2 minutes ago, Alex.S said:

Apparently if you lose your award they give back some of the AP.

Ah, wasn't aware of that.  I guess that's not so bad then.  

Just out of interest, compared a Mk8 Golf Life with the 150 TSI (IRS), manual gearbox, no optional extras.

Same monthly payments on both.

Motability AP - £3,249

VW Finance deposit - £5,649

 

Tried to compare the Focus in the same way but the Ford finance estimator isn't working for me tonight.

49 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Yep!!  And with the current build waits being 6-12 months...you could only have the car a few months in very unfortunate (and hopefully quite rare) circumstances.

Ouch !!

Not a good scenario at all.

On 2/12/2022 at 8:08 PM, TomsFocus said:

Just out of interest, compared a Mk8 Golf Life with the 150 TSI (IRS), manual gearbox, no optional extras.

Same monthly payments on both.

Motability AP - £3,249

VW Finance deposit - £5,649

 

Tried to compare the Focus in the same way but the Ford finance estimator isn't working for me tonight.

I don’t know how car finance works. I’ve gone from old used privately owned cars to MB. No need to get the violins out but life on benefits is difficult. I decided 3 years ago if I gave up tobacco it’d almost completely pay for the car. It worked 

btw I watched a review of the 308 hybrid, looks great. AP though iirc 4k for the GT or 4.9k for GT Premium . Maybe the ap will come down by Q3 🙏 Long lead time may work in my favour. 

4 minutes ago, Alex.S said:

I don’t know how car finance works. I’ve gone from old used privately owned cars to MB. No need to get the violins out but life on benefits is difficult. I decided 3 years ago if I gave up tobacco it’d almost completely pay for the car. It worked 

btw I watched a review of the 308 hybrid, looks great. AP though iirc 4k for the GT or 4.9k for GT Premium . Maybe the ap will come down by Q3 🙏 Long lead time may work in my favour. 

There are a few different car finance schemes but for that quote I just used a 'like for like' 3 years of £250 monthly payments and then hand the car back at the end to get it as close to MB as possible.  So that's nearly £2,500 more on VW finance, plus would need to pay for insurance, tax and servicing on top if not done through MB.  So even with the high AP's now, MB does still work out much cheaper - though not as secure if I only get another short award time.  Of course, that's only one car and one finance company, others may work out more or less expensive.

21 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

There are a few different car finance schemes but for that quote I just used a 'like for like' 3 years of £250 monthly payments and then hand the car back at the end to get it as close to MB as possible.  So that's nearly £2,500 more on VW finance, plus would need to pay for insurance, tax and servicing on top if not done through MB.  So even with the high AP's now, MB does still work out much cheaper - though not as secure if I only get another short award time.  Of course, that's only one car and one finance company, others may work out more or less expensive.

There’s no denying it’s a good deal. A profitable business too. Annual profits of £250million. 

On 2/9/2022 at 1:41 PM, TomsFocus said:

Possibly another contender for you, Alex.  The new 308 has been added to MB today.  Top model is a 1.6 turbo petrol plug in hybrid with 225bhp.  AP is eye watering at over £4k.  But it does come in a fantastic shade of green!!

I looked into this. On MB , they only list the GT Premium at £4k. It’s a 225bhp engine. There’s another not on MB ..simply called a GT. has 180bhp. Apparently it’s mostly the same car and the 180bhp engine performance is similar to the Premium. Couple of grand difference but I’d imagine the GT Premium will have more as standard stuff. I think Peugeot think they’ll sell a lot more of the cheaper GT privately so put the GT Premium on Motability but not the cheaper option. 
Had a look at the ford site for focus options. ST Line Vignale is £1.3k. They call it Vignale but it’s no where near as loaded as the Mk4 Vignale. I want a reversing camera …it’s in a pack for £500. Paint, HUD it all adds up. Looks like the B&O stereo is as standard but I find the normal one is as good as I need. Q2 starts April 

Got that info from a Peugeot review. Motability have a GT Premium 225 and GT 225 listed . £500 difference on AP. 
 

it’s the 180bhp model they’ve not put on MB 

4 minutes ago, Alex.S said:

I looked into this. On MB , they only list the GT Premium at £4k. It’s a 225bhp engine. There’s another not on MB ..simply called a GT. has 180bhp. Apparently it’s mostly the same car and the 180bhp engine performance is similar to the Premium. Couple of grand difference but I’d imagine the GT Premium will have more as standard stuff. I think Peugeot think they’ll sell a lot more of the cheaper GT privately so put the GT Premium on Motability but not the cheaper option. 
Had a look at the ford site for focus options. ST Line Vignale is £1.3k. They call it Vignale but it’s no where near as loaded as the Mk4 Vignale. I want a reversing camera …it’s in a pack for £500. Paint, HUD it all adds up. Looks like the B&O stereo is as standard but I find the normal one is as good as I need. Q2 starts April 

Ford pulled loads of cars from MB last week, have you checked which trims & engines are still available?  Down to just 690 cars on scheme now!!  

The 'Vignale' branding on the new models is just an 'X' in reality.  There is no flagship model now.

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

The 'Vignale' branding on the new models is just an 'X' in reality.  There is no flagship model now.

I’m looking at 2 grand minimum for same spec as I have , about double what it cost 2019. I’ll be hoping for a long lead time! 

Ford have pulled all Focus' except a 1.0 MHEV ST-Line Vignale Auto estate today.  (Possibly an error leaving that!?)

Down to just 652 cars on the scheme now!

Christ ! It’s private buyers that are getting prioritised. By all the manufacturers. 

I saw online Hyundai Tucson lead times are down to a couple of months. That will depend on trim,colour , transmission etc I think. 

Btw @TomsFocus, the Peugeot 308 hybrid we talked about, it’s on the mb website but Peugeot say none in uk yet , not even for a test drive. It’s £3.5k or £4k for the GT Premium. 
I’m not sure what fiestas were on the scheme but now no sign of Vignale or X on any of them. 
Q2 starts next month

That’s Ford announced they’re not taking any more orders for 2022 Focus. Seems some sync4 parts come from Ukraine. I was hoping to order one in July , I don’t see that happening. 

34 minutes ago, Alex.S said:

That’s Ford announced they’re not taking any more orders for 2022 Focus. Seems some sync4 parts come from Ukraine. I was hoping to order one in July , I don’t see that happening. 

By the time things turn back to some sort of normality (if it ever does) Ford may as well skip straight to the Mk5 Focus and be done with it.

On 3/15/2022 at 12:44 PM, Wino said:

By the time things turn back to some sort of normality (if it ever does) Ford may as well skip straight to the Mk5 Focus and be done with it.

That’d mean writing off a lot of money on developing the 4.5 . The German factory will be all geared up for making them. Depends how long this goes on for. Was it Thailand used to produce the focus? A mk5 if there is one must be a full EV. I’m really surprised there’s no plug in option already. 
I read the Mk4 infotainment screen will probably be used in the meantime. The sync4 parts that were coming from Ukraine, I would think they’d just give the contract to a Chinese firm, must be more complicated than that. 
I need it resolved by July ! 

1 hour ago, Alex.S said:

I need it resolved by July ! 

I'm sure you probably know already but you can extend an MB lease on your current one for 2 years if there's nothing suitable for you by July.  

14 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

I'm sure you probably know already but you can extend an MB lease on your current one for 2 years if there's nothing suitable for you by July.  

Yeah, I think ppl that have very low miles can ask to change to a 5 year lease. I’ve got 3 months from July 3rd to order , ideally I’d be handing back the focus same day as collecting whatever I’ve ordered but with the current lead times no chance….afaik they’ll extend the lease until the next car is ready. 

I've just received my VIN number for my ST Line Vignale, but with no order number I can't seem to track it 😞 I wonder if these will have held their value quite well in 2 years time, due to the Sync 4 shortage.

I looked at most cars mentioned on here but Ford Options seemed the best way to go. 

Citroen & Renault have left the MB scheme today.  Down to 597 cars now.

On 3/23/2022 at 5:25 PM, TomsFocus said:

Citroen & Renault have left the MB scheme today.  Down to 597 cars now.

😳 Q2 starts 1st April , I’m due to order Q3 , October 1st at latest. 

23 minutes ago, Alex.S said:

😳 Q2 starts 1st April , I’m due to order Q3 , October 1st at latest. 

Interested to see what happens on April 1st but I'm not expecting much!  

23 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Interested to see what happens on April 1st but I'm not expecting much!  

As long as they’re back taking orders again I’ll order and keep the current car I have until it’s built I guess. 

Can’t even order a new focus . 

Got this fiesta as a courtesy car. I didn’t know which engine it had until I returned it. Knew it was a MHEV. ST Line. Thought it was 125 turns out it’s a 155. So slightly disappointed. Was a manual though. Maybe me not driving it enthusiastically enough! A little bit too basic spec. Been spoilt with my focus I think.