Which Breakdown Recovery Service?
Discussion
Hi, I've just bought myself my first TVR and so thought I'd best get some breakdown cover in place, just in case. I've looked at the usual big 2, AA and RAC, and they look pretty much the same in terms of what they offer. I was wondering what other TVR owners have gone for and if you had any recommendations?. I presume the most basic levels of cover aren't worth having for a car like this as they only take you to the nearest garage and I don't really fancy having my Chim taken to the local Kwik Fit if something serious has happened to it 
Any experiences or suggestions would be gratefully received.
Thanks,
Ross
Any experiences or suggestions would be gratefully received.
Thanks,
Ross
I use the AA since buying the TVR as the person who comes out will be a mechanic and someone who will try to sort the problem as opposed to just put the car on the back of a tow truck having made no attempt to fix it at the roadside.
The AA have been good to me of late; one arrived in 25 minutes and the other in 10 !!! Years ago my father in law who was 80 at the time waited 6 hours for recovery
Thankfully it seems they are better these days ....
The AA have been good to me of late; one arrived in 25 minutes and the other in 10 !!! Years ago my father in law who was 80 at the time waited 6 hours for recovery
Thankfully it seems they are better these days ....Green Flag are apparently the quickest to get to people, the AA and RAC will always try and get thier own trucks to you first, THEN they'll send the local recovery firm on their behalf (they reserve up to 90 minutes to do this).
However, the AA do a "Parts and Labour cover" which for around £60 covers you for 5 (I think) claims of upto £500 per year... so might be worth considering..?
However, the AA do a "Parts and Labour cover" which for around £60 covers you for 5 (I think) claims of upto £500 per year... so might be worth considering..?
Are in the wrong forum 
I have always been with the RAC on the grounds that I thought they were the only one who offered the facility for a single lorry to recover you all the way home. I understood that with the AA each van operates in a limited geographical area so if I live in Surrey, break down near Birmingham and want to have the car taken to Fernhurst in Sussex they would potentially send out an AA recovery truck who would be local to Birmingham, he would take the car to the edge of the county of West Midlands where he'd dump me by the roadside so I would have to wait for the guy from Oxfordshire to turn up, put the car on the back of his truck and take me to the boundary with Hertforshire and so on.
I never liked the idea of all that messing about, I never wanted my precious TVR to be loaded on and off half a dozen trucks on its wayy to the garage and that's why I have always gone with the RAC.
This is what my Dad told me years ago and explains why I've been with the RAC for about 18 years.
Saxon
I never liked the idea of all that messing about, I never wanted my precious TVR to be loaded on and off half a dozen trucks on its wayy to the garage and that's why I have always gone with the RAC.
This is what my Dad told me years ago and explains why I've been with the RAC for about 18 years.
Saxon
The RAC have a good policy in that they will recover you and your car after an accident, which was damn handy when our Golf got smashed earlier in the year.
As far as the AA are concerned it's up to insurance companies to deal with that, which is not so good when you don't have the numbers to hand or they are closed. The RAC obviously extract payment out on the insurance comapnies involved, but the hassle there and then is reduced, which is what counts.
As far as the AA are concerned it's up to insurance companies to deal with that, which is not so good when you don't have the numbers to hand or they are closed. The RAC obviously extract payment out on the insurance comapnies involved, but the hassle there and then is reduced, which is what counts.
tuscan bev said:
I will be changing from AA because they wouldnt recover from an accident, but apparently RAC do
Why? Are you planning to have another?
As a long term RAC member I'm minded to ask them to consider withdrawing this cover. Otherwise all the accident prone drivers will join and force up the premiums for us careful drivers. *tut*
hmm, always been with the AA and aparently i thought they were the only ones with their own fleet of lorries (i.e. low loaders) which is what you need when the clutch goes...
afaik the multiple lorries thing on long journeys is because the drivers are not allowed to drive for more than ? hours so they have to do a relay job (at least that's what the AA man told me!).
All i can say is that the AA bod who recovered mine after clutch issues was very careful and even seemed to konw how much it would cost me to get the clutch fixed...
afaik the multiple lorries thing on long journeys is because the drivers are not allowed to drive for more than ? hours so they have to do a relay job (at least that's what the AA man told me!).
All i can say is that the AA bod who recovered mine after clutch issues was very careful and even seemed to konw how much it would cost me to get the clutch fixed...
AA took 3.5 hours to recover my Maserati on a flat bed when my radiator went, they wouldn't take it to the garage because it was closed so stored the car overnight and took until late afternoon next day to take it into the garage where they had been waiting for it since 8.00am.
I was a single female on my own and had to keep chasing them up for details - they let me down hugely.
The day after I got a call from the operations manager, although I had not made a fuss or complained, who asked me what exactly had gone wrong and how could they stop it from happening again. Next years cover will be on them so they can prove to me that they can do the job properly. I was impressed that they had flagged the poor service I had received and apologised for it.
I was a single female on my own and had to keep chasing them up for details - they let me down hugely.
The day after I got a call from the operations manager, although I had not made a fuss or complained, who asked me what exactly had gone wrong and how could they stop it from happening again. Next years cover will be on them so they can prove to me that they can do the job properly. I was impressed that they had flagged the poor service I had received and apologised for it.
sparkythecat said:
As a long term RAC member I'm minded to ask them to consider withdrawing this cover. Otherwise all the accident prone drivers will join and force up the premiums for us careful drivers. *tut*
It shouldn't be driving up premiums at all, as they claim back from yours or the third parties insurance policy. It's damn handy if someone hits you and you suddenly become the accident prone one, as the RAC will do as you ask, not just drag the car to the closest garage. When our Golf got smacked I had both of the kids in the back and that was their main concern, they got us home then dropped off the car, job done.
Saxon said:
I have always been with the RAC on the grounds that I thought they were the only one who offered the facility for a single lorry to recover you all the way home. I understood that with the AA each van operates in a limited geographical area so if I live in Surrey, break down near Birmingham and want to have the car taken to Fernhurst in Sussex they would potentially send out an AA recovery truck who would be local to Birmingham, he would take the car to the edge of the county of West Midlands where he'd dump me by the roadside so I would have to wait for the guy from Oxfordshire to turn up, put the car on the back of his truck and take me to the boundary with Hertforshire and so on.
I never liked the idea of all that messing about, I never wanted my precious TVR to be loaded on and off half a dozen trucks on its wayy to the garage and that's why I have always gone with the RAC.
This is what my Dad told me years ago and explains why I've been with the RAC for about 18 years.
Saxon
I never liked the idea of all that messing about, I never wanted my precious TVR to be loaded on and off half a dozen trucks on its wayy to the garage and that's why I have always gone with the RAC.
This is what my Dad told me years ago and explains why I've been with the RAC for about 18 years.
Saxon
I've been with the AA all my driving life and I think they are fantastic. They have only ever let me down once and I got a free year for it. Also two years ago a lorry wheel tried to kill me on the M6 north of Birmingham, the police forced us to use a local recovery truck who took us about 3-4 miles to their centre and charged us £120.
Called the AA from there and they took us all the way home to sunny Southend, must be more than 120 miles.
And to think a years membership is £110.
Is it still the case that the RAC only covers your car and not any car your in? The fact that Id been on long journeys in different mates dodgy cars, it always gives me peace of mind to know we will have no problem in getting home should the worst happen.
Dave N500 CHM said:
Is it still the case that the RAC only covers your car and not any car your in? The fact that Id been on long journeys in different mates dodgy cars, it always gives me peace of mind to know we will have no problem in getting home should the worst happen.
It depends which level of cover you have, most policies are now per person/couple/family, but you can get (cheaper) per-vehicle policies.
I use the AA. Service has been fine:
Been recovered home from the M6 toll to Poole. They turned up in quick time and even had a go at fixing the car in the snow. Had to switch flatbeds at winchester for reasons covered above. But the 2nd lorry was waiting for us so no worries. This was for a worn out alternator on Chim.
AA bloke came out and bled clutch for me enough to drive to APM for a new master cylinder on Cerb.
The other day in my Cerb however, my throttle cable bracket snapped half way along the a31 in the new forest. i waited on the AA hotline ('don't hang up, you're in a queue we'll be with you soon') for so long I had to hang up as my battery was almost gone. This was a bit sh1t. So I held out my AA card in front of an AA recovery truck who was driving by. He stopped & despite having finished for the day, helped me bodge an emergency fix to get home.
Generally then, I'd say they're alright & that recovery driver was a decent bloke.
Been recovered home from the M6 toll to Poole. They turned up in quick time and even had a go at fixing the car in the snow. Had to switch flatbeds at winchester for reasons covered above. But the 2nd lorry was waiting for us so no worries. This was for a worn out alternator on Chim.
AA bloke came out and bled clutch for me enough to drive to APM for a new master cylinder on Cerb.
The other day in my Cerb however, my throttle cable bracket snapped half way along the a31 in the new forest. i waited on the AA hotline ('don't hang up, you're in a queue we'll be with you soon') for so long I had to hang up as my battery was almost gone. This was a bit sh1t. So I held out my AA card in front of an AA recovery truck who was driving by. He stopped & despite having finished for the day, helped me bodge an emergency fix to get home.
Generally then, I'd say they're alright & that recovery driver was a decent bloke.
Been with NCI for 2 years and have used them twice - once low loader Brands Hatch to Brum and Rockingham to Brum.
Now got anotyher Griff we're transferring to personal membership which is £123 for the 2 of us. Home start, recover etc (no european though - adds about another £24).
FFG
Now got anotyher Griff we're transferring to personal membership which is £123 for the 2 of us. Home start, recover etc (no european though - adds about another £24).
FFG
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