Breakdown Recovery Who to sign up with AA or RAC

[algieboy]

Hi all was thinking of signing up with one of the known recovery services but not shure who to go with. I noticed after briefly checking with RAC that they only do up to 3.5 cwt Vans Does that mean I cant get breakdown recovery for my mk6 LWB Any help please

[BigNeil]

i phoned rac when i got my van, as was already a member. and asked if my transit 190 xlwb would be covered by my existing policy and they said yes although i asked for written confirmation, which i have never received

your mk6 lwb is it not over 3.5 is it ?

[madmark]

i am with the rac but was charged with £10 extra because of have a van!

[sc_BK]

I've been with the AA for like 3 years, my dad reckons they won't recover me with the van, esp. as it's signwritten

But I suppose it could be one of them things.....AA t&c's say no but the agents they send out usually don't give a f*ck, they've never even asked to see my AA card in the past

[steddy_eddy]

In my experience AA try harder to repair, RAC just tow.

RAC also charge for attending any 'avoidable fault'. In the past year that has included attending after a vehicle was T-boned at a junction, charging when a bottom hose split, charging when water pump failed. Apparently all were avoidable.

AA have never charged me for anything.

That's my experience only, I wouldn't be surprised if others will have the polar opposite to say, I'm sure a lot is down to the individual patrolman.

[BigNeil]

i can not sya either way since i have not had an occasion to call them out yet.

[MrMPuk]

Never had breakdown cover, and with all the money I've saved over the years I can just call someone out if and when they are required.

[Altransit]

I'm with the RAC, have been for 20 odd years

They have come out to all my vehicles, including panel vans, and my SWB minibus.
My two sons both called them out last week. One ran out of diesel, the other one had a puncture and couldn't get the wheel off

Wasn't charged at all, and never have been.

Must admit if it was just for me, it would be cheaper to go it alone, but my family aren't capable of sorting themselves

[MarkM]

I am with the AA, and they have saved me fortunes with relays and roadside repairs, for me to not have an AA membership would be stupid, same applies to RAC as for charges made for use, I have been charged for an alternator, the going rate of the part with no labour charge and all the relay (tows) have been free, even when I got stuck in a field, but then I did provide the extra long tow ropes to help as the AA van couldn't come onto the field to pull me out as they would have got stuck too. I had an accelerator (sp?) cable snap and a new one made up for me on the spot, leads replaced, plugs replaced (was charged for the plug which = pennies) When my last van died at 4am on New Years day 2006...yes the AA were to me in 30mins and home I got all for free...how much would that tow alone have cost me???
My renewal has just come through Roadside, Relay, Home Start with an add in of Relay Plus for free, total is £134.
I haven't used them since Jan 1st 2006 but I hammered them before that, so since prices slowly rise over time (I have been a member for 11 years) even at £134 a year for all those years I would have spent well over that in tows as I was using them at least twice a year...always at unsocialable hours (IE the expensive tow rate times) The only fault if I can find one is that the AA and the RAC only offer One Way Relay so come hell or high water you need to get where you are going and then get towed home, if this isn't an option then join whichever one you don't belong to but only take the Relay part with the other company, this will insure that you will get to where you are going AND you can get home.

[Luke]

ive never had aa or rac cover i like the challange of fixing it myself
like mike says with the money ive saved i can get a mate to tow me back worst case senario

[MarkM]

ive never had aa or rac cover i like the challange of fixing it myself
like mike says with the money ive saved i can get a mate to tow me back worst case senario

Your mates wouldn't stay your mates for very long if you called them at 4am on New Years Day, if they were even sober enough to drive
I have repaired the vehicle myself a few times otherwise I have limped to the garage in the morning. It is all about convienence and piece of mind. I have plastic for emergencys but for the sake of my renewal fee I am saving money.
We have Recovery people on here lets see if they wish to give some ball park Relay figures, soon see if not having AA/RAC cover is cost effective.

[Luke]

Your mates wouldn't stay your mates for very long if you called them at 4am on New Years Day, if they were even sober enough to drive

4am new years day i wouldn't be breaking down i wouldn't be sober enough to drive

[sc_BK]

Your mates wouldn't stay your mates for very long if you called them at 4am on New Years Day, if they were even sober enough to drive

4am new years day i wouldn't be breaking down i wouldn't be sober enough to drive

...maybe thats why Mark broke down

As said, I've been with the AA since before I was 17! Never used them with mk6 Gabby but had to call them out when the wipers went whilst driving the parents 405 down the A9 at 70mph . Used them about prolly 6/7 times whilst on 2 wheels, only once could they fix me at the roadside, but that's to be expected and I'm happy for a lift home so I can fix it myself. Average time for them to get to me is 1.5 - 2 hours, but thats what you get for living/riding in the country. Also most of the times it's been their agents that come to me.

[MarkM]

...maybe thats why Mark broke down

I wish, I was stone cold sober, the engine just finally let go, too long a story but I was very lucky for the entire thing not to go up in smoke, had I not looked under the bonnet to possibly fix it, it would have done that. Most all of my driving is late at night so by default I am in the time frame that means the most expensive tow rates.

[djswampy]

I cannot really fault the AA. the other month I slid on a round about crushing the nearside front wishbone etc etc making the car (little escort estate) undriveable. I rung them up and they told me it was an accident not a breakdown so I'd have to pay £150. Grumble I did, then the lady took some details down, I was stuck on a roundabout etc. then she said that it sounded like a faulty part *wink* and that it wasn't an accident but a breakdown, no charge. Result. spec lift all the way home. With one motor off the road I was lucky to be acquiring my new van the day after. However this didn't go to plan as when my brother-in-law was driving it, The engine blew up. Stuck on the M25, the AA came out, picked the van up onto a lorry and brought the van to my house in Essex. It is one of them services that you'll never use till you need it (obviously) and when you need it you bloody do. Like most insurances it cost you money, you have to decide is it worth it.

on a slightly separate note, the AA have worked with motorcycle/scooter publications and organisations to make their two wheel recovery service better (working on special clamps/ramps etc). I asked the RAC at a major car show if they had done anything similar and if their recovery vehicles can cope like the AA can. The bloke told me that the RAC are the best for picking up bikes, mainly because when they were started they were a recovery/repair service purely for bikes.
"Frederick Richard Simms and Charles Harrington Moore formed the RAC back in 1897, although at that point it was called the Automobile Club Of Great Briton. It was loosely based on the French version the Automobile Club de France, by copying their constitution. In those days, I would imaging even the most optimistic motorist could not image how the motorcar would change everyone's lives. By 1901 it had already started to employ the first uniformed patrolmen in Great Briton."
Automobiles aren't motorcycles. I think this sales man was lying to me. I don't trust RAC since then.

I highly recommend the AA.


Oh, and the bloke how came to pick up my escort said he has picked up the large sprinter vans on his spec lift, total weight he can tow is something like 5 tonnes I think he said.