Get breakdown cover or just hope for the best and contact local garage if breakdown occurs?

Soudle_Noop

Looking to renew my breakdown insurance, to be honest starting to wonder whether to bother. RAC took 5 hours to come out and looking through Trustpilot most breakdown companies have mixed reviews with similar instances across the board.

So I'm wondering whether to just call a local garage for recovery in the event of a breakdown instead. Has anyone else taken this approach? Any opinions?

If it helps, my car is 11 years old but has never broken down, has had regular servicing. If my car did breakdown I am confident I would be able to cover the cost of recovery.

Arunmor

Breaking down near home probably isn't the issue.  It is breaking down far from home or on the motorway than can start becoming eye watering.  So if you just stay local with the car probably not a bad idea.  But remember sods law will always apply when it comes to that odd long distance trip. 

Can you change a tyre?  Probably the most likely problem you will have.

daivid

I've not but I suppose if always staying local with a reliable car it could work out even if you do have to call someone out once in every few years.

5 years ago the transponder in my car key went (and I'd foolishly left the spare safe and unused for years so it was flat and de-programmed). Autoaid sent out their local partner who could do nothing so I needed a tow to a Honda dealership (or to find an independent key programmer) it was unclear if Autoaid would cover a tow to a Honda garage rather than the nearest repair garage (in the end they did) so I got a quote from the local partner - £120 which at the time was 3 years of premiums so self insuring would have worked out fine in that scenario. 

Last year I looked into getting a car recovered from Scotland to Wales for a relative  - again unclear if the breakdown co would cover, again they (RAC this time) did in the end. The cheapest recovery I could find was over £800, whilst an extreme example they definitely got that, and several other, years premiums worth out of the RAC. 

Are you able to have say £1000 available to cover recovery and know who to ring from the roadside particularly at night/on a weekend/on a bank holiday? I realise there are many horror stories for long waits and no shows from breakdown companies but I don’t see how trying to arrange it all oneself at the time would make it better unless you have a good connection to someone who will come out to help.

prettyandfluffy

Unless you either never drive far from home or are mechanically competent I think breakdown cover is worth having.  It doesn't have to be the AA or RAC, in fact I wouldn't pay their inflated premiums.  Mine was included when I bought my car, previously I have had breakdown cover with a bank account or bought cheaply (£69 per year with unlimited mileage) from the internet.  The last one was actually very good because when I did break down I phoned them and they just sent out a local recovery vehicle to take my car to wherever I nominated, no messing about with trying to mend it at the roadside.

EssexExile

For me it would be just the practicalities, who are you going to call? Who are you going to call after the first half dozen decline the business?

I had an old van for 20 years that I didn't really look after that well, I had no breakdown cover on it so I never went far from home with it and hoped for the best.

HampshireH

I use covermy (this year and last). When my. Car wouldn't start away from home and they were with me an hour later. Sorted a local recovery truck and took my car to a garage of my choice for repair.

They would have taken me too but I had a little person with me and the truck wasn't suitable for a baby car seat so I got collected.

Cannot fault them. I've called a few times (to update details or confirm policy) they have always been lovely on the phone. Think it's a case of you don't know what you had unless you need it and don't have it

Car_54

As EssexExile has said, who are you going to call?

When the AA, RAC, Green Flag etc are taking hours to arrive, it's usually because it's busy for everyone..

All the independent recovery operators ('local garages') will also be busy, working for AA, RAC etc.. That work is their bread and butter, so they're unlikely to prioritise a job for a private individual.

Bigwheels1111

7 year old car with no breakdowns so far.

Still cover the car every year with the AA.

I use the family cover route and share cover with my family, all live at the same address.

In April and July the AA tend to do 50% off their cover.

So far Home, National, Relay and onward travel for 4 with the AA has cost £35 max each a year.

Used topcashback etc.

Most of my trips are within 8 miles of home.

But 3/4 times a year they are 350 miles and 600 miles.

baser999

Until I had AA included as a package when I bought our car last year I was with Drivers Guardian for years. I think that it was around £90 which included pretty much everything - at home, roadside, relay, even Europe. When the free AA cover runs out late next year I’ll certainly not renew with them. I believe their like-for-like cover with what I had with DG would be well over £200 and I don’t consider they’re offering any better a service. Just read their reviews

Soudle_Noop

Hi everyone, thank you so much for the comments, this has been incredibly helpful.

I tend to stick relatively local with the odd long commute, having read these I will definitely continue getting breakdown cover but likely one of the cheaper ones.

Grumpy_chap

Soudle_Noop said:

Looking to renew my breakdown insurance, to be honest starting to wonder whether to bother. RAC took 5 hours to come out and looking through Trustpilot most breakdown companies have mixed reviews with similar instances across the board.

So I'm wondering whether to just call a local garage for recovery in the event of a breakdown instead. Has anyone else taken this approach? Any opinions?

If it helps, my car is 11 years old but has never broken down, has had regular servicing. If my car did breakdown I am confident I would be able to cover the cost of recovery.

You could assess that 11 years without a breakdown could mean that a breakdown is overdue.  It is not just to do with the car's age and maintenance record - some consumable items can fail unexpectedly and without warning resulting in being stranded. 

Some items can fail even though only recently replaced - my last "proper" breakdown requiring recovery was in a car that had the timing belt fail catastrophically within a month of having had the belt replaced.  I have also had to call out for a blown tyre and the bolt seized and for battery failure - arguably not "proper" breakdowns but still leave you stranded.

Your post seems a bit inconsistent as you start by saying "RAC took 5 hours to come out" but then end by saying "never broken down"...

Having breakdown cover is also not just about the ability to cover the cost of recovery.  It is about having a number to call when an incident arises even if it occurs as some ghastly hour of the day on the worst weather of the year and at some back-of-beyond away from any civilisation place where you have no contacts or support network.  Having a contact that you can call that will respond is a massive peace of mind in that scenario.

I have just gone through exactly the challenge about renewing breakdown cover and the apparent waste of money given I have a brand new car.  I decided to get cover regardless, albeit with an excess that applies in the event of a call out.  That seemed the most sensible compromise between risk and cost.