UK Breakdown- Broken down?
Discussion
I'm naturally wordy, so I'll try and keep this short. I've had a lot of stupid cars and over the years good breakdown cover has got me out of a lot of sticky situations.
In my experience it's always taken between 40mins - 3hrs for them to attend. At first you'd always get someone useful, then they'd send a car ahead 'as policy' optimistically telling me they'd fix the shattered diff casing by the side of the road.. that expert would then phone the recovery truck on arrival and it would take 4-5hrs. Total.
Last year, after a few years of not using it I had to call the RAC twice.
Once about 6pm in Birmingham, they told me it would be 1h 30mins, I kept getting text messages extending that time by 1hr at a time until at 23.30 after 5 and a half hours waiting without anyone attending. I cancelled the call out. I made some calls and got myself and the car collected separately from the lay-by.
I sent a s
tty satisfaction report, but kept my policy live. Everyone is allowed a bad day. These things happen.
A few months later I called for a non starting car at home. Before work, maybe 7am. At 3pm after many, we're sorry we're going to be a bit later messages. I cancelled the call out, cancelled my renewal and got a lift to Halfords to parts. Fixed it myself.
Today. My battery is flat. I called Toyota breakdown, who are covered by the AA not the RAC. I phoned at 8.24am. I have had many we're on out way, sorry there's been a delay messages, it's now 1pm... I am still waiting.
If this was a one off it would be a bad day. If this is now the standard then they are simply not hiring sufficient staff to service the number of members they have taken on. I think the business model is broken. I no longer feel I can rely on these people. Am I alone?
In my experience it's always taken between 40mins - 3hrs for them to attend. At first you'd always get someone useful, then they'd send a car ahead 'as policy' optimistically telling me they'd fix the shattered diff casing by the side of the road.. that expert would then phone the recovery truck on arrival and it would take 4-5hrs. Total.
Last year, after a few years of not using it I had to call the RAC twice.
Once about 6pm in Birmingham, they told me it would be 1h 30mins, I kept getting text messages extending that time by 1hr at a time until at 23.30 after 5 and a half hours waiting without anyone attending. I cancelled the call out. I made some calls and got myself and the car collected separately from the lay-by.
I sent a s
tty satisfaction report, but kept my policy live. Everyone is allowed a bad day. These things happen.A few months later I called for a non starting car at home. Before work, maybe 7am. At 3pm after many, we're sorry we're going to be a bit later messages. I cancelled the call out, cancelled my renewal and got a lift to Halfords to parts. Fixed it myself.
Today. My battery is flat. I called Toyota breakdown, who are covered by the AA not the RAC. I phoned at 8.24am. I have had many we're on out way, sorry there's been a delay messages, it's now 1pm... I am still waiting.
If this was a one off it would be a bad day. If this is now the standard then they are simply not hiring sufficient staff to service the number of members they have taken on. I think the business model is broken. I no longer feel I can rely on these people. Am I alone?
You are not alone, I have had dreadful experience with RAC (provided as part of my car insurance). Van arrived within an hour of reporting breakdown, agreed non-fixable on a Sunday so towed the car as far as they were allowed by relay limits. Car and myself deposited at a service station for what should have been a 30 minute wait for the recovery truck to finish the last 30 miles of the journey. Five hours later after many different messages and information from call centres the recovery truck arrived who had only begun the shift at that point. Cannot recommend RAC.
I used to have separate recovery policies with Green Flag and they were traditionally spot on. Don't know if that's still the case?
I used to have separate recovery policies with Green Flag and they were traditionally spot on. Don't know if that's still the case?
Breakdown companies have changed from being membership clubs of yesteryear to nothing more than insurance policies offered by venture capital.
Why pay £300+ for an AA/RAC/Green Flag policy when you can pay £64 for Autoaid or £74 for vehicles over 10/15 years old. Autoaid use the same third party contractors that the AA/RAC/Green Flag use. If you say see a Green Flag Breakdown van in the South East, then it will be operated by Kavanagh Recovery. Nothing is what it seems.
Much of the delays in breakdown response times can be attributed to the old European Working Time Directive. Again years ago, an AA Relay driver would jump at the overtime opportunity to relay you home from Northern Scotland to London. Now drivers are bound by WTD and can only deliver you to a services, where you might have to wait for the next driver to finish a job and get over to you for leg 2 of many. More likely these days to get a hire car or train tickets.
Why pay £300+ for an AA/RAC/Green Flag policy when you can pay £64 for Autoaid or £74 for vehicles over 10/15 years old. Autoaid use the same third party contractors that the AA/RAC/Green Flag use. If you say see a Green Flag Breakdown van in the South East, then it will be operated by Kavanagh Recovery. Nothing is what it seems.
Much of the delays in breakdown response times can be attributed to the old European Working Time Directive. Again years ago, an AA Relay driver would jump at the overtime opportunity to relay you home from Northern Scotland to London. Now drivers are bound by WTD and can only deliver you to a services, where you might have to wait for the next driver to finish a job and get over to you for leg 2 of many. More likely these days to get a hire car or train tickets.
Autoaid, I've called them out twice, once for a split fuel line and said it needs trailering to a garage 40 ish miles away, they sent a trailer and delivered to the specialist I wanted, was waiting about 30 minutes. Second time I had a flat battery, it was on my drive which is steep so couldn't push it up to bump, I had no leads or another vehicle to jump off. Took them 45 minutes ish, arrived with jump leads and got it going. Autoaid just ring a local company, they don't have vehicles, premium is 1 price regardless of call outs as well, 70 quid ish I think for the year.
Not sure what to be more surprised about.
Poor service from the RAC and the AA or your Toyota not starting.
On balance it must be the failure of your Toyota to start.
I only had to call out Green Flag once but they were there within the hour keeping me informed by text, and followed me home after the car started, very efficient and much cheaper than the other two.
I am with Auto Aid now at £62 for the year including home start, and covering me and my partner as opposed to the cars, but not had to use them yet, but they do seem to have decent reviews.
Poor service from the RAC and the AA or your Toyota not starting.
On balance it must be the failure of your Toyota to start.
I only had to call out Green Flag once but they were there within the hour keeping me informed by text, and followed me home after the car started, very efficient and much cheaper than the other two.
I am with Auto Aid now at £62 for the year including home start, and covering me and my partner as opposed to the cars, but not had to use them yet, but they do seem to have decent reviews.
Agreed, absolutely shocking these days.
I broke down on the M1 a few years ago (snapped auxillary belt). I limped the car to Tibshelf services and called the AA (this was around 4:30pm.) Guy turned up in a van around 8pm even though I told them it would need recovering. He confirmed this and 11pm a recovery truck arrived. He said my car was too low to go onto his truck, it was a Mercedes E Class, lowered by 40mm so hardly the lowest car around. Anyway, he buggared off to his depot to bring a more suitable vehicle and came back around 12:30. I got home at nearly 3am and the breakdown was 20 miles from my home.
If the call handler had listened to me in the first instance where I told her my car needed recovering and was lowered slightly we could have eradicated the first guy completely and the recovery guy would have turned up in a suitable truck.
We are on the top package with them costing a small fortune each month and have only ever used it a handful of times in 10+ years but each time they seem to get worse!
I broke down on the M1 a few years ago (snapped auxillary belt). I limped the car to Tibshelf services and called the AA (this was around 4:30pm.) Guy turned up in a van around 8pm even though I told them it would need recovering. He confirmed this and 11pm a recovery truck arrived. He said my car was too low to go onto his truck, it was a Mercedes E Class, lowered by 40mm so hardly the lowest car around. Anyway, he buggared off to his depot to bring a more suitable vehicle and came back around 12:30. I got home at nearly 3am and the breakdown was 20 miles from my home.
If the call handler had listened to me in the first instance where I told her my car needed recovering and was lowered slightly we could have eradicated the first guy completely and the recovery guy would have turned up in a suitable truck.
We are on the top package with them costing a small fortune each month and have only ever used it a handful of times in 10+ years but each time they seem to get worse!
vikingaero said:
Breakdown companies have changed from being membership clubs of yesteryear to nothing more than insurance policies offered by venture capital.
Why pay £300+ for an AA/RAC/Green Flag policy when you can pay £64 for Autoaid or £74 for vehicles over 10/15 years old. Autoaid use the same third party contractors that the AA/RAC/Green Flag use. If you say see a Green Flag Breakdown van in the South East, then it will be operated by Kavanagh Recovery. Nothing is what it seems.
Much of the delays in breakdown response times can be attributed to the old European Working Time Directive. Again years ago, an AA Relay driver would jump at the overtime opportunity to relay you home from Northern Scotland to London. Now drivers are bound by WTD and can only deliver you to a services, where you might have to wait for the next driver to finish a job and get over to you for leg 2 of many. More likely these days to get a hire car or train tickets.
That explains things. We were a few heading to Classic Laon this year and one car wouldn't start in the Folkstone hotel car park after driving there teh day before. We tried everything but had to in the end leave the owner so we could catch the ferry.Why pay £300+ for an AA/RAC/Green Flag policy when you can pay £64 for Autoaid or £74 for vehicles over 10/15 years old. Autoaid use the same third party contractors that the AA/RAC/Green Flag use. If you say see a Green Flag Breakdown van in the South East, then it will be operated by Kavanagh Recovery. Nothing is what it seems.
Much of the delays in breakdown response times can be attributed to the old European Working Time Directive. Again years ago, an AA Relay driver would jump at the overtime opportunity to relay you home from Northern Scotland to London. Now drivers are bound by WTD and can only deliver you to a services, where you might have to wait for the next driver to finish a job and get over to you for leg 2 of many. More likely these days to get a hire car or train tickets.
Called out the RAC at approx 8:30am, they got home after midnight after being messed about for ages, taken part way and left waiting on another recovery, rinse and repeat, for a 175 mile journey. They'd hoped to get recovered hom, grab another car and make their way over. Instead they missed the event.
You are not alone. Last time we had to use recovery was when I managed to break my mate's Harley Davidson chop. He called R.A.C. recovery at around mid-day, explaining that the sump was cracked, so was not a roadside fix. Several hours later he received a call from a "patrolman" who was on his way and nearly with us, once told that it was a cracked sump, the guy decided not to attend as recovery would be needed - instead, he would advise control that a recovery truck was required, err... I thought we'd done that several hours earlier. Mate then received a call stating that a flat bed was on its way. He received updates about every half hour or so stating that the flat bed was going to be delayed by about half an hour. After nine hours, a local contractor turned up and said that he'd just received the call out...
Good job we weren't stranded by the roadside on a blistering hot day, with no shade or food or drink... oh, hang on a minute...
R.A.C.'s response when he complained? Something like a 10% discount off his next year's membership.
Good job we weren't stranded by the roadside on a blistering hot day, with no shade or food or drink... oh, hang on a minute...
R.A.C.'s response when he complained? Something like a 10% discount off his next year's membership.
Yeah I haven’t bothered with the likes of RAC or AA for years.
I have a card from a local recovery service called “UK recovery service” or something like that. If I have a breakdown, I just call them and they’ll recover my car. No membership fees or any of that nonsense.
I have only used them once so far, when I got an unrepairable puncture in my works car park. They recovered me within 30 minutes to my local tyre shop about 6 miles away for £70. He says he’ll cover anywhere in the country, but obviously if I’m miles away he’ll take ages and be much more expensive.
Seems to work ok for me so far.
I have a card from a local recovery service called “UK recovery service” or something like that. If I have a breakdown, I just call them and they’ll recover my car. No membership fees or any of that nonsense.
I have only used them once so far, when I got an unrepairable puncture in my works car park. They recovered me within 30 minutes to my local tyre shop about 6 miles away for £70. He says he’ll cover anywhere in the country, but obviously if I’m miles away he’ll take ages and be much more expensive.
Seems to work ok for me so far.
When I lived in Glasgow I had a parking space in an underground car park. The car park height was so low that you would struggle to get a Land/Range Rover in. So one day when my car wouldn't start I rang them stating the blinding obvious that they needed to send of one their Maestro/Escort type vans along.
First vehicle was a flatbed lorry, second vehicle was a Transit, third vehicle was the second Transit being sent back again. It was only the frustration of the 2nd/3rd Transit patrol that an Escort van turned up.
First vehicle was a flatbed lorry, second vehicle was a Transit, third vehicle was the second Transit being sent back again. It was only the frustration of the 2nd/3rd Transit patrol that an Escort van turned up.
I used one of these services decades ago and decided it just wasn’t worth the hassle after a lengthy wait when broken down. Luckily I’m quids in so far as I haven’t had a breakdown since then, but if my car conks out in the future I’ll call a local recovery company and happily pay whatever it takes to get me home. I’ve read too many horror stories on here to ever pay an annual breakdown fee.
RAC is legendary awful - I don't know how they get away with it.
Used AA a few times in the family and always been OK - I've been surprised how long they're prepared to spend on a job and a couple of times they've followed quite considerable distances after repair (or at least making the vehicle mobile). If that's typical, then they're not getting through many jobs per shift.
Used AA a few times in the family and always been OK - I've been surprised how long they're prepared to spend on a job and a couple of times they've followed quite considerable distances after repair (or at least making the vehicle mobile). If that's typical, then they're not getting through many jobs per shift.
We have breakdown cover as part of our bank account, along with travel insurance and a number of other benefits for a monthly fee.
Only used them once when the M135i had a puncture that the tyre repair gel couldn’t fix. They must just use the local breakdown / recovery companies as I explained the car couldn’t be fixed at the side of the road and needed to go to a tyre shop and a flatbed truck arrived in about 20 minutes.
Not sure if it was a lucky one off but the service was excellent!
Only used them once when the M135i had a puncture that the tyre repair gel couldn’t fix. They must just use the local breakdown / recovery companies as I explained the car couldn’t be fixed at the side of the road and needed to go to a tyre shop and a flatbed truck arrived in about 20 minutes.
Not sure if it was a lucky one off but the service was excellent!
I got a puncture (there was a 1" diameter hole right through the carcass) on my motorcycle in the summer. I was about 10 miles from Aviemore in the Cairngorms and it happened around 13:00.
Turns out I'm a member of the AA through my bank so phoned them up and booked a recovery which I was told would be about 90 minutes. An hour and a half later I phoned them and asked if they were struggling to find someone locally, I was told 'no we have a Nationwide network of recovery partners who we are speaking to right now to get you home'.
I had absolutely no faith in that so rang my dad at this point and asked him if he was alright to come get me. He arrived 3 hours later (around 5hrs at the roadside) and we loaded up my bike and started on the road home.
Got my bike home and into the garage, then had a shower and sat down on the sofa around 10pm the phone rang and this was the AA 'We cant get you recovered sir, but we have a mobile tyre fitter, what size of tyre does your car need?'
Turns out I'm a member of the AA through my bank so phoned them up and booked a recovery which I was told would be about 90 minutes. An hour and a half later I phoned them and asked if they were struggling to find someone locally, I was told 'no we have a Nationwide network of recovery partners who we are speaking to right now to get you home'.
I had absolutely no faith in that so rang my dad at this point and asked him if he was alright to come get me. He arrived 3 hours later (around 5hrs at the roadside) and we loaded up my bike and started on the road home.
Got my bike home and into the garage, then had a shower and sat down on the sofa around 10pm the phone rang and this was the AA 'We cant get you recovered sir, but we have a mobile tyre fitter, what size of tyre does your car need?'
I setup a policy with a company called Start Rescue for my girlfriends 2007 Ford Focus. We were on holiday in Great Yarmouth and I started the car and heard the unmistakable sound of a Power Steering pump that had no fluid. I managed to get a taxi into town to get some PAS fluid and some stop leak, but as soon as the car started again it just poured straight out of an inaccessible (without a ramp and tools) pipe.
I called Start Rescue at about 2pm on a Friday, the long and short of it was the car finally ended up back home (120 miles) about 23 hours later. It was an absolute st show that ended in my girlfriend and I having to source emergency accomodation after realising by 7pm (5 hours after the initial call..) that no one was coming to collect us, and getting a lift back from my parents at 7am the next day (240 mile round trip!). When I submitted my expenses, they dragged their heels but they did eventually pay up. Hopeless.
With the AA on the other hand I broke down in a very low and wide supercar on the side of the A1 sometime in 2021. I made it very clear that the car could not be fixed on the side of the road, and that ground clearance was very slim so I would need a flat bed to get me home. They were out within 30 minutes, driver was very friendly and professional. They were excellent.
I called Start Rescue at about 2pm on a Friday, the long and short of it was the car finally ended up back home (120 miles) about 23 hours later. It was an absolute s
t show that ended in my girlfriend and I having to source emergency accomodation after realising by 7pm (5 hours after the initial call..) that no one was coming to collect us, and getting a lift back from my parents at 7am the next day (240 mile round trip!). When I submitted my expenses, they dragged their heels but they did eventually pay up. Hopeless.With the AA on the other hand I broke down in a very low and wide supercar on the side of the A1 sometime in 2021. I made it very clear that the car could not be fixed on the side of the road, and that ground clearance was very slim so I would need a flat bed to get me home. They were out within 30 minutes, driver was very friendly and professional. They were excellent.
Glad to hear it’s not isolated examples.
The RAC in particular is absolutely shocking, they refuse to attend live lane/‘unsafe position’ calls until Police are in attendance…and often won’t even dispatch a patrol until Police are there. Completely unacceptable passing of the buck to a hard pressed emergency service.
A recent case where vehicle had a flat tyre on a bad section of major road. Police couldn’t leave it, and a unit was tied up for over 3hrs waiting for them to attend. In the end they subcontracted to a local firm who was there im 40mins or so.
They deliberately feed out ETAs so you don’t make alternative arrangements.
In future if I attend breakdowns where car is in a dangerous position and RAC are ‘coming’ then I’ll just get it lifted by a local firm. The claim backs by policyholders would hopefully focus their minds.
AutoAid is the way forward. Realistically very few breakdowns are fixable roadside so you just want a flatbed to come and bring you home. They do this.
The RAC in particular is absolutely shocking, they refuse to attend live lane/‘unsafe position’ calls until Police are in attendance…and often won’t even dispatch a patrol until Police are there. Completely unacceptable passing of the buck to a hard pressed emergency service.
A recent case where vehicle had a flat tyre on a bad section of major road. Police couldn’t leave it, and a unit was tied up for over 3hrs waiting for them to attend. In the end they subcontracted to a local firm who was there im 40mins or so.
They deliberately feed out ETAs so you don’t make alternative arrangements.
In future if I attend breakdowns where car is in a dangerous position and RAC are ‘coming’ then I’ll just get it lifted by a local firm. The claim backs by policyholders would hopefully focus their minds.
AutoAid is the way forward. Realistically very few breakdowns are fixable roadside so you just want a flatbed to come and bring you home. They do this.
DickP said:
You are not alone, I have had dreadful experience with RAC (provided as part of my car insurance). Van arrived within an hour of reporting breakdown, agreed non-fixable on a Sunday so towed the car as far as they were allowed by relay limits. Car and myself deposited at a service station for what should have been a 30 minute wait for the recovery truck to finish the last 30 miles of the journey. Five hours later after many different messages and information from call centres the recovery truck arrived who had only begun the shift at that point. Cannot recommend RAC.
I used to have separate recovery policies with Green Flag and they were traditionally spot on. Don't know if that's still the case?
I get Green Flag through my bank account and - touch wood - haven't needed to call them out too many times, but they were pretty good both times to be fair. I used to have separate recovery policies with Green Flag and they were traditionally spot on. Don't know if that's still the case?
Slightly off topic but are all these issues related to the battery in the 86?
I have never had a car break down or fail to start but when I got my GT86 I read a lot of scare stories about the battery being useless and failing to start even after a few days of non-use. For that reason I took out AutoAid cover in case,
but thankfully the previous owner has swapped the original battery out for a larger capacity one and haven’t had any issues so far.
Sounds like Toyota still haven’t got the battery issue sorted out in the GR as otherwise you shouldn’t have any need for recovery services in a new Toyota…
I have never had a car break down or fail to start but when I got my GT86 I read a lot of scare stories about the battery being useless and failing to start even after a few days of non-use. For that reason I took out AutoAid cover in case,
but thankfully the previous owner has swapped the original battery out for a larger capacity one and haven’t had any issues so far.
Sounds like Toyota still haven’t got the battery issue sorted out in the GR as otherwise you shouldn’t have any need for recovery services in a new Toyota…
I'm with Britannia Rescue. Only once in around a dozen call outs in around 18 years has there been a long delay and that was when there had been a multiple pile up on the motorway a few miles away. They credited me with £50 by way of an apology.
They're far from being the cheapest but as in all things, you get what you pay for.
They're far from being the cheapest but as in all things, you get what you pay for.
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