Is it time for Motability ?

sk2402005

Just chucking it out there, but could you go electric? if you can charge it at home and switch to an EV electic tariff it will offset a lot of running costs.

My brother just did the sums, and it works out identical in terms of montly cost when you take into acount the fuel savings - so hes just about to take delivery of a brand new Skoda Enyak.

you get a free charger installed too.

Also you keep your money that you can earn interest on, or you dont pay interest if you need a loan.

Mildly_Miffed

MouldyOldDough said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

There's two or three questions getting rolled up together here, and you really need to separate them out.

1. Do you need to replace your current car?
8yo doesn't necessarily mean inherently unreliable, any more than spankin' new means inherently reliable (and, obviously, the mode of financing makes zero difference to that).  How much did you spend on your Suzuki in the last year? What maintenance, consumables, repairs did that include? How much was insurance? Depreciation is still not zero - average Autotrader asking price for a 2017 Baleno is about £5.5-6k. 2016 is below £5k, so let's say there's another £1k/year of depreciation over the next three years or so.

2a. If you do, do you replace it with a car through motability, or provided elsewhere?
That's a sums question. £4k/year for insurance, depreciation, maintenance, etc etc is a pretty unbeatable deal for a brand new car.

2b. Do you even need to own a car, or would a taxi/car club subscription be better?
...but £4k/year is £2/mile (+ fuel) if you're only doing 2k/year. Obviously, your location plays a large part in that, as does the timing/flexibility of your usage.

Annual service - £300

Insurance £150 - £200

Road tax - £0

Tyres - £400 first time replacements

Aircon gas refill £200

headlamps - causing possible future problems (clouding up between double glazed glass layers - replacements £700 each)

Need own car - live in rural town !! Weekly shopping, medical reasons too !

So cost for the last year has been £2k depreciation + £900 maintenance + £200 insurance = £3100 (£1.55/mile + fuel) for 8yo used car vs £4000 (£2/mile + fuel) for motability spankin' new.

(Pair of used headlights, £150ish from the 'bay - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/315984202032 + https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396172705546 - if just drilling a small hole in the underside to drain condensation out of and allow breathing doesn't sort it.)

Rural town doesn't rule out taxis, of course, plus online deliveries of shopping. I know there's a strong "getting out the house" argument, but it's the supermarket, not the theatre...

MouldyOldDough

sk2402005 said:

Just chucking it out there, but could you go electric? if you can charge it at home and switch to an EV electic tariff it will offset a lot of running costs.

My brother just did the sums, and it works out identical in terms of montly cost when you take into acount the fuel savings - so hes just about to take delivery of a brand new Skoda Enyak.

you get a free charger installed too.

Also you keep your money that you can earn interest on, or you dont pay interest if you need a loan.

I would consider electric - but the OH doesn't trust Lithium batteries - they explode all of the time and when they do this - you can't escape from the car - especially when it is submerged in a river / flood !!

Seriously - I see problems charging them - but apart from that yes - I would probably go electric

born_again

MouldyOldDough said:

I would consider electric - but the OH doesn't trust Lithium batteries - they explode all of the time and when they do this - you can't escape from the car - especially when it is submerged in a river / flood !!

Seriously - I see problems charging them - but apart from that yes - I would probably go electric

Who's car is it?

Not seen any EV explode, but plenty of petrol/diesel on fire at the side of the road.
EV is actually safer in a flood, as battery is sealed, as are all HV connections & no risk of a hydrolocked engine in the middle of a flood.

knightstyle

We are also thinking of going for a Motability car later this year as our 2013 Cmax with 110k miles will probably not last much longer.
Short list...   Citroen C3 Aircross,  Seat Arona,   Renault Capture,  Ford Puma.   All Hybrid version and must be automatic.

Mildly_Miffed

MouldyOldDough said:

I would consider electric - but the OH doesn't trust Lithium batteries

I do hope there aren't any mobile phones, laptops, rechargeable torches, cordless landline phones, cordless powertools, etc etc in your house...

Herzlos

Does your wife use the car for anything unrelated to your mobility? That was one of the reasons we kept the money and bought a car, because whilst almost everyone I know seems to use their mobility cars for non mobility stuff, I would do too many miles to/from work to be able to get away with it and it seemed wrong.

In the end we went for a 9 month old Berlingo rather than a new one for about the same monthly figures, since tax and insurance aren't too bad. I also like the flexibility of being able to change when I want rather than when the lease expires, but there was no obligation for motabilty to provide a replacement when it broke down.

If absolute reliability is a concern for you, I'd be more inclined to keep the older car you seem to like (and isn't that old), and just have a rental company and taxi company number saved in your phone. New cars can fail and will likely take longer to fix than older cars, so you may be best just 'self insuring' for the occasion you're without car.

That'll give you more control over the gear box options, and given you're doing virtually no miles you should get a long time out of any car if serviced properly.

If you have off street parking you'd almost certainly be best getting a small EV like the spring, it'll be much better to drive than most small autos.

MouldyOldDough

Herzlos said:

Does your wife use the car for anything unrelated to your mobility? That was one of the reasons we kept the money and bought a car, because whilst almost everyone I know seems to use their mobility cars for non mobility stuff, I would do too many miles to/from work to be able to get away with it and it seemed wrong.

In the end we went for a 9 month old Berlingo rather than a new one for about the same monthly figures, since tax and insurance aren't too bad. I also like the flexibility of being able to change when I want rather than when the lease expires, but there was no obligation for motabilty to provide a replacement when it broke down.

If absolute reliability is a concern for you, I'd be more inclined to keep the older car you seem to like (and isn't that old), and just have a rental company and taxi company number saved in your phone. New cars can fail and will likely take longer to fix than older cars, so you may be best just 'self insuring' for the occasion you're without car.

That'll give you more control over the gear box options, and given you're doing virtually no miles you should get a long time out of any car if serviced properly.

If you have off street parking you'd almost certainly be best getting a small EV like the spring, it'll be much better to drive than most small autos.

We only use the car once a week for shopping and occasional trips local
Twice a year trips to her parents, say 300 miles 
But hospital visits most weeks are vital less than 5 miles 
We do have off street parking 

MouldyOldDough

Mildly_Miffed said:

MouldyOldDough said:

I would consider electric - but the OH doesn't trust Lithium batteries

I do hope there aren't any mobile phones, laptops, rechargeable torches, cordless landline phones, cordless powertools, etc etc in your house...

I agree but that is what she thinks 

WellKnownSid

MouldyOldDough said:

Mildly_Miffed said:

MouldyOldDough said:

I would consider electric - but the OH doesn't trust Lithium batteries

I do hope there aren't any mobile phones, laptops, rechargeable torches, cordless landline phones, cordless powertools, etc etc in your house...

I agree but that is what she thinks 

To be fair it's exactly how my wife felt about EVs.  Too much time on her hands reading the Daily Mail website if you ask me but there you go.

It didn't help that she had a ten year old mobile phone that only worked above 60% charge and she needed to plug it in six times to make it last a whole day.  She was horrified the first time I plugged the car in when it was raining.  She'd genuinely read that you cannot charge an EV in the rain and actually believed it...

Anyway, fast forward almost 18 months of EV ownership and she's a born-again car driver.  Her last car covered 1,700 miles in the last 12 months of ownership 50% with me at the wheel, the Zoe which replaced it did 9,800 miles in its first 12 months - 80% with my wife at the wheel.  You have to wrestle the keys off her now.

She still moans at the price of petrol when she's out but has stopped worrying about range given the car always leaves the drive with a full tank.

You could also choose a standard range EV with an LFP battery chemistry - such as an MG 4 - if you don't want to overrule her!