Is it worth buying vehicle recovery (e.g. AA, RAC) for a reliable car?

Huomenna

I don't have breakdown cover on my car - she's a 16 year old Volkswagen Golf and has never broken down. I only work 8 miles from home so I figure if I ever do breakdown I won't be left high and dry, however I do get a bit twitchy if I have to drive a long way.
My boyfriend had the basic AA cover on his car (roadside which will recover within 10miles of your home) but on Wednesday his car broke down 20miles away - we knew it was the rotor arm which had gone as the exact same thing happened on monday (AA replaced it instead of towing him as he was within 10 miles of home and part had a years warranty) funnily enough on wednesday the AA patrolman kept ignoring the rotor arm and insisted we upgrade cover (£78 for less than 3 months) and got us towed back. Seems clear to me that the AA did it just to extract more money out of my boyfriend - after all the part only costs £2 (have since fixed it ourselves) so I've written a complaint to the AA asking for a refund or full years extention of the cover.
If you can afford it I'd say breakdown cover gives you peace of mind - if you don't have any or have to upgrade at the roadside then they charge you alot.
If you broke down at home and then signed up for cover, I think you have to wait 24 or 48 hours before they'll come out to a breakdown.

davidlizard

We broke down twice last year (different cars) and used Autoaid. As its pay and claim, I had to pay the recovery fees upfront and claim them back - which Autoaid processed and paid us within a couple of weeks.

To attempt a repair at the roadside, then recover the car and its passengers around 50 miles to home we were charged £130, and for approx 80 miles were charged £190. I speculate that this fee depends on the time of day, distance recovered and the company that did the recovery.

I would guess that we did not use Autoaid and used the recovery company directly, the fees would be similar. Therefore given these costs, I would say that breaking down about once every 5 years is the "break even" point!

thelawnet

rev_henry wrote: »

If you call up to join there and then they'll charge a fortune. If you need towing off the motorway I think its £150 or something. A local independent breakdown company may be a bit cheaper but it'll still be a lot. Having said that its still less than 20 years x £50 a year so you just need to weigh it up really.

We paid I think £60 or £80 to get towed off the M40 to a garage by an independent breakdown company.