AA or RAC or GREEN FLAG

[studmuffin]

Dont know if this topic is applicable in this part of the forum, so here goes anyway

Just made a quite a big saving on my car insurance renewal, the only problem is i have to arrange my own breakdown cover,

so wondering which ones are best between the aa, rac and greenflag. greenflag is coming up nearly £40 cheaper than the other 2 for the same cover {roadside, homestart and recovery} i understand greenflag use local garages, are there any pro and cons of using local garages ? or shall i just go with the big boys, the aa or rac ?

[kevberlin]

Check out Autonational Rescue. They give good service and keen prices.

[Sonic_Vrs]

If you know someone from civil service (think it needs to be family member, or at least it used to) you can get Britannia for cheap cheap cheap...

[studmuffin]

Check out Autonational Rescue. They give good service and keen prices.

never heard of these, but they have good reviews on the review centre. do they use local garages ?

[drefaldwyn]

Autoaid?

Dave

[studmuffin]

Check out Autonational Rescue. They give good service and keen prices.

have just taken out a new car policy with csis and they offer discounted prices with Autonational Rescue, so will give them a bell in the morning. still not quite sure on the service of these rescue services using local garages though ?

[kevberlin]

never heard of these, but they have good reviews on the review centre. do they use local garages ?

YES. They really are good.

[patrolman]

Local garages !!! that turn up with no tools ,torch, spares and just want to drag you back to there garage and charge an unload fee,no CRB checks !

Edited 14 December, 2010 by patrol man

[kevberlin]

Local garages !!! that turn up with no tools ,torch, spares and just want to drag you back to there garage and charge an unload fee,no CRB checks !

That was not my experience when I called them out. Arrival prompt and local service was excellent.

[octavia5]

The RAC provide Skoda Assist so have al the official VAG test gear on board and the experiance

[GPR]

Buy a years extended warranty from Skoda and get the Skoda Assist thrown in.

[silver1011]

I swap between the AA and RAC each year.

The renewal is always more expensive so I go to the other with my renewal price and they always beat it.

I don't bother with homestart and after purchasing online through a cashback site never pay more than £45 / year for joint roadside and recovery.

[Browny_37]

I've been with the RAC for 2-3years now, and never used them until this year when i blew a Inner CV Joint, and the 2nd time the bolts worked loose on the inner cv and snapped off.

Service was top notch and they was with me, within quite a reasonable time, with a friendly service to go with it.

Although the 2nd guy had a pigs ear of a week recovering cars with blown gearbox's etc etc (not many roadside fixes) so when he got to mine and I showed him the driveshaft floating around he wasn't that happy lol. But served his purpose well and efficiently.

I must agree with Silver though, the price keeps creeping up and up. And i've just benefited with a better package with home breakdown etc etc with my insurer for less cash.

Touch wood i wont be using it much next year lol.

[Forum User]

https://www.quidco.com/aa-uk-breakdown/

https://www.quidco.com/rac-breakdown-cover/

Have a look at these

[BigBaddad]

Being an ex postie, I've always used Britannia great service and price.

[Lou_O]

None of them!ADAC in Germany offers the best coverage. As an international member you get AA in the UK and the equivalent organisation if you're travelling in Europe.Much cheaper than AA/RAC too.Autoaid is a good option if you want a safety net.

[Stuart_J]

Had AA for a few years, once as Skodas nominated & we continued it after the warranty expired, .used them twice & both times they were a huge disapointment

Our first experince when we broke down in the South of France in August was dire ( 2 days in a hotel waiting for a rental car) but we gave them the benefit of the doubt. The second time we wanted their help was after my wife was hit on the A34, the car was rendered undriveable, She was in the fast lane of the A34 at 4pm & the AA wanted 2 hours to attend, The police were brilliant & got the car hauled to one of their secure compounds & stored in the dry for us to collect the next day, cost me £90 but seemed fair.

The last couple of years we have had the RAC, a family policy & my son had to call them on one occasion, arrived in less than 1/2 hour, deemed the car had a major problem & relayed him to a friends garage some miles away.

As far as the renewals are concerned, ours was more this year but after a chat it fell considerably

[studmuffin]

https://www.quidco.com/aa-uk-breakdown/

https://www.quidco.com/rac-breakdown-cover/

Have a look at these

cheers matey, have just saved myself £50......

[Ciderspace]

I've recently signed up with Greenflag "Recovery Plus" at £57! I thougt that was pretty damn good.

@GPR - When I was thinking about extending my warranty, Skoda informed me that breakdown cover was NOT included but an additional cost. 2 year warranty was £549 PLUS £140 for breakdown.

[flinflon]

None of them!ADAC in Germany offers the best coverage. As an international member you get AA in the UK and the equivalent organisation if you're travelling in Europe.Much cheaper than AA/RAC too.Autoaid is a good option if you want a safety net.

Do you need to have an address in Germany? I ask because it seems unlikey that if you were to have a breakdown in say Holland they would arrange for you and your car to be transported back to UK.

[Welshbigman]

I've recently joined "the green insurance company" and had need to call them out once, yes they sent local garage, service was prompt but unfortunatly unable to do anything due to needing Vag.com. It was £26.46 for the top package.

I'd NEVER use the RAC, I had cause to call them out twice via skoda assist the first time a local garage turned up after 3hrs and sorted the problem and the second time RAC turned up after 2.5hrs and sorted it (was only flat battery)

My partner called out RAC due to a faulty alternator and was left sat in the car whilst 4mths pregnant with her friend and a 4mths old baby for 2.5hrs!!! RAC's excuse was "well it is a bit uncivilised round there, thats why we are taking so long"

[Lou_O]

Do you need to have an address in Germany? I ask because it seems unlikey that if you were to have a breakdown in say Holland they would arrange for you and your car to be transported back to UK.

No, from what I have understood you can join as a foreigner.\

Edit to add, see here for info:

http://www.clubgti.com/forum/showthread.php?t=128374

Edited 28 December, 2010 by Lou_O

[fordfan]

Had my AA renewal through at £6 more than last year (£93), I looked on their website where I could get exactly the same cover for £79. It's only a small saving, so I e-mailed them to see if they could renew it for £79. Despite me having continuous membership for 19 years and having not had to call them out in at least the last 10 years, they haven't bothered to reply.

So I cancelled my direct debit with them, let my membership lapse for a day and rejoined for £79 as a new member. In proportion to how they valued my long membership, I went through a referral website, so I should be in for £42 cash back, making my AA premium £37 this year.

[Beancounter1980]

Always been with AA.

By and large I've had a great experience. Apart from one recovery guy who i wanted to knock out since he was extremely rude and unsympathetic to my wife's situation on our driveway (Car battery had gone flat - and i was away at the time)....

The guys who have dealt with me otherwise have been brilliant..