Short Term Breakdown Cover

[philhuff]

Hi all,

I've got to shift a Renault Safrane V6 from North Yorkshire to Cambridgeshire, and I'm not entirely certain it'll make it.

I don't really want to pay out for any cover but fear I may have to, as the cost of recovering a flaming pile of metal and leather from the side of the A1(M) might be prohibitive.

I've been quoted a little under £40 for a pay-and-claim breakdown service for the year, but does anybody know of anywhere that will take the risk for just one day for much less?

As the car is only costing me £51, I don't really want to spend any more, especially as it's for a charity event and any costs reduces the donation.

[highguyuk]

www.greenflag.co.uk are doing basic cover for around £35.

If you go through Quidco, (www.quidco.com) they will give you £20 cashback on your account which in theory makes it £15.

However, cashback is not guaranteed.

[philhuff]

Thanks to this site, I found some cover with First Call for £32, and that includes onward travel and/or recovery of the car back to my home address.

Total cost of this car now, including the car, travel to pick it up, insurance and now breakdown cover: £91 :)

[Lord_Gardener]

We've gone with AutoAid for £32 thanks to Martin's article - covering myself and Lady G for any vehicle!

[philhuff]

The car survived! It lasted the 170 mile journey, although it wasn't exactly a relaxing Sunday afternoon drive. There's loads of water in the oil, it's no running on all six cylinders, and the oil pressure drops to zero every now and then.

Other than that, it's a great buy!

Now I just need to get people to donate repairs, time and parts. All will be revealed before too long.

Next step re breakdown cover - transfer it to my 'proper' car.

[highguyuk]

I'm curious - hope you don't mind!

Why did you buy the car? You planning to do it up and sell it on or are you going to use it as a 2nd car or get rid of the proper one eventually?

Would love to be a mechanic and do up cars - just dont have the time or skills! lol.

[philhuff]

I don't mind you asking at all.

It's actually going to be entering a rally, running from England to Italy. If you know of it, think Gumball 3000 but replace the Lamborghini's and Ferrari's with knackered old Renault's and Triumph's.

One of the conditions of entry is that the car must cost less than £100. I've achieved that, so now I've got to get it up to a good enough standard to survive the high speed runs through Germany and the potentially lethal Italian mountain passes.

At the end of the rally I intend to auction the car off. This should raise a fair bit, especially considering the paint job I intend to have done ;-)

I'll hopefully be raising many thousands for SPARKS (SPort Aiding medical Research for KidS) in the process.

It's not exactly a secret right now, but the campaign proper won't be launched until January. It's just a holding page right now, but keep an eye on www.CimaRacing.co.uk for progress reports and details.