The Motability changes could be good news for all

robfosters

robfosters

robfosters

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Motability has announced a change whereby customers are limited to a car with an advance payment of 2k. This amounts to a vehicle with an on road value of up to 25k.

This is quite big news for the car industry.

Motability is the UK's biggest fleet. They own approximately 575,000 cars from all manufacturers...a mammoth amount.

Nissan's MD says that they will not want to lose custom from motability as many customers opt to pay more for a higher spec model. If they can't have the higher spec model, they may look elsewhere.

He predicts that this is going to lead to a reduction in list prices right across the board. New vehicles could drop dramatically in price to fall into the motability category. Couple this with dealers discounts (if they can afford them) and it could prove very advantageous for new car buyers across the board.

http://www.cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/new-motabilty-rules-could-see-price-changes/56989
 
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What about the 115bhp limit - do you think key vehicles will be supplied with engines which are electronically detuned down to 114 bhp so that they can be opened up again by the end user once the purchase is complete? This would make them more desirable to at least a segment of the market, surely?
 
The 115bhp limit is only applicable to under 25's. The vast majority of customers are over this age.

The majority of under 25's (sensible ones) will realise that 115bhp is perfectly acceptable and buy accordingly. I have noticed though that Ford (biggest motability supplier) have a few cars, in particular the new Ford Focus, that start at 115bhp. Methinks there may have been discussions beforehand. Opening the engines up to above the limit will invalidate any insurance, so it amounts to breaking the law.

You may find that models which carry a 'sporty' badge may be slightly detuned to under this limit to make them very appealable to youngsters.

But in general, I dont think that much will be changed build wise. The bigger the car, for example, the insignia, then the entry level BHP obviously goes up. However, in reality, not many under 25's will want a car of this stature. They will be after Fiesta's, Corsa's, Leon's an the like. All which comfortably fit under the 115bhp limit. But then, NEVER underestimate the clout that motability have with manufacturers. HTH.

EDIT: As a quick estimate, Motability own nearly 2bn worth of cars.
 
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Isn't Motability normally used to paying full OTR prices anyway?

Also, quoting figures like "£2bn" isn't helpful without any context.
 
Even 25K is too high a limit.

You dont need a 25k car on motobility, you need the absolute cheapest possible option availalbe.
A couple 2 houses down from me dont work, and they have a mentally handicapped daughter, lovely people, however, they dont need a top of the range Focus C-MAX to run her around in once a week to the shops (which is the only time she is ever in it).
Rest of the time its the sunshine bus.

There should be a limit on car type, value, number of doors and CO2 rating as it seems they can have anything under a certain value.

Just seems a waste of money.
No objection to people getting mobility, just an objection to it being anything other than the cheapest available option.
 
atpbx said:
Even 25K is too high a limit.

You dont need a 25k car on motobility, you need the absolute cheapest possible option availalbe.
A couple 2 houses down from me dont work, and they have a mentally handicapped daughter, lovely people, however, they dont need a top of the range Focus C-MAX to run her around in once a week to the shops (which is the only time she is ever in it).
Rest of the time its the sunshine bus.

There should be a limit on car type, value, number of doors and CO2 rating as it seems they can have anything under a certain value.

Just seems a waste of money.
No objection to people getting mobility, just an objection to it being anything other than the cheapest available option.
Click to expand...

As a tax payer it doesn't cost you a penny more if they have a top of the range Cmax or a base Ka so why do you object?
 
I'm got a mobility car for my daughter, i get carers allowance about £320 a month. I get DLA for my daughter half of which get's taken for the car iirc about £300. And you think i can pay 2K upfront for the car?.
 
[TW]Fox;20384153 said:
As a tax payer it doesn't cost you a penny more if they have a top of the range Cmax or a base Ka so why do you object?
Click to expand...

The objection being, its a waste, no matter how its funded.

Just the same way I object to the way a lot of charities spend the money they get.

Less waste, less expensive cars sat doing nothing, more money availble to help others.

Simple!
 
Mobility has 2 components, lower rate of £19.55 per week and higher rate of £51.40 per week, I am pretty sure that if the customer specs up their car to a higher value one, the customer will pay an extra amount up front, which is now being restricted to £2000.

Your objection makes no sense like Fox says....

It is not like these guys are going out and buying Porsches, they are buying vehicles which once in a blue moon might need to carry a wheelchair, but I guess you would like to see disabled people all using these again right?

invacar3.jpg
 
[TW]Fox;20385456 said:
But the extra cost is paid for by the driver so the only wasted money belongs to the driver?
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[atpbx]Yeah, but its benefits they're spending so it costs us anyway![/atpbx]

;)
 
SB118 said:
[atpbx]Yeah, but its benefits they're spending so it costs us anyway![/atpbx]

;)
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So what are you saying :confused: We should not be paying the disable people of the country in the first place?

I personally think they should be able to buy whatever car they need. The deal is between the seller and buyer so as long as they are happy I don't see a problem TBH.
 
Who is funding motability overall, its a system I dont undertand, you lose your benefits and pay a sum towards the car you want? so who makes up the rest of cost of the car?

I know a lad, who gets these benefits for his daughter, the guys on min wage, but scrapes together 4-5k every few years to get a decent car, he has just ordered a 320d msport, and thats going to cost him 3.5k iirc.

The cars completely useless for his daughter ie wheelchairs and stuff, but he gets to 'own' a new BMW every few years!
 
Tinders said:
you lose your benefits and pay a sum towards the car you want? so who makes up the rest of cost of the car?
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The person getting the car. A Focus will be a straight swap for the benefit in many cases whereas a BMW would require the person getting the car to pay the hefty advanced payment themselves.
 
Tinders said:
Who is funding motability overall, its a system I dont undertand, you lose your benefits and pay a sum towards the car you want? so who makes up the rest of cost of the car?

I know a lad, who gets these benefits for his daughter, the guys on min wage, but scrapes together 4-5k every few years to get a decent car, he has just ordered a 320d msport, and thats going to cost him 3.5k iirc.

The cars completely useless for his daughter ie wheelchairs and stuff, but he gets to 'own' a new BMW every few years!
Click to expand...

What your friend is doing could be construed as a misuse. Surely a wheelchair bound disabled person needs a WAV. Unless the daughter is small and the wheelchair is a fold up that can fit in a standard boot.

The cost of the car is made up in 3 stages.

Stage 1 - Advance Payment by the customer from their own pocket
Stage 2 - For the duration of the 3 year contract, the DWP will pay the customers mobility allowance straight to Motability.
Stage 3 - At the end of the contract, the car is returned and sold on by Motability. The resale value obviously recoups the rest of the outstanding balance.

So lets say I want to order myself a new Ford Focus Titanium. It has a list price of £19,555.

Advance payment that I make is £795. That brings to cost down to £18,760.

Then I pay my allowance for 3 years. This amounts to approx £8580. This bring the outstanding balance to £10,180. Also, I would imagine that there is a further list price discount which would mean motability would have to recoup around 8k, which is the average value for a 3 yr old Focus. This is the amount that Motability have to receive on resale to achieve a 0 cost lease. Any shortfall is made up by the organisations own funds and NOT taxpayers money as many would have you believe. However in many cases Motability have actually found themselves in profit as their cars are looked on very highly by second hand buyers due to the fact that they recieve the best possible maintenance and many are very low mileage.
 
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