Broken down - Recovered to Home Address - now what?

foxystoat69

Hi folks, for the pat few days, the alternator light has been flashing on my 53 VW Polo, I had booked it in for fixing next Monday. On the way home tonight, the power went completely (although electrics are working, the engine would not turn over)

My recovery service has picked me up (would not look to see if the alternator was the problem, in fact did not check what the fault was at all...it was literally just roadside recovery as it was after car repair workshops opening times) and dropped my car off outside my house, no problems there, no fee payable

My friends a mechanic and hoping to get the use of a recovery vehicle for repairs on Saturday but I need to ask some advice now.

In the event of "worse case scenario" and my friend has no pickup truck available, am I best finding a mechanic via Yellow Pages who can do repairs at my house kerbside (I don't have the technical savvy to know if this is a job that could be fixed roadside or not) Or do I fork out an additional £65 tow charge from my current breakdown recovery agent for an additional service to pay to get to a garage(my policy states that I have to pay for assistance/recovery after assistance has already been provided).

I just see the dreaded £££££ signs going up in peoples eyes no matter what decision I make, not sure which option to go with.

Live in the North Staffordshire area if anyone knows anyone who can help without it being too costly a job

Thanks all in advance

Premier_2

Breakdown services such as the RAC & AA will only usually provide one recovery journey per breakdown. As you elected to have the vehicle towed to your home, you are now left with working out how to get the vehicle to the repairer ... or as you suggest find a repairer who will come to you.

Many people fall foul if this and don't realise that large garages often have an out of hours facility to accept broken down vehicles.

If it's just the alternator, if you recharge the battery (using a battery charger) then the car should start and last long enough whilst you drive to the repairer.

Or perhaps you could find someone to tow you?

If all else fails, £65 charge to take the car to a repairer is high (as in not the best financial option), especially just for a new alternator. Get some quotes from mobile mechanics if you are sure that is the only fault. It's usually a relatively easy job, 3 bolts, a couple of wires, and retensioning the drive belt ... after having disconnected the battery

How good a mechanic is your friend? Maybe he could do it for you for a couple of beers plus the price of the part.

a11waysindebt

Any one checked the fan belt.

ozvaldinho

I agree with premier: get the battery charged, even consider getting a new battery if it's more than a few years old. You should then be able to drive it ti your garage.

Which breakdown service did you use? I've used the AA and RAC numerous times as I run a large fleet of cars for a charity organisiation and have had a few battery and alternator issues over the years. I've NEVER had the RAC or AA not even look to see what the problem was, and they've often sorted the problem at the roadside rather than tow it. It's a matter of pride for them that they can fix most simple problems at the roadside. The AA carry a stock of the most common alternators on their larger vans, they sell them to you at cost and fit them for free, often much cheaper than a garage!
They also check the alternator belt tension, battery etc. It sounds to me like you got a recovery guy or company who simply couldn't be bothered! I'd complain or change.

KeithP

The OP did say...

my recovery service

Maybe it wasn't a breakdown and recovery service who carry out some sort of roadside diagnostics.

OP, who are your recovery service?

Alias_Omega

OP,

In the past with the AA, i had broken down on the A1, it was night time so no garages open. I had a Renault Clio 182, which had been giving out blue smoke from the alternator for the past week, renault said it was ok so i drove it as usual. Anyway, i ended up on the a1.

I contacted the AA who sent out another firm to recover me to home, as no garages were open. In the morning, i had no way to get the car to the garage for repairs, so i contacted the AA again to take the car to the garage.

After a chat with the women on the phone, they agreed that they would take my car to the garage to be repaired, as they could not do it the night before due to it being closed.

I think you should use that in the morning.

foxystoat69

Thanks all for the advice so far.

The friend I mentioned in the original post had previously taken my car into his contacts garage earlier this week (the alternator light had been flashing for a few days), and having checked electrics, fan belt etc, came to the conclusion that it was the alternator (apparently this is an issue with some 53 plate Polo's), the choice of alternator (it could be one of four apparently as VW and Skoda use the same style alternators for similar models) complicated matters somewhat too, hence the car was booked into the garage for this monday coming. The battery was fine having been checked a few days ago, and even when I broke down, the electrics were all working anyway.

I use rescuemycar.com, and having looked at the literature last night from the contract again, they say that 70% of all incidents can be dealt with at the roadside. What actaully happened after I reported the call that no effort to inspect the car was made, my car was placed straight onto the recovery truck, the driver saying, I'm just recovery, anyway, all repair shops will be closed by now (it was 7.00pm at this stage...)

Alisa, thanks for your advice, I will try my company again today. I am at a training course all day today, fortunately, the other half can lend me her car today as I am insured to drive it. Any updates between now and this evening when I can next vcheck this forum would be appreciated.

Thanks again all

Limey

Get your mechanic buddy to remove the alternator and take it to an auto electrician to be reconditioned, or exchange it at your local autofactors for a recon one.

Saves having to shuffle the car about and pay a garage an hours labour to pull the alternator out.

Simples.