Money Moral Dilemma: Am I paying too much for holiday car breakdown?

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So your three friends left you to pay for your own journey home while they travelled for free in your car!

I think you have paid enough and I bet your friend who was driving has not offered to pay something towards the mechanic's cost since their driving could have been a factor in the break down.

Before you buy your next car spend a little in getting a mechanic to check it over so that you don't end up with another lemon

gaving7095

I think pay it. 2nd hand cars suck :-(
Did the mechanic explain what had happened? Seeing as its a "write off" they way I see it, either:
a) There was something drastically, inherently wrong with the car, it would have broken down anyway & you should be glad that you're only being stung for £50 of the towing fee! Or,
b) Your "friends" drove it VERY badly, thus broke it. Which frankly I find implausible on principle.
Only you & the mechanic know which it was. Yeah it's a bummer but pay the £50 & keep your friends.
Also, never lend out your car again...

jez33

JimboRea wrote: »

Wait...so as well as borrowing your car for free they also expected you to provide them with free breakdown cover?

I have an AA card and that covers me for any car I'm travelling in. If they had had their own breakdown cover they wouldn't have had to pay the tow fee.

When you drive ANY car there's a risk of breakdown and IMO it's the responsibility of the people travelling to ensure they are adequately covered, not the person they blagged some free motoring from.

So if this was me I'd lose no sleep over refusing to pay the £50 but as ever it comes down to whether the aggro that will result is worth saving the £50. Depending on who the friends were I'd probably cough up but make sure they know I'm NOT happy about being taken advantage of.

And I'd definitely not lend them anything ever again.

i agree all the way with jimbo,

if they borrow a car they are responsible for it's safe return be it on the back of a truck or towed it back another way.
they decided not to buy breakdown insurance so they should pay for the truck at least, you might though still be responsible for the repairs though.
i know, ive watched judge judy !!

phillw

If you're always lending people cars etc then they do get complacent about it.

If you repeatedly lend them cars without asking for money then I'd add up the cost of the rental and provide them with an invoice. If I'd been bankrolling their travel for a while then I'd even offer to pay the whole £200, once they paid what they owed me.

You haven't said what was wrong with the car, if it ran out of oil/water etc then I'd say they were equally responsible for checking it. So split the £700 4 ways as well. If there was a warning light that only came on after they borrowed the vehicle and they ignored it then they should cover the whole lot.

If you fly somewhere and decide to come back a day early then an extra £200 for 3 people is nothing, I know someone who paid around a £1000 to come back 3 days early.

Augustus_the_Strong

It occurs to me that you might like to ask your friends for their quarter share in covering the £700 cost of your car, if they are expecting you to pay a quarter share of their £200 towing costs. Makes sense.