Is it worth NOT taking road side assistance at all?

Elze

Why take roadside insurance I was wondering. How likely is it that my 4 year old, reliable petrol car will break down in the next 4 years? I understand you can still call the RAC, even if you are not a member. Signing up roadside is more expensive, but doesn't seem to be prohibitive. I saw  £50 mentioned somewhere, but the information seems hard to find.

It's a question that - to my surprise - wasn't mentioned on the website of MoneySavingExpert.

I have no anxiety of calling a taxi out, or staying in a remote place waiting for assistance. In fact, the last time I broke down at 11pm, the RAC had me drive slowly to the nearest petrol station (2 miles) and wait there till 4am. So even with assistance it's not necessarily smooth sailing.

Thoughts?

sammyjammy

It depends on your appetite to risk, all cars can break down, brand new and really old.  Its piece of mind for me, I have never broken down on a motorway but the thought of it terrifies me.  That £50 would probably get you towed to the nearest services and abandoned there!

ButterCheese

Will the engine or gearbox blow up and leave you stranded?  Probably not.  But there are lots of other things that can go wrong.  A stone can flip up and cause very minor damage but if it hits the wrong bit it can throw your car's ECU into meltdown, and you don't want to be stuck on a motorway in limp mode.  Try StartRescue - they are much cheaper than the big two.  Better to have it and not use it, than to need it and not have it.  My partner was stranded for 3 hours on the way to her son's pass out parade in the army, they only just made it.  it was only a sticking brake caliper, but pretty much unfixable by the side of the road and they had to get recovered back home. 

carly

It depends on your circumstances and ability to diagnose and fix what might be a minor problem.  I could change a tyre myself etc but I took out assistance /recovery when my teenage daughter started to drive my car.  I would like to know that she had a safety net when out alone when I wouldnt be able to get to her.

Northern_Wanderer

I have a national recovery and home start breakdown cover for £25 / year with no excess and no limit to call outs - it's a no brainer. Piece of mind if anything happens which reduces what can be a stressful situation when it happens.

Mr.Generous

Must be my attitude to risk but I've never had roadside assistance (that I paid for - sometimes free with a new car) and the last time I broke down was in a Y reg Ford Escort.

I do service my cars myself which helps, although I've had to bite the bullet and get a couple of dealer services now for warrantee cover.

DullGreyGuy

Elze said:

Why take roadside insurance I was wondering. How likely is it that my 4 year old, reliable petrol car will break down in the next 4 years? I understand you can still call the RAC, even if you are not a member. Signing up roadside is more expensive, but doesn't seem to be prohibitive. I saw  £50 mentioned somewhere, but the information seems hard to find.

It's a question that - to my surprise - wasn't mentioned on the website of MoneySavingExpert.

I have no anxiety of calling a taxi out, or staying in a remote place waiting for assistance. In fact, the last time I broke down at 11pm, the RAC had me drive slowly to the nearest petrol station (2 miles) and wait there till 4am. So even with assistance it's not necessarily smooth sailing.

Thoughts?

Dont know where you are getting £50 from? A google shows most people talking numbers around £200 with a fairly modest recovery plus then a cost of membership on top. 

Given MSE is going to get potentially over £150 for each person that buys breakdown after clicking the link may explain why they recommend those with new cars to get basic cover rather than no cover and older cars consider higher cover. 

It really depends on your risk tolerance and network... what would you do if the car broke down at home? On the motorway? In the middle of nowhere? How often do you go into the middle of nowhere? Do you take the car overseas? Do you have a car that has to be on a flat bed rather than towed? 

Our packaged bank account included European breakdown cover so was a moot point for us. Only called them out twice, once when a it was making a terrible grinding sound when it moved (turned out to be a bucket stuck under it, the recovery guy didnt spot it either until he lifted the car and it dropped out, the second was when water ingress fried the roof mechanism with it partially down. 

user1977

Think people are viewing this slightly oddly - you don't need to be a member of a breakdown organisation to get somebody out to look at your broken-down car, the difference is whether you're prepared to pay for that if and when it happens, or prefer to "insure" against it with a regular subscription. In many cases it's going to be the same truck which comes to you anyway!

teaselMay

For me it's an essential and means if broken down on the motorway it's minimal effort to get recovered to safety. I used to use the RAC policy that has an excess so that I paid not a lot up front but then each call out would cost I can't recall but in the region of £50. I didn't need to call them in at least 3 years of doing that. Recently changed to cover with my insurance, very glad I had that cover when I unexpectedly ran out of fuel - gauge well out on its estimate - on a dark windy road not known to me. 

It's true you can get recovered without being a member but on that dark windy road or a terrifying hard shoulder (most dangerous part of the motorway) minimal hassle is worth it.