Get a car thru Motability or buy a new one -- What's the best option?

colinjoss67

Hey there,

I wonder if you folks can give me some advice. 

My current car is giving up the ghost so I’m looking for a new one. As I’ve got Parkinson’s I’ve got the option to get a Motability car. But I’m unsure whether the Motability option is financially better  than using cash to buy a new car. 

My current car is valued at approx £6,000. I pay £25 a month in a service plan. I don’t pay vehicle tax (as I receive enhance mobility PIP.)

1. Option 1 - Motability. I can get a car for £0 advanced payment and £232 a month. This would mean I’d have £6,000 from the sale of my old car to put into my savings. Chip pay 3.55% on £6,000 giving me £213 a year in interest. I’d also save £25 a month on my service plan. But I’d lose £232 from my income. 

2. Option 2 - Buy New Car. I can buy a new car using the money from the sale of my old car plus, say, £6,000 from my savings. Taking the £6,000 out my savings I’d lose £213 in interest a year. And I’d still spend £25 a month on the service plan. But I’d retain the £232 in monthly income from PIP. 

It seems to me the best choice is option 2. Or am I missing something? 

Thanks in advance. 

Colin

noitsnotme

You say your current car is giving up the ghost.  What’s wrong with it?  If it has problems are you sure it’s worth £6000?

knightstyle

Several years ago we had a motability car and it worked well for us at that time as we had no spare money.
But for several years we have been able to afford to buy a second hand car and use the mobility money to run it.  We find this is best, we buy a 3-4 year old ex motability car, currently a Ford Cmax and have it serviced by Ford to keep the breakdown recovery going. 
One thing to check is that all journeys using a motability car MUST be for the benefit of the claimant so no good for us as our daughter sometimes borrows our car.

chrisw

You need to be on higher rate mobility which is £284 a month.

You might or might not be better off financially depending on the car you choose and new vs second hand. The key benefit of Motability is the fixed cost and fairly hassle free side of it. For some people that's a price worth paying.

MouldyOldDough

Motability has one massive benefit - the lack of worry - and ease with which everything is done for you.

Tyres, Windscreen, Road tax, Servicing, with loan car whilst any work is being done, Insurance - all that you have to do is put fuel in it and drive, plus you get a replacement every 3 years - that has to be worth doing ?

Plus a certain number of disabled friendly options can be fitted for free.

Herzlos

Motability get a huge fleet discount as well, so you'd be hard pressed to buy a new car for the same price once you factor everything in. When I looked (before discovering I wasn't eligible) Motability was about half the best PCP price I could find on the same car, before insurance, etc.

If you were looking at a used car Vs Motability, then it may be different.

The only reason you may want to avoid Motability is if someone else uses the car a lot - it's meant to be soley for the PIP holders benefit, but the same would apply to your vehicle tax exemption.

MouldyOldDough

knightstyle said:
One thing to check is that all journeys using a motability car MUST be for the benefit of the claimant so no good for us as our daughter sometimes borrows our car.

That's not necessarily true

I asked Motabilty whether my wife could use the car for her own purposes such as meeting HER friends at the garden centre...

And was told :

"You are correct that any journeys must benefit you as the customer. However this doesn't mean you must always be in the car, for example if your wife needed to go food shopping, pick up medication for you etc.

 You have provided a great example, and this would be absolutely fine if it is giving her a break which as you have mentioned would also help you. As long as the car is always available if you need it at any time."

Herzlos

You have to be able to at least claim it's for the customer though; so a carer having a break is probably OK, but a child/partner taking it to work isn't.

I've no idea how much they check up on it but I suspect that there may be some questions should an insurance claim arise. It's easy enough to claim you're doing shopping for the customer if something happened locally, but if you were in your works car park 40 miles away, or on the other side of the country for a week without the customer, it'd be a lot harder to justify.

Because sadly, some people take the mickey with stuff like that. I certainly know of people who have mobility cars belonging to elderly relatives they rarely see.

Bigwheels1111

We had your choice, almost 7 years ago.
We opted to buy, I found a Peugeot 5008 old shape - model pre reg with 5 miles on the clock.
Paid almost half price, 48% discount.
Service plan years 1-5 £13.42 a month, years 6-10 £14.99 a month. All main dealer.
I would look around for a cheaper service deal, I drive an hour away for my services but after fuel etc I save £100 a year
compare to my local dealer.
The main reason for not opting for Motability is they can change an award at any time without notice.
Take the car back, while you appeal for a year.