy car for £Y.
The gap in the middle is the cost.

Yes i'm not disputing that i'm just saying if you just look at that figure then you may end up not getting the best deal you can, as i explained in my comment above.