Breakdown cover

[Rikki Kitto]

OK peeps its that time of year for me and RAC want £120 to renew my policy Who's using who and what's best?

[LHD_Kid]

OK peeps its that time of year for me and RAC want £120 to renew my policy Who's using who and what's best?

Have mine (S2) through Adrian Flux. European for 60 quid.

Don't know what they're like if you call them out though mind you...

[gripper]

Just renewed mine with the AA
been with them around 4 years now but just like Insurance company's they think they can up it by quite a few quid every renewal year :corey:
My renewal is due Dec 25th, initially they wanted £15 per month !
(The AA are the only ones you can pay monthly)

Got them down to £10 a month which equates to £120
As an aside I also have Green Flag (who are cheaper again) attached to my bank account. Alas in my experience they are not as good. I took 3 attempts to tell them my Quattro needed a lift when it overheated on the M5 ! And they still sent a spectacle lift

[Cottis]

Green flag for me. Cost effective and cover is good enough and does not limit cover on the basis of the car age. I always work on the basis that you only ever need breakdown cover when you don't have it and that you should never give your money to the AA.

BUT - They are all forms of insurance which makes them all a bunch of light fingered thieving gob*****s.

[anthonys2]

Am with the AA and there cover is good and they give superb discount with national tyres which saved me £400 for my A6 so that alone wins it for me despite the ***** trying to hike price up which in turn I got back down lol!!

[Greg_S]

I've used Britannia rescue for years with the csma and always had a good service and recovery when needed

[Colesy]

I have used Autoaid for a few years:

https://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/

It's a pay and reclaim type service, costs £42.35 per year currently for you and a spouse. Paid a mate to recover me when the turbo blew in the summer and they reimbursed me without question. They do have price limits when you don't use one of their assigned people but this wasn't a problem when I used them.

Can't fault them for the price and they are well reviewed generally:http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews158321.html

[John.]

Bear in mind the AA and RAC are the only companies with a patrol force, all the rest use garage agents of which staff may have little or no knowledge of your type of vehicle. Fair enough if your engine has grenaded itself and needs recovered anyway but if it's something that's fixable then lack of knowledge not so good.
AA and RAC carry good diagnostic kit and have a lot of info available at the touch of a button.
You get what you pay for is what I'm saying, it's not something you really want to use but when things go **** up you want good service.
With the AA you also get discounts on tyres, airport parking, hotels, etc.
Food for thought?

[Rikki Kitto]

Bear in mind the AA and RAC are the only companies with a patrol force, all the rest use garage agents of which staff may have little or no knowledge of your type of vehicle. Fair enough if your engine has grenaded itself and needs recovered anyway but if it's something that's fixable then lack of knowledge not so good.
AA and RAC carry good diagnostic kit and have a lot of info available at the touch of a button.
You get what you pay for is what I'm saying, it's not something you really want to use but when things go **** up you want good service.
With the AA you also get discounts on tyres, airport parking, hotels, etc.
Food for thought?

This is a very good point think I'll probably stay with RAC but try get em down a bit didn't use them at all last year so that's gotta be worth a discount

[Cottis]

I once called the AA out to a non starting car and was told "Catagorically mate, your dizzy is broken" after doing "some stuff" with a multi meter.

Thanked him, he went on his way and I sourced a new dizzy, cap, rotor arm etc and guess what? Still no spark and lifeless engine.

I complained at length and finally got them to cough up the cost of the parts that I did not need. I guess I made a bit of money in terms of having spare parts but the point is they did not have a clue what they were going on about. Sure, I might have got a daft grease monkey turn up but their claims of being able to fix pretty much most faults are junk IMO.

There is probably some mileage in not bothering at all and just paying the recovery cost if the worst does happen. If you are organised (with proper wheel changing kit in the boot) keep an eye on battery strength, service your vehicle regularly and thoroughly and avoid putting derv in a petrol tank, you will find you rarely, if ever, require their services. I wonder how much money we all pay over a lifetime for these "services" and how much we actually use them? These companies continue to exist and make profit for a reason.

[simon20vq]

RAC £100 covers me and the wife for any vehicle we travel in anywhere in the UK not just towing to within 12 miles.

[K Simmonds]

I'm with the AA, the first (last) year cost me £90 and this years renewal was £110, fingers crossed I never have to call them.

[MARKMIDGE]

I got a good deal with RAC 2 years ago it was £65 for full cover on any vehicle (not including home start) and renewal last year was the same. I would give them a ring, all these companies just put up your renewals unless ring them up and bargain.

[Rikki Kitto]

I always try and get my monies worth each year as it's a personnel account I can get friends recovered etc

[AquaS2]

The AA hike up the price upon renewal but I found the best price was from the guys in shopping centres trying to get you to sign up. After the year simply cancel, find another AA stall and sign up again. IIRC £70 per year, unlimited recovery with home start. After a few months you can add someone else on for peanuts.