Car Breakdown Discussion

minijem

If you buy the IAM's "Skill for Life" package you get a year's RAC cover thrown in. Then, when you've passed your advanced test you'll get 35% off. If you're already an IAM member you'll get 40% off when switching to RAC.

BUT, if you tour abroad look for European options. I joined ADAC Plus which cost about the same as AA Relay or RAC Recovery but is valid throughout most of Europe including the UK. If you need assistance in the UK they have a reciprocal arrangement with the AA. If you take out cover in the UK you have to pay at least the same again for a five day trip to le continent. The only slight snag is that all communications are in German and the banks rip you off £10 for a transfer.

Some insurers offer recovery linked to the car's insurance which can be reasonably cheap if you only have one car. More than one, and personal cover is the best option.

2012littlemunchkin

Got my renewal letter for breakdown today from KwikFit Insurance. They were wanting £87 to renew. After reading positive reviews about AutoAid, I applied and have now got Breakdown Cover for £38! A whopping £49 saved. At this time of year that is amazing, especially as I am a single parent. Thank you MSE.
:j:j

GolfBravo

minijem wrote: »

BUT, if you tour abroad look for European options. I joined ADAC Plus which cost about the same as AA Relay or RAC Recovery but is valid throughout most of Europe including the UK. If you need assistance in the UK they have a reciprocal arrangement with the AA. If you take out cover in the UK you have to pay at least the same again for a five day trip to le continent. The only slight snag is that all communications are in German and the banks rip you off £10 for a transfer.

£10? :eek:

You can pay for ADAC membership with a credit card.

Use this form and either mail, fax or email it (scan it or take a photo). Alternatively you can phone them (telephone number is on the form), but then you may occasionally get a marginal English speaker since you're calling their accounts dept. and not roadside assistance.

GolfBravo

den169 wrote: »

I would have jumped at getting Adac but the bit about taking it only up to 50 miles just killed it for me.I finished up getting car insurance with full eu cover with More Than the breakdown was only £30 extra,And they do take it home not to a local garage,Then for my Mazda pickup i took personal recovery cover with AA for £78 but £40 back through quidco.

There is no 50 mile limit with ADAC.

Their limit for roadside assistance is €200, where they try to fix the car (in UK either the AA or RAC mechanic) or tow it to the nearest garage. If the car can't be fixed within 3 days or no spare parts are available promptly they recover you car home. If it costs more than €200, ADAC still cover it (so you don't have to pay the tow truck driver) but then ADAC may invoice you for any excess later.

Blessy

I use green flag, always turn up within 30-40mins and got me going. That was with my VW Golf. Now have Honda Civic, don't feel like I need breakdown cover any more lol. But I recommend green flag, they are a LOT cheaper than AA and RAC when you include home start and they have good service as well

den169

GolfBravo wrote: »

There is no 50 mile limit with ADAC.

Their limit for roadside assistance is €200, where they try to fix the car (in UK either the AA or RAC mechanic) or tow it to the nearest garage. If the car can't be fixed within 3 days or no spare parts are available promptly they recover you car home. If it costs more than €200, ADAC still cover it (so you don't have to pay the tow truck driver) but then ADAC may invoice you for any excess later.

If i was in Europe then 3 days is fine i wouldn't want to be stuck in the uk for 3 days.I looked into joining Adac for weeks but that taking to a local garage and 3 days wait really put me off getting this for uk use.Iv'e read a few unhappy adac members posts like the following from pistonheads.

I had a breakdown, so I called ADAC. ADAC use the AA as their partner in the UK. AA bloke rings me and says fine, we're coming to pick you up, but there's going to be a £140 charge. Why? Because ADAC only cover the first 200 Euros and my recovery was going to cost £140 more than that. So, given the fact I was (a) freezing, (b) it was late Saturday afternoon and © that evening I was taking a lady out seventy miles away, I told them I'd pay but would take it up with ADAC.

The AA bloke came and was a star. He couldn't understand why I had to pay, but we figured out that the journey was being logged as 180 miles. Why? Because that's the way ADAC operate with the AA. The clock started at the Darlington depot, he drove twenty miles to collect me, took me seventy miles home and then would do ninety on the way back He said it'd be not much more to join the AA at the roadside, but we dealt with it all through ADAC because I was sure it was a mistake.

It wasn't a mistake. There's a subtle difference between the words towing and transportation; well, at least ADAC think there is anyway. Simply, if they assist me in Germany, they'll repatriate the car totally F.O.C. because it's transportation. Seventy miles from home classifies as towing and thy only cover the first 200 Euros of that cost. So there you go; the story of how I was taken for 200 Euros. Not good, eh? Read on........

The recovery was October 2008 and I paid by debit card over the phone in the recovery wagon. I came home in February to find a letter from ADAC. Could I pay them £140, please? I rang them and eventually got through to an English speaker. Situation explained, I thought that was it. She was going to speak with the AA and everything's golden. Came home in March to find another letter in German, this time from a Solicitor. ADAC had passed a bad debt their way to collect and they now wanted close to £300 from me; the original £140 plus interest, plus charges, etc. I rang them and explained the situation, but they wouldn't speak with the AA. It was for me to sort everything out and get documentation from the AA to them. After a few choice comments, I ended up speaking to the AA and they were great in helping me out.

I'm now an AA member.

zalanx

It seems many want the same cover as I do: roadside, national recovery, no home-start.

I am surprised how often members use these services.In the past twenty years I have taken advantage of the AA & RAC three times, on two occasions at the insistance of the police.

1) 1991 4pm - Volvo 240 Estate, failed alternator. Simple solution was to buy a new battery from a nearby supplier but police insisted we call the RAC who arrived two hours later, after the parts suppliers had closed. Epic 250 mile recovery. Next day I fixed the problem - £2.50 for alternator brushes.

2) 2004 midnight - high mileage Citroen AX10 - failed bypass hose. Police called RAC, 50 mile recovery, next day I replaced the bypass hose - £6!

3) 2010 2pm - high mileage Renault Kango diesel; head/gasket failure blew the thermostat housing apart. It transpired that my AA policy from Lloyds Bank only covered me for ten miles. Got it home by jury-rigging the thermostat housing with wire and sealant and 20 litre container of water, refilled once on the 80 mile journey.

As with all insurance we have to ask, is this a good bet, is the 'peace of mind' worth the price? My 10+ year old 125K miles Clio diesel is well-maintained; short of a major failure I am better off saving £50 pa - the bill for towing/scrapping an old car is likely to be less than £500.

GolfBravo

den169 wrote: »

If i was in Europe then 3 days is fine i wouldn't want to be stuck in the uk for 3 days.I looked into joining Adac for weeks but that taking to a local garage and 3 days wait really put me off getting this for uk use.Iv'e read a few unhappy adac members posts like the following from pistonheads.

I emailed ADAC re: this now famous pistonheads post, and here is their reply:

Mitglieder in GB bekommen nur die sogenannten Auslandsleistungen. Dies bedeutet: Der ADAC vermittelt bei Panne oder Unfall ein Abschleppunternehmen und übernimmt für bis zu 200 Euro eine Kostenerstattung. Der AA organisiert diese Leistung im Rahmen der paneuropäischen Verträge. Soweit die Abschleppkosten den Betrag von 200 Euro übersteigen, müssen diese vom ADAC PlusMitglied selbst getragen werden. Hierauf wird es in einem solchen Fall auch hingewiesen. Der Abschlepper ist im Rahmen seiner Vereinbarungen mit dem AA verpflichtet nach dem entsprechenden Tarif abzurechnen, und zwar auch dann, wenn die Leistungen über den Betrag von 200 Euro hinausgehen. Darin sind keine Anfahrtswege vorgesehen. Häufig findet die Kostenerstattung im Wege des verkürzten Zahlungsweges über eine Faxgarantie statt, so dass das Mitglied nicht in Vorleistung gehen muss. In Deutschland gibt es für ADAC PlusMitglieder einen Pick-up-Service, sprich den Einzeltransport des Fahrzeugs mit Insassen in die Heimatwerkstatt oder an den Wohnsitz. Diese Leistung ist nicht Teil der sogenannten Auslandsleistungen.

Members in the UK will get only the so-called foreign services. This means: the ADAC provides a towing company in breakdown or accident and assumes a refund for up to 200 euros. The AA organizes this service under our Pan-European agreement. As far as towing costs exceed the amount of EUR 200, they must be borne by the ADAC member. It applies in this particular case. The towing company is obliged to provide towing according to their corresponding tariff, namely, even if the benefits go beyond the amount of 200 euros under our agreements with the AA. Provided they get access to the vehicle. Often, we arrange for a faxed payment guarantees, so that our Member does not have to pay in advance. In Germany there is a pick-up service for ADAC Plus Members, i.e. the individual transport of vehicle with occupants in the nearest workshop or home. This service is not part of our foreign services.

Zu Ihrem genannten Fall aus dem Netz: Da uns keine Mitglieds- oder Bearbeitungsnummer vorliegt, können wir die Angaben leider nicht nachprüfen. Um genauer darauf einzugehen, müsste sich das Mitglied direkt an uns wenden.

Der beschriebene Fall widerspricht aber komplett der üblichen Vorgehensweise. Er ist auch in einigen Punkten widersprüchlich und falsch. So kann es zwar durchaus sein, dass das Mitglied - auf eigene Kosten - ein Abschleppen weiter als zur nächsten Werkstatt beauftragt hat, und offenbar diese Kosten dann auch vor Ort beglichen hat. Es ist schlichtweg aber nicht denkbar, dass der ADAC diese Kosten eingefordert hat. Auch schalten wir keinen Rechtsanwalt ein. Abgeschleppt wird generell nur zur nächsten Werkstatt. Eine Abrechnung nach Haustarif gibt es bei uns nicht. Ein Pick-up-Transport - wovon der Blogger wohl spricht - ist wie bereits erwähnt - keine sogenannte Auslandsleistung.

Since there is no membership or case number, we can't verify this particular information, unfortunately. The member would have to contact us directly for us to respond.

The case described completely contradicts the usual procedure, and his description is also in some respects contradictory and wrong. So it may indeed be that the member chose to arrange towing home at his own expense - car towing further than the nearest workshop, and has apparently paid these costs himself. It is simply not conceivable that the ADAC has claimed these costs. We also don't get lawyers involved. Cars will generally only be towed to the nearest garage. We don't have a department who deals with outstanding towing bills. A pick-up service - what the blogger is probably talking about - is not available in other countries as mentioned above.

So ADAC provide towing/repairs up to €200, and anything above €200 they can provide:
interest-free loans ADAC (Europe) in the form of payment guarantees for cashless payment
ADAC emergency loan max. 1.228, - EUR, eg for workshop or medical expenses or
ADAC Cars credit max. 1.100, - EUR or
ADAC overnight credit max. 360, - EUR or
ADAC credit for driving and airfares
ADAC lawyer and health credit max. 1.300, - EUR
Repayment of the borrowed amount within 14 days

den169

GolfBravo wrote: »

So ADAC provide towing/repairs up to €200, and anything above €200 they can provide:
interest-free loans ADAC (Europe) in the form of payment guarantees for cashless payment
ADAC emergency loan max. 1.228, - EUR, eg for workshop or medical expenses or
ADAC Cars credit max. 1.100, - EUR or
ADAC overnight credit max. 360, - EUR or
ADAC credit for driving and airfares
ADAC lawyer and health credit max. 1.300, - EUR
Repayment of the borrowed amount within 14 days

That kills it dead for me in the uk how far could you get for 200 euros probably about 80 mile in the uk,Brilliant if you go to europe a lot but useless for here its a shame they would put most of the breakdown companys out of buiness if they actually took the car home and no euro limit.

Kirri

zalanx wrote: »

It seems many want the same cover as I do: roadside, national recovery, no home-start.

I am surprised how often members use these services.In the past twenty years I have taken advantage of the AA & RAC three times, on two occasions at the insistance of the police.

1) 1991 4pm - Volvo 240 Estate, failed alternator. Simple solution was to buy a new battery from a nearby supplier but police insisted we call the RAC who arrived two hours later, after the parts suppliers had closed. Epic 250 mile recovery. Next day I fixed the problem - £2.50 for alternator brushes.

2) 2004 midnight - high mileage Citroen AX10 - failed bypass hose. Police called RAC, 50 mile recovery, next day I replaced the bypass hose - £6!

3) 2010 2pm - high mileage Renault Kango diesel; head/gasket failure blew the thermostat housing apart. It transpired that my AA policy from Lloyds Bank only covered me for ten miles. Got it home by jury-rigging the thermostat housing with wire and sealant and 20 litre container of water, refilled once on the 80 mile journey.

As with all insurance we have to ask, is this a good bet, is the 'peace of mind' worth the price? My 10+ year old 125K miles Clio diesel is well-maintained; short of a major failure I am better off saving £50 pa - the bill for towing/scrapping an old car is likely to be less than £500.

I think for most people this is one 'insurance' that is worth having because they lack the knowledge/ability to carry out repairs or work out the problem themselves, maybe more so in women it's also a safety net but well worth having.

That saying I've never been very pleased with the breakdown services received.