Former Motability car, anything to worry about?
Discussion
So I have my eye on an insignia I quite like the look of, one owner from new, at a national franchise dealership. Spoke to the chap and he said it was down as a motability car on the V5 - does that mean it's been in one person's possession, or multiple users? It's a 2012 with 40k on the clock so just wondering how hard a life it may have had? I wondered initially if it would be a fleet/rental which I assume would be worse?
if anyone has any info/experience that would be appreciated.
if anyone has any info/experience that would be appreciated.
Edited by carparkno1 on Friday 9th February 12:56
carparkno1 said:
So I have my eye on an insignia I quite like the look of, one owner from new, at a national franchise dealership. Spoke to the chap and he said it was down as a motability car on the V5 - does that mean it's been in one person's possession, or multiple users? It's a 2012 with 40k on the clock so just wondering how hard a life it may have had? I wondered if it would be a fleet/rental which I assume would be worse?
if anyone has any info/experience that would be appreciated.
I think the relevance is it may have had some alternative controls fitted at some point, more so than the way its been driven. Could have had throttle/brake functions on the steering wheel for example.if anyone has any info/experience that would be appreciated.
I think the reason it's on the V5 is for tax as they are taxed differently.
indapendentlee said:
carparkno1 said:
So I have my eye on an insignia I quite like the look of, one owner from new, at a national franchise dealership. Spoke to the chap and he said it was down as a motability car on the V5 - does that mean it's been in one person's possession, or multiple users? It's a 2012 with 40k on the clock so just wondering how hard a life it may have had? I wondered if it would be a fleet/rental which I assume would be worse?
if anyone has any info/experience that would be appreciated.
I think the relevance is it may have had some alternative controls fitted at some point, more so than the way its been driven. Could have had throttle/brake functions on the steering wheel for example.if anyone has any info/experience that would be appreciated.
I think the reason it's on the V5 is for tax as they are taxed differently.
A very small percentage of motability cars are modified. Some have been well looked after and some haven't, much like any 2nd hand car, they should all have been properly serviced.
We bought an ex-motability 1-series with similar mileage to the car you're looking at and a year on plus 15k miles it has been absolutely fine.
We bought an ex-motability 1-series with similar mileage to the car you're looking at and a year on plus 15k miles it has been absolutely fine.
My wife bought an ex-Motability Clio in 2004. 14 years on it's still going.
It was high spec & well looked after.
One you do have to do is change the registration status with DVLA. In the case of my wife's experience that involved sending all the relevant and important documentation to Swansea in registered post only for the Taffs to send it back via snail mail from where the entire package was stolen.
Grrr.....
It was high spec & well looked after.
One you do have to do is change the registration status with DVLA. In the case of my wife's experience that involved sending all the relevant and important documentation to Swansea in registered post only for the Taffs to send it back via snail mail from where the entire package was stolen.
Grrr.....
Cheers - I am going to go look at it at least. The guy said it had a couple of bodywork bits they are fixing which I am going to keep an eye out for but mechanically it's had everything done and gets 12 months MOT. Only one way to know but wanted to go in with my eyes open. Low miles for a 2012 diesel and a decent spec is what attracts me.
The fact it's motability shouldn't really be a consideration, like any 2nd hand car you don't know how it's been treated. If it's been serviced on time, drives nice, looks alright then it'll probably be ok. If it looks like it's been used and abused then onto the next one.
I know someone who gets a car through motability and his first was treated like s
t, full of crap, let the dogs in it and never washed it etc. I wouldn't have touched that with a barge pole.
His new car however is being treated normally, he keeps it clean and it has had a wash.
You should be able to spot these sort of things upon viewing and test driving.
I know someone who gets a car through motability and his first was treated like s
t, full of crap, let the dogs in it and never washed it etc. I wouldn't have touched that with a barge pole. His new car however is being treated normally, he keeps it clean and it has had a wash.
You should be able to spot these sort of things upon viewing and test driving.
cholo said:
Motability is a 3 year scheme, so it would have had at least one other owner since then.
Just like buying any other former lease car. May or may not have been looked after depending on the owner.
I'd say this is the best/most realistic answer so far.Just like buying any other former lease car. May or may not have been looked after depending on the owner.
The thing with buying any ex-lease car is that you don't have the opportunity to speak to the previous owner, to suss out what sort of driver/owner they are. You have to go full CSI on the viewing and test drive, looking for little clues as to how the car was used/abused by its first owner.
I know someone who has had Motability lease cars for years, and am pretty sure theirs is a "full service" deal. If any of her cars need anything - and I mean ANYTHING at all, they just get booked into the dealer.
It might be worth finding out if all Motability deals are like this, or whether my friend's deal is one-off. I'd suggest that a "full service" lease car of any flavour is more likely to have had solid dealer attention, on the basis that it's "free" (at the point of use, but included in the monthly lease cost).
MorganP104 said:
I know someone who has had Motability lease cars for years, and am pretty sure theirs is a "full service" deal. If any of her cars need anything - and I mean ANYTHING at all, they just get booked into the dealer.
It might be worth finding out if all Motability deals are like this, or whether my friend's deal is one-off. I'd suggest that a "full service" lease car of any flavour is more likely to have had solid dealer attention, on the basis that it's "free" (at the point of use, but included in the monthly lease cost).
The Motability lease scheme is full repair and maintenance. They do usually only last for 3 years though, and whilst there is an option to extend them it's usually only heavily adapted things that get kept for longer. This one is unusual in some way if it has been kept for over 5 years, but that isn't necessarily any detriment. It might be worth finding out if all Motability deals are like this, or whether my friend's deal is one-off. I'd suggest that a "full service" lease car of any flavour is more likely to have had solid dealer attention, on the basis that it's "free" (at the point of use, but included in the monthly lease cost).
Sammo123 said:
Usually only owned by one person. Usually abused like you wouldn't believe. Usually been chain smoked in or had a dog living in them.
From my experience of them I would never touch one!
Absolute bFrom my experience of them I would never touch one!
ks!I’m on my 4th.
.like the vast majority of other owners I know on the scheme, I’ve never had a dog or smoked and I’ve looked after it like it was my own. It doesn’t smell of piss either.
As another poster said, they’re regularly serviced and if anything goes wrong then it’s immediarely fixed by a dealer.
Some are fitted with hand controls (mine is) but I imagine you’d have to look closely under the steering column to see any fixing holes.
They tend to be fully loaded as base spec is normally only a little cheaper on the advance payments.
Motability generally want top dollar for them when they sell on to a dealer and they often go to auction and fetch a high price.
They are exceptions obviously but I can only think of one I’ve ever seen which was abused.
Edited by stuartmmcfc on Friday 9th February 13:25
stuartmmcfc said:
They tend to be fully loaded as base spec is normally only a little cheaper on the advance payments.
My wife's Clio has a great spec for it's time (MY 2000). 1.6 16V, leather, A/C, glass sunroof, alloys, decent heat unit & speakers.The Mrs kept trying to make me go and look at wheezy 1.2's and 1.4's in funny colours with "jazzy" cloth seats, base sepc stereo, etc.
I just waited till this one came up and bought it immediately.
No regrets.
No different to any other lease car apart from the fact it may have had hand controls or a wheelchair lift fitted etc but as long as these have been removed properly there is no issue. Just buy it with any caution you would any other used car. Check that the taxation class has been changed back to what it should.
Mrs Raceboys Mokka is ex-Motability, bought at 1 year old from a car supermarket.
The condition was as good as anything we'd seen at the main dealers, the only 'damage' we can attribute to it being Motability were a few scratches on the tailgate which would match putting a wheelchair in the boot continually, but as this is unpainted black plastic it's not even that noticeable and is just in keeping with age now.
And remember it doesn't actually have to be the driver of the car that qualifies for the Motability.
The inside of our car was spotless, the rear seats looked unused.
The condition was as good as anything we'd seen at the main dealers, the only 'damage' we can attribute to it being Motability were a few scratches on the tailgate which would match putting a wheelchair in the boot continually, but as this is unpainted black plastic it's not even that noticeable and is just in keeping with age now.
And remember it doesn't actually have to be the driver of the car that qualifies for the Motability.
The inside of our car was spotless, the rear seats looked unused.
My ex is a care worker, one to one with service users who live in their own flats. They all have Motabilty cars, but aren't physically able to drive. The cars are driven by whichever care worker is looking after them, but only with the client in the car, so no adaptations. Since the cars are only used to take them to appointments and day care locally, the mileages are generally low.
Never smoked in, as the care workers aren't allowed to, and no dogs. Probably other body fluids and dropped food though, but no worse than the mess that young kids make.
Never smoked in, as the care workers aren't allowed to, and no dogs. Probably other body fluids and dropped food though, but no worse than the mess that young kids make.
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