Recovery - 👍 / 👎

[Sloppysod]

Hi all, can I have your thoughts and experiences on breakdown cover please.
I have been driving for over 43 years, average mileage about 12, 000+ miles per year and have only had breakdown cover for about 3-4 years over that time, Greenflag or GEM. Never used their services....
Now my car is getting on a bit, 12+ years old, annual mileage now about 5 000, i am now thinking about breakdown cover, but...
Do I take the plunge or not?
Is it worth it?

[GiveMeABreak]

Hi Stu

My current car I have Citroen Assist for which is basically RAC, and I chose this because if taken as part of my extended warranty, it's a lot cheaper than paying for the same cover separately.

Prior to this with the C5, I opted for a completely different approach to the standard providers as I never used the service. Plus, the AA always tried to increase the costs each year until I got on the phone and got them to revert it back to the original price - or leave them - which they did every year. But I soon tired of this annual intervention and couldn't be doing with the stress.

So I joined RescueMyCar (https://www.rescuemycar.com/) and you make a minimal payment upfront and then only pay further if you actually need to call them out. This keeps the costs down and so if you never need them it's only £22.60 a year, so preferable to paying for something I don't use. They are 5 star Defaqto rated too.

There are several others out there that are similar, but you have the peace of mind of cover, and only an additional fee if you actually use the service.

For my C5 X7 that I have now sold, for cover starting Monday 22nd May, it would cost me £22.60 a year, plus £40 excess if I actually needed to use them.

This includes Home Start, Roadside Assistance with Local recovery and National Recovery! A no brainer.

But if you have a 'sickly car' then of course it may end up costing you more. But again, having said that, even some of the main providers are now bringing in limits to call-outs - so you have to look at the small print.

[mickthemaverick]

I have full AA family recovery service included in my bank account together with mobile phone insurance, home emergency insurance, worldwide travel insurance including wintersports and legal cover for a mere £26 a month which gives me peace of mind in all those areas and I am happy with that. I have used the AA on about 5 or 6 occasions over the last 30 years and each time would have cost me upwards of £250 to sort myself. On every occasion service has been excellent and, having spent the first 25 years of my motoring life with Brittania Rescue through my CSMA membership, I would judge the AA as a better bet!!

[Paul-R]

I have European breakdown cover as part of the Flecplus current account package with Nationwide. It costs me in total £13 a month.

The last time I had to use them was about 2015 when I stupidly left the cooler box switched on overnight in the car park at a hotel in Calais. All it needed was a jump start and I only lost about an hour waiting.

[wheeler]

Now my car is getting on a bit, 12+ years old, annual mileage now about 5 000, i am now thinking about breakdown cover, but...
Do I take the plunge or not?
Is it worth it?

Firstly, I can tell you from experience that a 6 month old car is just as likely to break down as a 12 year old car.
Secondly, no matter how well you look after your car or how prepared you are there are just so many things that can go wrong with it that you just couldn't predict, prevent or plan for.
The way i look at it, If your car breaks down on the motorway or a high speed dual carriageway & you have nothing in place for getting it shifted the police will just organise someone to come and shift it & it will probably cost just as much as a years breakdown policy. Most of the time all these people will do is take the car off to the nearest safe location too, you still then need to get it to a garage/home.
Like any insurance its a gamble.

[Sloppysod]

..............
So I joined RescueMyCar (https://www.rescuemycar.com/) and you make a minimal payment upfront and then only pay further if you actually need to call them out. This keeps the costs down and so if you never need them it's only £22.60 a year, so preferable to paying for something I don't use. They are 5 star Defaqto rated too.
...............

Seems good deal, website plays silly games, price changes between £23.60 - £49.00, but going through the Meerkats I now have a years cover for £22.60, Thank Marc for the info.

Thanks to all other contributors, Mick, Paul-R & Wheeler, but I try to keep to a 'free' bank account.

[GiveMeABreak]

No problem. I never actually used them, so took great pleasure in the money saved - which would cover the odd possible time I would need them. I will probably go back to this service whenever I decide to stop my extended warranty / breakdown with Citroen in future.

[Orbit Motors]

I switched between Green Flag and the AA depending who had an offer on. I've used the AA twice, once for a Volvo I had which the fuel pump died and another time for my Alfa Romeo, they just flat bedded that back home from work for me and it eventually turned out to be a faulty pressure valve somewhere down the back of the engine. They told me it was an EGR fault which I was sceptical about from the start.

One good thing with the AA is the app is convenient and it has some extra bits like discounts that I actually used.

Incidentally mine is up for renewal, and I've looked at rescuemycar as well, and I'm likely to go with them as they are a very good price for very good cover, and probably have a large network of recovery operators. The price I was quoted from the AA was ridiculous, considering I haven't even required their services for well over a year.

[Gibbo2286]

Never had one, until I bought the Zoe which has full breakdown cover as part of the battery lease.