How do they expect to sell cars with service like this

[lxtav]

My Wife is disabled and has a motability car that is due to be changed so spent the weekend looking around the various garages to find one that she can get in, be comfortable when it's adapted (she drives with her left foot so the pedal position is very important for when it is adapted) and likes the look of. But how bad was the service we got from the staff. In most of the garages we were ignored and when we did ask for something like could we see the car that was outside they unlocked it from inside the showroom and told us it was open before going back to there chat together. Not having the car that we were going to look at i.e a Ford garage without a Focus and Kia garage without a C'eed, the cars you would think would be there. Being shown a new car that was dirty and smelt of cigarette smoke and a garage manager who sarcastically (think it was an attempt at humour) asked how many cars we were buying that day even if he offered it to me for a pound (answer - none from you now).

 

How do the garages think they would sell a car if they act like that you have got to wonder how much of the dip in car sales is due to the recession and how much is to do with the awful service and attitude of the sales staff. I am not looking for the pushy car salesman who is all over you trying to sell a car that is just as bad but a bit of interaction rather than ignoring you would be nice.

 

But credit where credit is due some of the garages were brilliant being very helpful and answering any questions we had, offering alternatives to try if there was a problem and generally understanding the problems that a disabled person with reduced mobility can have trying to get in and out of a car and not treating you like a leper. Needless to say we ended up getting a car from one of them.

 

 

[unapalomablanca]

No disrespect to your wife or any other disabled person, but i find it unbelievable that a BRAND NEW car is laid on through the motability scheme. My father in law has a gammy leg and he gets a stunning top of the range car every four years. Why cant people be made to suffice with a 3 grand car? you can get a lot for 3k nowadays. I remember when disabled people had a 'bubble type car'. I suppose people will tell me thats progress. All the best to you sir

[HDAV]

Motability isnt buying a car............ it getting a free one. If the garage is **** go elsewhere, book an appointment with the Motability specialist (the only person who can process the order...) and if you get **** service write to motability and tell how badly you were treated include the full details of the dealer and the person you were badly treated by.

[four-wheel-drive]

No disrespect to your wife or any other disabled person, but i find it unbelievable that a BRAND NEW car is laid on through the motability scheme. My father in law has a gammy leg and he gets a stunning top of the range car every four years. Why cant people be made to suffice with a 3 grand car? you can get a lot for 3k nowadays. I remember when disabled people had a 'bubble type car'. I suppose people will tell me thats progress. All the best to you sir

I do tend to agree with you there I no of several disabled people that have brand new cars much better than lots of working people that I no who have to make do with old bangers I had a relative years ago he had one of those single seater three wheel cars and he loved it even when they offered him a proper car he would not change .

 

I am not getting at disabled people if they are going to have cars then they need reliable ones I cannot see why the government cannot buy in bulk say three types of car for different degrees of disability and offer people one of those with basic fittings not top of the range ones if that is what they want then let them pay extra for it

[unapalomablanca]

Motability isnt buying a car............ it getting a free one. If the garage is **** go elsewhere, book an appointment with the Motability specialist (the only person who can process the order...) and if you get **** service write to motability and tell how badly you were treated include the full details of the dealer and the person you were badly treated by.

i know, even when its brand new, thousands of pounds, totally free,changed every 4 years, people still moan. Go tell it to the third world.

[Hamster]

The dealers attitude towards Motability customers is quite easily explained I'm afraid. Motability negotiates mental discounts with manufacturers which essentially means they earn next to nothing out of the deals, there's no part exchange involved either so another opportunity lost. In short it's just a number that may or may not help them achieve target for the quarter but often they need a great deal of looking after compared to more able bodied people. Most dealerships employ a Motability specialist for this very reason, someone more or less on a fixed salary as opposed to commission based.

[deershooter]

All a little one sided and dont speak untill you know the facts!

 

mobility cars are not free they cost £51 per week you have to give up all of the mobility componant of any DLA which has been awarded and you also have to pay an advanced payment for any top of the range car all you get is a very basic fiesta sized car for a nill advanced payment

 

Deershooter

Edited June 4, 2013 by deershooter

[KPV4]

The dealers attitude towards Motability customers is quite easily explained I'm afraid. Motability negotiates mental discounts with manufacturers which essentially means they earn next to nothing out of the deals, there's no part exchange involved either so another opportunity lost. In short it's just a number that may or may not help them achieve target for the quarter but often they need a great deal of looking after compared to more able bodied people. Most dealerships employ a Motability specialist for this very reason, someone more or less on a fixed salary as opposed to commission based.

 

Totally agree, the dealers are exactly the same when trying to source a company lease car. Margins are so tight they won't give you the time of day. I had this from the local Audi dealer last time I was looking at a car to lease, when I mentioned it would be leased they showed no interest and almost threw the catalogue at me through the door!! I will say the dealership that was different to the norm was BMW, the guy I saw was excellent and it didn't seem to matter if it was lease or not. My only regret was I couldn't afford the size of BMW that suited my work requirements.

[Will Poon]

Can you get any type off Motability car, or are you restricted to certain manufacturers ?

Edited June 4, 2013 by Willpoon

[rimfire4969]

When we were looking for a new car I found the big dealerships always to be completely useless.

 

Give me an independent any time.

[Hamster]

All a little one sided and dont speak untill you know the facts!

 

mobility cars are not free they cost £51 per week you have to give up all of the mobility componant of any DLA which has been awarded and you also have to pay an advanced payment for any top of the range car all you get is a very basic fiesta sized car for a nill advanced payment

 

Deershooter

 

Spot on, people are so quick to vent off without knowing the full facts. Some cars cary quite a large initial deposit such as £2k and you don't get that back. My guess is almost all of us have at some point benefited from buying ex Motab three year old cars from dealers, without it many manufacturers would be faced with laying off hundreds of workers too.

[Peskyfoxs]

Can you get any type off Motability car, or are you restricted to certain manufacturers ?

 

 

You can see the range here: http://www.motability.co.uk/cars-and-wavs/search/

[smokinggun]

As has already been said you lease the motability car for the cost of your higher rate disability benefit then after the leasing period it goes back and you can either lease another or have the benefit back,

You have a choice of a few cars from most manufacturers, my wife has a 1.4 vw golf to get about in,

 

She would give the car back in a heart beat if she didn't have POTS a heart problem and the inability to breathe without problems and walk upstairs without it taking so long and dropping for breaks. My wife would love a normal life and to work, in fact shr did try work first with this condition but gave it up as she kept passing out.

[smokinggun]

i know, even when its brand new, thousands of pounds, totally free,changed every 4 years, people still moan. Go tell it to the third world.

so disabled people don't deserve to be treated with respect then do they just because they are using the benefit to lease a car, you sir are a moron.

 

My wife was treated like the op states at vindis Vauxhall in Cambridge but the best garage and by far the friendliest was VW.

I bought a car years ago at Marshalls Cambridge and they are the worst for customer service I have ever seen.

 

Also we had to put in a deposit of 300 on the wifes vw.

[Lord Geordie]

I do tend to agree with you there I no of several disabled people that have brand new cars much better than lots of working people that I no who have to make do with old bangers I had a relative years ago he had one of those single seater three wheel cars and he loved it even when they offered him a proper car he would not change .

 

I am not getting at disabled people if they are going to have cars then they need reliable ones I cannot see why the government cannot buy in bulk say three types of car for different degrees of disability and offer people one of those with basic fittings not top of the range ones if that is what they want then let them pay extra for it

Looking at the state of New cars and how quickly they tend to need garage attention nowerdays I am GLAD I drive my banger.

 

I had a few New cars, but found them bottomless money pits. Part prices you need garage fees you need to extract teeth for. Part prices you need to sell a kidney for. In short an arm and a leg.

 

My last car "the 1.2 Agila" cost me over £1500 in a YEAR to try putting right "no"

 

My Pug was the same, Turbo and oil pipes etc. May as well have opted for a new engine.

 

I now drive an old Cavalier. In over 2 years I did a general service and only NOW need to change the exhaust. All of £129 in two years.

 

Modern Cars? You can keep em!

 

BTW Mobility cars aren't always brand new retrospectively speaking. You simply get a car with Mobility money. You still get the money if you are deemed disabled enough to qualify even if you dont WANT a new.car.

 

All you do is give your payments to the garage. I know of a few people who opted to use the mobility money to BUY a olded car outright rather than renting a new one.

[lxtav]

This wasn't meant to be about the rights or wrongs of motabilty but the general service from the garages as they were treating all the customers the same.

 

As said above most disabled people such as my wife would gladly give their 'FREE' car back for what some people would call a normal life. My wife would get rid of her car in a heart beat is she could go back 20 years, not have her accident, 5 years of operations and physio to be able to walk again or the severe daily pain she has.

 

Cars are hardly free when some of the heavily adapted wheelchair vehicles have advanced payments of over thirty grand.

 

The so called free car is also costing us £500.

Edited June 5, 2013 by lxtav

[Hamster]

All you do is give your payments to the garage. I know of a few people who opted to use the mobility money to BUY a olded car outright rather than renting a new one.

 

The money goes to Motabaility not the garage, it also has to pay for insurance and servicing costs and for this reason it makes no sense to use the money to buy an older car, some people do this but the numbers don't add up. I knew a chap who had to drag himself in and out of cars to get to the desk to sign up and even he told me some people resented his new car once every three years ! He said he'd swap a car for working legs.

[Blunderbust]

No disrespect to your wife or any other disabled person, but i find it unbelievable that a BRAND NEW car is laid on through the motability scheme. My father in law has a gammy leg and he gets a stunning top of the range car every four years. Why cant people be made to suffice with a 3 grand car? you can get a lot for 3k nowadays. I remember when disabled people had a 'bubble type car'. I suppose people will tell me thats progress. All the best to you sir

 

Unbelievable statement, what a topper you are. I do hope that you never find yourself in a like situation, I could not fathom just how bad you would feel when you received your means of getting around. :sad1: .

Edited June 5, 2013 by Blunderbust

[kdubya]

I previously posted on this thread and that post has been removed (WHY please) so I will have another go,I am witnessing here a new depth of benefit bashing and unbelievably envy being reached, I truly am staggered that anyone can complain that a person deemed to need a mobility car can be considered to be getting something over and above their needs.

 

So I would challenge the poster who thinks a nice shiny new car is far to good for a disabled persons need, to put his point of view to my eldest daughter, (who's husband died at the young age of 32 whilst waiting for a heart lung transplant that never came) that the nice shiny Peugeot they had for the two years prior to his death and which gave them and the kids so much pleasure (and which was taken back IMMEDIATELY when he died) was over and above his needs and that they should have been grateful for a banger or a blue "noddy car" sorry mate bang out of order, and a demonstration of the person you are.

 

KW

Edited June 5, 2013 by kdubya

[Gordon R]

Motability is a growth industry and anyone who thinks that all cases are genuine is sadly out of touch with reality. The Motability fraud and the tax free car purchase scams are a disgrace:-

 

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/3948581.Athlete_in_benefit_con_banked___8m/

 

However, I sincerely hope that no-one would begrudge genuine cases who get a mobility allowance, with which they get a car.

 

In terms of service from a garage - I would hope Motability customers were treated as well if not better than able-bodied persons. Life has been hard enough for them without some smart-Alec salesman making things worse.

Edited June 5, 2013 by Gordon R

[fse10]

Motability is a growth industry and anyone who thinks that all cases are genuine is sadly out of touch with reality. The Motability fraud and the tax free car purchase scams are a disgrace:-

 

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/3948581.Athlete_in_benefit_con_banked___8m/

 

However, I sincerely hope that no-one would begrudge genuine cases who get a mobility allowance, with which they get a car.

 

In terms of service from a garage - I would hope Motability customers were treated as well if not better than able-bodied persons. Life has been hard enough for them without some smart-Alec salesman making things worse.

+1

[Livefast123]

Just like about every other type of benefit claimant in this country, they are stereotyped by the lowest common factor which is unfortunately the scum that take the scheme for a ride and have a new car every few years or so because of a 'bad back or drug issues.

 

I've had extremely bad service at garages on numerous occasions, I just vote with my feet and walk out!

Edited June 5, 2013 by Livefast123

[overandunder2012]

 

I've had extremely bad service at garages on numerous occasions, I just vote with my feet and walk out!

shant be buying a car in somerset then

[Livefast123]

No danger of that, the salesmen just ignore you

[JustJon]

When I go to look at cars for my work-based lease I don't expect service - the margin is so small it's not worth the garage's time and therefore I expect to look myself and find the answers myself.

 

Motability sounds the same - I appreciate it shouldn't be but if you drive the margin down then the service goes down, that's natural?

 

If motability wasn't a good deal everyone would individually lease cars and there wouldn't be a "scheme" - unfortunately the deal in this case has left garage owners with too little to make it worth it. Those that specialise in it will drive enough volume through the scheme to make it worthwhile.

 

Sounds like business to me - probably shouldn't come into it when it comes to disability and allowances but unfortunately it does.

 

Apologies if my understanding of the scheme is incorrect - summary is the service should be better but clearly the garage aren't making enough to pay for that service.