To think this is a fair change to the Motability scheme...

[BusyBumbling]

BBC News - 'Premium' cars like BMW and Mercedes cut from Motability scheme
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9znkxq47xo

It's still supporting disabled people with the cost of owning a car whilst also supporting the British car industry. I think public opinion has been listened to on both sides and this seems very sensible.
It may also reduce some of the costs of the grants paid from the scheme which were helping fund the upfront cost for premium cars for poorer claimants.

it might be the size of the boot or hatch, the way that seats can be adjusted...things which come as standard in certain cars. They are still needed for the particular person who gets the mobility component.

So, not for the benefit of the disabled person, but for the benefit of shareholders jealous of other vehicles being more suitable/desirable?

A lot of adaptions are self fitted, an old neighbour had self fitted adaptions in all her cars, something she didn’t have to declare, so the dealership would never know they had ever been in the car.

Manufactured completely in the UK? Assembled in the UK?

I think the more important question is do you understand how the scheme works? Because I’m willing to bet you don’t. This will save nothing.

"I think most people see WAVs differently. We all know that there are some luxury branded cars that neither WAVs or adapted that are available on Motability. Those are the ones that are contentious"

It's not a WAV. It's just a van like car. Not luxury but still not 'free' under the scheme.

Motability will fit lots of adjustments at no additional cost at the start of the lease. Anyone choosing to self fit additional adjustments needed to inform Motability. Through this process the person that I was talking to knew which cars did and didn't have adaptions.

I’ll be honest , I didn’t even think of people carriers ! I was thinking more along the lines of just normal 5 seat cars but luxury cars .

Lots of people need cars with specific requirements. My elderly grandparents need a specific car, my sister with a young family using a pram, my super tall husband etc. You can almost always find something at a reasonable price that meets the requirements without needing to resort to a luxury car. We all know this.

It still doesn’t alter the point that just because you may think you bought a non adapted vehicle it doesn’t mean you did, because you'd never know.

It doesn’t mean anything. You think it does because you’ve fallen for the propaganda but it won’t save the government a penny.

Now you’re definitely talking bollocks. The vast majority of adaptations come with a cost.

I need a car with

• Automated Emergency Braking (a system from this decade, as research has found systems from the late 2010s aren't as effective)
• Lane Departure Warning
• Lane Keep Assist

Not adaptations; just specific feature requirements. Can you find me a car at a reasonable price?

"Motability will fit lots of adjustments at no additional cost at the start of the lease."

No you have to pay for them.

Wheelchair accessible cars are expensive. I do not agree with any scheme that limits what is available, pushing the price up further. My dad's last car was a converted Mercedes van. Believe me, it was not a luxury, it was a necessity.

If it costs the tax payer any more to use motability on a premium car rather than a cheaper car, then that should have been adjusted.

However, there doesn’t seem to be any suggestion that it did. The motability contribution is the impacted by the modifications needed. Not the vehicle cost.

(and in fact, premium cars often come with more extra functions built in so may require fewer modifications than a more basic spec vehicle. At which point this change costs the tax payer rather than saves, but it got a short term good headline).

there is only one issue with your stupendous statement: we do not meantest CB on household level. It's means tested on individual earners and gets cut, as soon as the higher earner in the household earns above a certain threshold. Meantesting it on household income is too costly and complex, hence it's not done.

Because the thinking is flawed. You get an amount of money. That money so put toward the car of your choice. If the car has higher payments than the allowance, you pay the gap between the two. if you want a BMW for example you don’t get more money for it.

Payments won’t go down. This is just to make people feel better that people who are given this money aren’t in luxury cars. This is more to do with supporting cars made in Britain - much like the EV grant scheme.

I’ll give you an example. People are eligible for universal credit. They can either choose to live in a very expensive flat and use all their money for that, or a less expensive flat and have ‘extra’ money for other things. The government doesn't dictate how that money is spent.

This would be like saying to people you have to use foot stamps and we aren’t giving you money.

You know the adaptions are remove when they are sold on?

My ds (21 and a wheelchair user) car has a push pull lever, steering wheel knob, indicator on the hand controls, specialist plate to go over the pedals and that means the drivers seat and steering wheel don’t adjust fully or at all in case if steering wheel.

When he’s finished leasing his Skoda this will all be removed before it’s sold on. I doubt you’d see anything other than a second hand automatic Skoda Kamiq!

For the millionth time I spoke to the manager. Motability have a record of adjustments whether they did them or you self fitted. He told me the majority of cars are not adapted and mine had never been adapted

Yep.

I'm very worried about what this will mean for those who need wheelchair accessible cars, especially if it has to be British.

https://www.motability.co.uk/get-support/faqs/modify-vehicle-or-add-extras

Yes, to some extent you are right in terms of the total household income isn't calculated to means test CB but it is assumed that a household with someone earning £60k can afford to support a child without CB (or multiple children). In that way it does look at household income because a low earner with a high earning partner in the same household will have to pay the Child Benefit tax charge.
To his could work for PIP.

I do not work, and have a % of what I have earned, taken from me so that someone else can have luxuries. Like Mercedes or champagne as mentioned above.

Oh wait. It seems I do. Why is that?

Do you think you need a luxury car?