TVR friendly breakdown cover?

[ehasler]

It's time to renew my RAC cover again, and seeing as it's quite pricey I thought I'd do a bit of shopping around to see what else is out there.

I'm quite tempted to switch to the AA, as I was impressed by their service the two times I had to use them last year, and my car fitted onto their flatbed trucks without too much hassle. They were also more than happy to pick the car up from inside Bruntingthorpe after a track day.

They're not that cheap though - full cover including Europe is around £250! This isn't much more than the RAC, although the RAC price does include a 30% no claims discount.

Britannia looks very reasonable, but I've never used them before so am a bit wary of how good they are, and whether they use tow companies that can fit a TVR onto their flatbeds. Their T&Cs also state that they won't cover cars used for track use, which suggests that they wouldn't recover you from a circuit.

While I don't want to pay more than necessary, my main priorities are good service, access to TVR friendly low loaders, willingness to collect from race circuits and good European cover.

Has anyone got any other recommendations, or personal experiences with any of the above?

TIA!

[Podie]

Mine was included in my car insruance with Sunninghill...

[WildfireS3]

I've been with the RAC for years and never had a problem with either the mini or the TVR, although waiting times have been a bit steep occasionally.

[beano500]

There's some reviews somewhere round here in the Ted-dington Mansion Vaults.

Have you found them?

I'm pretty happy with the RAC, but I know what you mean about the costs.

[trooperiziz]

In my first year with the Cerb I went through the free pickup limit on both the AA and the RAC

The AA had better operatives and was quicker to get to me, in my experience. Never had a problem with the flat beds.

[beano500]

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[snorky]

insured with Mannings and took their £49 europe recovery...

[dewi]

I'm with Britannia (through CSMA) and have found them very good. I've had to call them out twice...so far - enjoying my first year of TVR ownership!

The first time, it was immobilised (turned out to be the inertia switch after a minor indiscretion ) - anyway, I told them I doubted it would start and requested they came out with a flat-bed...which they did and the guy was extremely careful winching it on to make sure the paintwork wasn't scratched and the straps didn't crack the bumper (tow point being underneath).

The second time, I thought the starter motor had packed up (had been having the dreaded hot-start problem for a while). This time they sent out a guy who had many years TVR experience and knew all about the cars. He managed to get it started and I drove it straight to the dealer to have the starter motor replaced...

All in all a top job on both occasions, and so I have just renewed with them.

[gbbird]

I'm with Green Flag, as it was included in my insurance deal. There appears to be no limit on number of call outs, but they do charge if you want it towing to anywhere outside a 10 mile radius, so if you don't live near a TVR garage then maybe not a good option. Always get a good low loader though

[MajorClanger]

Just had my RAC membership extended by 6 months to make up for last 3 callouts (2 were for the same fault that they couldn't fix the first time as they didn't know where the fuel pump on my Citroen was) and the last one taking nearly two hours to get to my girlfriend whilst she was on her own. Although their statistics show response time for 80% of calls within 40 minutes.

Found AutoNational pretty good in the past as they use local garages. Not sure how they'd cope with performance cars.

Also Britannia and InternationalBreakdown are pretty competitive.

MC

[RUSSELLM]

AA have picked me up three twice this year, see if they still do the parts & labour cover (they've just paid for my new clutch £940)

Excellent service

Make sure they don't scratch your car with the straps though


>> Edited by RUSSELLM on Thursday 17th March 13:26

[MajorClanger]

RUSSELLM said:

AA have picked me up three twice this year, see if they still do the parts & labour cover (they've just paid for my new clutch £940) Excellent service Make sure they don't scratch your car with the straps though >> Edited by RUSSELLM on Thursday 17th March 13:26

AA Parts and Labour Cover still available for a nominated car at £56/year but only covers upto first £500 of bill now (they must have got wise to you!).

MC

[RUSSELLM]

Do they still do the parts & labour cover plus ?

That was £99 a year & covered up to a grand.

[griff50tvr]

Try Norwich Union Direct (owned by Aviva who've just bought the RAC). If you've got more than one car and/or more than one driver, they do personal cover. I renewed a couple of weeks ago with them for joint personal cover, roadside and recovery, based on a couple of 'shopping trolleys' for £64. When I needed them last year for the Griff, they gave the best service I've ever experienced and I've used AA, RAC, Green Flag etc in the past.