Is breakdown cover really needed?

Goudy

I was recently involved in a conversation regarding breakdown cover, mainly it's expensive and it had us all thinking, is it really needed?

I haven't actually paid for it myself for around 10 years or so as my cars have still been in warranty and had cover through that but how likely is it to breakdown these days.

I can recall, in the dim and distance past calling them because of a flat battery, but not for the battery or jump but the car auto locked once powered up with the keys inside still running after I jumped it myself. (and it wasn't even my car)

All the other "out on the road" issues have always stuck a EML or other warning light on and allowed me to limp home or to the dealers/garage. I can't actually remember breaking down and being stuck at the side of the road.

So I wondered, who in say the past 10 years or so have actually broken down at the side of the road.
Not a flat battery at home or a puncture or ran out of fuel, but a "stopped no longer running/driving" breakdown at the side of the road?

It might be useful to put the rough age of the car and make/model plus what the outcome was, towed or fixed/fixed enough to get you home or to the garage.

WellKnownSid

12 year old Volvo - EPB stuck on one side, car literally immovable. After three and a half hours of waiting for the RAC they phoned to ask if they could send an “independent” mechanic. Agreed and said mechanic turned up 8 minutes later (!!!!) stripped the motor off the rear calliper and wound off the handbrake with a torx bit.  I later replaced said motor on the drive (£30 part)

elsien

For me it's worth it for the puncture and the flat battery, both of which have happened while at work 30 miles from home. I'm not changing a tyre myself and at 5pm when the garages are closed and I'm stuck somewhere unfamiliar and sometimes slightly dodgy (my job involves visiting people at home)  I just want help to get home with the minimum of fuss. I have also locked my keys in the car one evening while not in my home town.

 Plus, while on a dual carriageway heading to a holiday destination I had a mechanical problem that meant car being unfixable at the roadside and having to be towed to a garage near where I was staying.
And the starter motor going while in a car park. 
And a brake light warning that I wasn't risking on a motorway. 

It's like any insurance. You are are paying for the "just in case" and that peace of mind is important to me even if I end up not using it. 

mr_stripey

 - tyre blow out on the M1 near Leicester. Even though I probably could have changed the wheel myself, I really did not fancy the risk of squatting down in the rain on the hard shoulder to do so. In any case, when the AA man arrived he was unable to unscrew the wheelnuts without the aid of his compressor so I probably would have been screwed.

- heater matrix failure on my Cmax resulting in hot water spraying out under the driver's legs. Probably could have iimped home but again, not a risk I wanted to take

- engine ECU module failed on Freelander (god dam you Freelander!). Vehicle came to a halt and would not move. RAC man arrived swiftly and towed us to the Landy garage for another £1000+ bill then took us home

everyone's appetite for risk is different. I've had no call outs in the last three years but for the £100 or so a year, it's peace of mind for me at least

There's probably lots of other areas I could save £100 a year (less takeaways maybe.......)

EDIT - another factor is one's own knowledge of cars and engines and the ability to diagnose and fix issues on the road. In the long past I had a MK1 Fiesta which could pretty much be stripped down and rebuilt in a layby with just a socket set. I have also changed a clutch cable on a Renault 11 which used to shred them regularly but I would not do so these days - I wouldn't know where to start on modern cars!

Emmia

I've not had a car for several years, but when I did I called them out twice, for an issue with my car once the battery had failed and the other was a flat tyre. 

I don't have the strength to get the tyre off (and I've no idea how to change it anyway). 

I also used it (as the policy covered me, rather than the car) on a friends car which broke down - he hadn't bought cover because "he knew how to fix cars" - only for this issue, he couldn't. Most amusingly it was his brother who worked as an RAC guy who turned up to the call... 

If I had a car again I'd have breakdown cover with home start no question. It's just peace of mind.

New_in_the_fens

Call out breakdown on average once every 18 months over the last 10 years. Several different cars and ages as covered as a passenger as well as a driver. 

Never a flat battery or flat tyre or run out of petrol. Fuel leak, car stopped and would not restart, gear box/clutch issue, engine management issues and would not limp home.

Also have limped home due to an engine management light, but I now live rurally and at night, driving on a single carriageway in the pitch black at slow speeds with 38T lorries screaming up my backside is totally not within my risk tolerance. 

Yes, you can argue limp mode will get you home, but it’s not appropriate, or safe, in every circumstance.

Goudy

mr_stripey said:

- heater matrix failure on my Cmax 

- engine ECU module failed on Freelander 

everyone's appetite for risk is different. 

There's some irony there I think 

Sarahspangles

Five year old car, tyre blowout on a rural A road with no street lighting or hard shoulder, I would have been changing the tyre in the dark in a live lane. The recovery towed me to a safe location, identified the car had been supplied with the wrong space saver for the model - which would have stumped me - but he made it work by rotating the tyres so I could get home.

We have cover packaged in our bank account. I wish Nationwide didn’t use AA now, a family member had a terrible experience with them which resulted in a lot of distress and them paying compensation. At the point my OH isn’t fully covered by the travel insurance part of the package we’ll probably cancel and self insure, including for breakdown. But we’re not commuters or doing high mileage any more.

mr_stripey

Goudy said:

mr_stripey said:

- heater matrix failure on my Cmax 

- engine ECU module failed on Freelander 

everyone's appetite for risk is different. 

There's some irony there I think 

haha. The Freelander was simultaneously both the best and worst car I've had. Loved it when it was working but every mile driven felt like a mile closer to the next catastrophic breakdown and £1000+ bill! 

Only brought it because my (ex) wife decided we needed a caravan! 

Fortunately both wife and freelander are no longer part of my life! 

Bigphil1474

My previous car was a 2009 Fiesta which I had until 2020. In the last 2 years I had RAC out 3 times - twice for 2 different overheating issues and once for a flat battery. My current car is a 2018 Peugeot, and I had RAC out a couple of years ago following an oil pressure warning light - the big red flashy thing said stop the car and do not drive further. I've had RAC cover as part of a package through my bank for years, roughly £7 a month for that cover.

FlorayG

I had a new clutch put in my Nissan X-trail. two days later - on a Sunday - it seized miles from anywhere. the AA took it back to the garage for me where they investigated on Monday and found the clutch itself was faulty. Without breakdown cover I would have been reduced to hitch-hiking from any farmer that came by
Things break. Yes, my vehicle is older, but a lot of the things that go wrong are due to potholes and they hit all cars