RAC nightmare 4 hour wait + trapped in car

Richard_T_

On Friday my car broke down, after the engine cut out, and wouldnt re start, so i called the RAC, as i was stopped on double yellow lines, and not in a good place in terms of traffic aproaching I kpet my hazzard lights on.
They said that it could be an hour to an hour and a half, so i waited pateintly for the orange van to turn up, and waited and waited, they did however call me to say that they had sub contracted their service out to another local recovery service.
After about 3 hours my hazzard lights died, and with it all the electrics as the battery wheezed its last, at which point i was unable to open the electric windows, or open the doors as the central locking had locked the doors, and they couldnt be opened from the inside- in effect i was trapped.
eventualy another breakdown / recovery company ( which RAC had sub contracted) - Burrows turned up and i was soon on my way back home ( all be it with a car that needs a bit of further attention from a mechanic)

Is this normal for the RAC? at the moment im thinking of cancelling my membership ( member since 1999), as i am far from happy with their level of non service. being stuck with a borken down car is bad enough, but when your physicaly trapped inside it, and the RAC cant even be arsed to turn up is another.

DKLS

I would imagine friday was a very busy day for the RAC, we had a lot of localised flooding and I saw quite a few cars broken down waiting for rescue.

e999sam

I assume that as it was Burrows that came out to you you were in the Derby area. There was a lot of flooding yesterday and I imagine their resources were stretched. I saw 2 AA vans attending cars stuck in water on a 20 mile drive home yesterday.

cherylim

I've always had great service from the RAC. I've also never sat inside my car when it's broken down, as you're supposed to get out and move away.

Wouldn't go with anyone else for breakdown cover. I've been offered cheaper deals but the RAC have my complete trust.

Ultrasonic

Richard_T_ wrote: »

After about 3 hours my hazzard lights died, and with it all the electrics as the battery wheezed its last, at which point i was unable to open the electric windows, or open the doors as the central locking had locked the doors, and they couldnt be opened from the inside- in effect i was trapped.

Is it possible to get from the inside of your car into the boot by folding a rear seat down? If so there is probably a manual boot release that would have allowed you to 'escape'. Might be worth having a look at your car's manual so you'd know if you end up in this position again.

neilmcl

Also, if you've broken down in a hazardous area it's always a good idea to phone the police.

forgotmyname

You can still open the doors from inside without battery power, unless you deadlocked though.

Then you would need to put the key in outside.

So how did you get out when the patrol came?

Ive had decent service from them the couple of times i needed to use the service.
I did have a long wait the once, Couple of hours. But this was before mobile phones etc. So i was not walking to the phone box again.

Does seem more common for 1 hour or more, It seems. Rather than 30 - 60 minutes.
Maybe less patrols, Or more customers for the same number of patrols?

Your battery sounds knackered. It should last longer than that, Even with the lights on.
I left my sidelights on at work once for 6+ hours, It still started as normal.

waynedance

How can you lock yourself in a car?

To double lock a car you need to either do it with the remote or in the door with key. Is there another way?

As said I guess the recovery service was very busy with more important breakdowns or just not enough patrols to cover the demand, got to understand with recent weather conditions.

Ultrasonic

forgotmyname wrote: »

So how did you get out when the patrol came?

An excellent question!

waynedance wrote:

How can you lock yourself in a car?

To double lock a car you need to either do it with the remote or in the door with key. Is there another way?

I suspect pressing the door lock button inside my car has the same efffect on the locks as pressing the key fob from outside it? Cars that auto-lock the doors once a certain speed is reached probably do the same thing too? Or is there another stage of locking I'm missing?

marlot

Ultrasonic wrote: »

I suspect pressing the door lock button inside my car has the same efffect on the locks as pressing the key fob from outside it? Cars that auto-lock the doors once a certain speed is reached probably do the same thing too? Or is there another stage of locking I'm missing?

Yes, the deadlock or double lock!

Ultrasonic

marlot wrote: »

Yes, the deadlock or double lock!

Could you explain that please? Is it a question of the intererior door handles not being able to open the doors once the deadlock is on?

In my car if the interior lock button is pressed the interior door handles have to be pulled twice for the door to open. I'm not sure if this is a mechanical or electrical system. If it is electrical then cutting the power would presumably prevent the doors being opened in this situation (without the externally triggered deadlock having been activated).