RAC Car Breakdown Discussion

Najwaa

Hi all

Just waisted my time trying to get to RAC website to register and the site can not be found.

Also tried getting there via a cash back website and still didn't work.

Not good

Picasso7

I've just cancelled AA and taken out RAC. Martin's article isn't entirely accurate as the cashback website you get to from TopCashBack does not give the onward travel free. I didn't have time to use their live chat to argue as it was a good deal with the cashback anyway and I didn't think I'd get anywhere. But the cashback tracked immediately.

I just hope I don't come back here with a horror story like the ones in this thread!

forgotmyname

Najwaa wrote: »

Hi all

Just waisted my time trying to get to RAC website to register and the site can not be found.

Also tried getting there via a cash back website and still didn't work.

Not good

Try a new computer, the website works fine.


Just waiting for my renewal, time to start haggling again...

rjsdavis

We have just experienced dire breakdown treatment from the RAC.

I purchased the full, deluxe, Euro RAC (with full homestart/national recovery/onward travel etc etc) policy via our insurer's Lloyds Bank. They bolted it onto our car insurance policy.

We took our car over to France for a holiday in the Dordogne, and our Land Rover turbo failed on the Autoroute approaching Rouen, some 200km or so into the journey. The turbo failing caused military grade smoke that engulfed the autoroute, stopping all traffic, and the Gendarmerie and Fire Service attended within a few minutes of the breakdown as other road users thought our car was on fire. We were recovered by the service that picks up all cars from the Autoroute and taken to their depot in Rouen. This was all fine. The agent spoke to the RAC, who covered this recovery fee, and then arranged a hire car for the onward travel. This was also all fine. The young lady that dealt with all of this (Seham) was professional and diligent.

Then it started to go horribly wrong. The RAC took our Land Rover to a local garage (Garage ACM) in Rouen, that was a generalist garage. They charged E60 for "diagnosis", which was to confirm that the turbo had failed. They claimed that they had removed the turbo, stripped it and then replaced it. (Our UK LR specialist has confirmed that the turbo has never been removed from the engine - ever, since the day it left the production line).

Long story short - Garage ACM, quoted E1800 to supply and fit a replacement turbo. Yes, you read that right, 1800 quid. Garage ACM refused to provide a diagnostic report, or any sort of written estimate for the work. I declined this quote, knowing that it would cost me circa £300-350 for the same work in the UK from our own LR mechanic.

The RAC then confirmed, that as I had "declined to have it repaired (at any cost!), and that it could have been repaired by the time our holiday had ended, they would not repatriate our car to the UK". I could not believe my ears.

Our car was effectively being ransomed - pay the garage bill, and any extortionate cost for the repair that they deem to charge you, or you can get your car home yourself....

We were able to keep the hire car for the duration of the planned holiday, and drove it all the way back to Calais. The RAC left us to ourselves from Calais port onwards where we needed to get ourselves back across the channel with all of our luggage and children and so on (£150 for 5x foot passengers for a one way trip!!), then there was a hire car at Dover which we could use for 1x day to get us home (this bit was fine).

I was in the fortunate position where a neighbour of ours was prepared to lend me their Defender so that I could hire a trailer and go back to Rouen the following week to collect our Disco myself. This is what I did.

Another long story short - the RAC then provide me with incorrect collection details to collect my car! I was texted an address in "Bapaume". I fed this address into the sat nav, that brought up the town of Bapaume (which was about 70k from where I was near the Somme), or another that was some 400km+ away in the Alsace region. I rang the RAC to confirm that my car was in the Bapaume that was near where I was in the Somme valley. The agent confirmed that "she would have thought so, my car was in the NW region of France...." - stupidly, I accepted this and proceeded to the town of Bapaume.

Long story short - my car was not in the town of Bapaume. My car was in Rouen, but in a surburb of Rouen called "Bapaume de Rouen" - there was no mention of Rouen in the address that the RAC had provided to me! I raced to Rouen as quick as poss to get there before the garage closed, but, despite the RAC ringing them regularly to notify them that I was en route, they were long gone when I got there. An overnight stay in Rouen waiting for the garage in the morning - I haven't been this angry in many years. In some fairness to the RAC, they covered the s***heap hostel that they put me up in overnight.

I arrived at the garage first thing in the morning. Lie after lie was then told to me by the garage owner. Fortunately, I took the precaution of recording every single word of every single conversation that occurred that day, and every previous call to the RAC on my mobile, so a super-complaint will be heading their way soon. I found that my car had been damaged (front bumper cracked in the corner) and that Garage ACM then lied to the RAC about the conversation I had about this with them at the time - claiming that I agreed with them that it was "old damage" (they don't know yet that they've been recorded). The garage owners became shouty and highly abusive when I dared to ask questions about the breakdown of the repair quote and where the diagnostic report was.

I am in the process of extracting all of these recordings from my mobile phone, and will be uploading them all to soundcloud. I will post links to them when they're ready. You can hear for yourself how we were treated. This French garage, and the RAC, seem to think that it is "fair and reasonable" to charge 5-6 times as much for a repair as it would cost in the UK, and then to withdraw repatriation services if you decide that you're not being treated fairly or honestly.

As an aside, we had another serious service failure a couple of months earlier, where I had a clutch slave fail on my Saab, meaning that the clutch pedal simply pressed into the floor and wouldn't return rendering the car immobile.

Long story short, the mechanic that came out to attempt a roadside repair by bleeding the system through the bleeding nipple on the side of the engine, threaded the bleeding cap (which is an integral part of the slave and is all one unit) which broke it. The system could not be bled again, as hydraulic pressure could not be restored to the system once the air had been pushed out of the system. This led to having to have the master (which had been the fault), as well as the slave (which was fine and didn't need to be replaced until the RAC patrol damaged it) having to be replaced and adding massive cost to the end repair as the entire gearbox needed to come out to facilitate the slave replacement.

Added to that, after the RAC patrol damaged the slave and subsequently left claiming that "there was nothing he could do for us", we then waited six hours (in North East London) for a recovery truck to come and get us. I was there with my young sister and her newborn baby - the RAC couldn't have given less of a toss about a newborn baby being stranded for this length of time. 8 hours was the total wait before we were actually recovered - and we weren't exactly in the Highlands!

Added to this, when the recovery truck finally arrived, he struck a parked vehicle (He thought I didn't seem him do this), and simply drove away planning on not getting caught for damaging a parked vehicle!

Extraordinary. Needless to say, I won't be renewing with the RAC. I've just purchased an AutoAid membership this afternoon, and we'll give them a go.

forgotmyname

Are there any that will recover your vehicle after a garage has said yes they can fix it? You cannot fit a new turbo for £300 - £350.

You dont need to remove the turbo to inspect it, removing the pipes etc. is all thats required and €60 isnt totally ripoff for that. £1500 is not out of order for a decent turbo replacement.

rjsdavis

I'm sorry that you chose to reply, when ignorant of the facts of Land Rover servicing.

Our Land Rover is back in the UK, and will have a genuine, brand new Garrett turbo fitted for £340. Fact.

forgotmyname

Is this under the original warranty or an extended warranty?

If so why didnt you claim on that instead of the RAC?

rjsdavis

What are you talking about?

Clearly, this is being paid for out of my own pocket! I knew how much it would be to repair the car in the UK, which is why the "offer" of a repair in France of 1,800 Euro's was immediately declined. Fortunately, I know Land Rover's extremely well having owned them for years.

The key point here, is that most people will not know their marques anywhere near as well, and may well not know if they are being ripped off by a scumbag garage in France, supported by the French RAC, or at least the company "Opteven" that the RAC subcontract to in France.

Smartsaver7

The only problem I have had with the RAC is that at night they outsource their rescue to contractors , so your breakdown is passed to a nearby garage , if the contractor is a small outfit and their truck is on a job then you have a long wait, I have been left waiting for 4hrs with the RAC call centre operator lying about how long the rescue would take , on my last occasion the garage didn't even get passed the job until 2hrs after my call.

MakeitgoRIGHT

Received an RAC renewal a few days ago, wanting £53 for basic cover - phew!

Just checked TopCashBack with both RAC and AA are offering basic cover for about £29, less £6.80 £bk .... about £23. Which is a long way back from £53.

Called RAC and explained my annoyance, and they took a look at things, checked what discounts were available, and well, they matched it. Chopped off £30 just like that.

So by haggling, I got £30 off the breakdown cover.
It probably works with AA too.

ie mention the cashback figure and they take that into the sums.