Marc's X7, C3 Aircross, Rants, Raves & Everything Else

[GiveMeABreak]

Well went out for the big shop today thinking it would be nice and quiet and everybody else it seemed had the same idea after the torrential rain.

Several roads closed en route, requiring some mountaineering and sat nav intervention to get out, including this road that had started to slide away:

Boulders and stone everywhere on the roads, and Rufford Ford style riverways to get across in several locations. No pics as was trying to focus on the 20 MPH zones oh, and on avoiding the boulders of course. There was a new Mini stuck in the middle with the door open and the door window smashed in several places - so not sure whether the occupants were caught unawares during the night and stranded or if there was an accident and they were trapped. The flood water was only a foot or so deep by the time I got there, so I waited a bit and let other vehicles go before me to gauge the depth. It was a mud bath essentially and the car will no doubt need languishing in some snow foam when I get a chance.

Took another 2 hours on to the journey today to get into town and back because of all the devastation. I hope Drakeford gets his finger out and starts providing the Authority with funds to get our bloody roads fixed instead of on his mamby pamby schemes nobody wants.

[CitroJim]

Gosh! That's some serious weather Marc

Do take care...

[bobins]

Several roads closed en route, requiring some mountaineering and sat nav intervention to get out, including this road that had started to slide away:

One wonders what the satnav would say - "Caution : Road missing ahead"

[GiveMeABreak]

Well tis the season of big car bills for me. Since getting the Aircross everything seems to fall due in December! That and I haven't updated my blog for a while.

So first off car tax - sorted that.
Next Insurance. So Privilege decided they were gong to whack that up by £130 for the hell of it, so I re-kindled my comparison site accounts and ran it through there.

I accept that car insurance has gone up across the board generally - I mean come on, somebody has to pay for all the stolen Range Rovers in London I guess and then there's this thing called inflation...

Manged to get it back down to only £20 more than last year with only a £100 compulsory excess and no voluntary excess, so very pleased with that. Mind you, never heard of the company before (Marmalade), but I guess as long as they are regulated then you've got to take a punt.

Next is my connected Live Services 3 year period runs out this month, but I won't be paying to extend that as at the end of the day I really don't need to know how many parking spaces there are in multi-stories as we don't have any of those, I can do without the petrol prices being displayed, as I have a notification for those and speed camera service is pretty useless as they don't show any where I am in any case. So overall not a saving, but not an additional expense either.

Next the Car Extended Warranty. This expires in January and the renewal has come through - and I was shocked to see that had gone up from £299 last year with Citroen Assistance Plus, to £489 this year! So I've decided I am not going to avail myself of that thanks very much!

So my car is now 4 years old and I've decided that if anything needs doing it will just get done as needed, but I'm not going to fork out that sort of cash for warranty. I'm happy that the recent ABS sensor fault that was replaced under warranty was all covered, so justified last years fee, along with breakdown. So I'm going to decline that - and that will be more lost business for them charging these ridiculous prices, rather than keeping it at a reasonable cost. I did check with Motor easy for a comparison, but they wanted £409 too! So no thanks chaps.

So off to get some breakdown cover quotes at the ready. Rip-off season is back.

[NewcastleFalcon]

I came across Marmalade too!

AA just sent out their renewal proposal for the Leaf Last year £171, this Year £271. Not keen on that so I did the usual thing and tried a couple of comparison sites money supermarket and Compare the Market.
What usually happens is there are loads of hardly heard of companies with cheaper quotes, and the odd one you have heard of fronted by the banks/building societies and last year the good old AA.

This year things have changed, few beat the renewal offering by the AA and the cheapest on the list were "Marmalade" but not so cheap that I could be bothered to change...come on where did they dig that name from...

https://www.wearemarmalade.co.uk/

Neil

[GiveMeABreak]

Don't mind the 'young' inference on their website Neil

They can put whatever spin on it they want, as long as it does the job!

I'm now off on the breakdown quote trail at present... Not so sure about the Rescuemycar now as reading up and on some reviews, I'm detecting the 'cop out' clause issue where the 10 mile local garage bit kicks in - no good to me out in the sticks, where they can take me to any old garage and dump me there having honoured their obligation. I will need to get home, not to a local garage as the town is not local where we shop.... Not having much luck contacting customer services, so will look elsewhere I think for piece of mind.

[mickthemaverick]

Having been a long time member of the CSMA I was brought up with Brittania Rescue as my breakdown provider. I left them some time ago when I opened a new bank account, following my divorce, which offered me an all in package. I believe Brittania were merged/taken over by Green Flag at some point but not really sure. However my point Marc is while shopping around check the options your bank may offer. I get full AA family breakdown and relay for any car any of us are in, mobile phone insurance for 4 mobiles, house emergency cover, (plumbing, fire and accidental issues,) and full worldwide travel insurance including winter sports for the princely sum of £300 a year payable at £25 a month, and including a respectable free overdraft facility which has come in handy from time to time . I think it's a good deal and to date I have used the AA 7 or 8 times for various reasons including a relay home from Cumbria!! Worth a look I'd say

[GiveMeABreak]

I don't think my bank offer anything like that Mick, as we use that Spanish bank, but we do get cash back on purchases which is quite significant.

I've gone off Green flag after reading a significant number of concerning 1 start Trustpilot reviews. I know these use a fleet of independent garages and therefore this is really subject to the independent operators - so there are obvious concerns as to who you get and what mood they're in on the day.

Now as you probably know, I'm not normally enthralled with the likes of the AA and RAC as they tend to be the most expensive for what they offer, but on the meerkats site today, I've found an RAC quote for £32 that includes:
Roadside assistance
Local recovery
Nationwide recovery
Onward travel
Home start
Relief driver
Emergency overnight accommodation
Car hire
Out of fuel
Electric Vehicles

with a £40 excess if you actually use them.

This is far more like a realistic price that I don't mind paying - as I don't like paying inflated prices for services I historically never actually use. I'd much prefer a lower premium and pay a reasonable charge should I need them. This also cuts out all the time wasters and helps reduce the fraudsters and should keep premiums down.

So looks like the RAC Essentials is the fave at present.

[Zelandeth]

Just keep in mind that my experience with the RAC was that they couldn't find the B9001 on their maps...I had to send them to my parents house and escort them to where I'd broken down. Second time I called on them they wouldn't help as the car was over 20 years old (nothing about that in my contract paperwork, and I triple checked that afterwards) so that recovery ended up paid for out of my pocket.

I was paying somewhere in the region of £200 a year for this "service" as well.

I wouldn't touch them again with a barge pole.

[GiveMeABreak]

Thanks for that info Zel. I have read somewhere a LONG time ago about vehicle age being a factor with some providers (poss. AA) - but looking at their FAQs today, the RAC may have removed that restriction:

I think it's still worth a go considering they provide my current cover under Citroen Assist Plus that I have until Mid Jan.

[CitroJim]

I was with Green Flag. On renewal they could not meet my needs for multiple vehicles and their customer service was frankly appalling when I tried to adjust and renew my policy...

Binned them and went back to LV/Britannia. Great customer service and a very competitive price for multiple vehicle cover.

All my insurances, including my home, are now with LV barring Bluebell and she remains with Adrian Flux...

[GiveMeABreak]

Great, thanks for the input Jim.

A Marathon month - Just completed Home Insurance too, but More-Than's site was not passing the quotes through from the comparison site, so just lost an hour of my life on the phone to get that sorted, although the lad on the phone was brilliant.

[myglaren]

I had AA cover on the GS in 1986 but only for a year. Never had breakdown cover since, just cross my fingers.

I am with LV+ and claimed through them for the Civic. Was just notifying them really but they said they would mediate. Has taken them ages to get anywhere but the car is written off and being collected tomorrow.
Looked at a Renault Megan but it is a coupe so may not be any good.

[GiveMeABreak]

I must of missed that Steve - accident in the Civic?

[myglaren]

Volvo crashed into it almost a fortnight since.
Fortunately on video.

Doesn't look that bad but uneconomical to repair apparently.