having been with the aa for 35 years, of which I have only called them out 6 times I am getting sick of ringing them up every year to get a reduction in their renewal fees,,they quote me  £143 in my renewal, then reduce it to £98, I do however get complimentary home start for being a long term member.

 

im now thinking of changing, and was wondering what green flag and the rac were like, or should I stay with the aa, any comments would be appreciated.

Britannia. They're cheaper than your "reduced" fee unless you want Any Driver and European cover as well as Home Start and Relay. The only time I've waited more than an hour for them, I called whilst the mechanics were on their way home, so the on call guy had to get home, get the call, go back to the garage, get the recovery wagon, and then get to me. At the quick end, I once had the owner of the local agency walk into the service station I was calling from, and was able to pass the phone to him so call out time was effectivel 0 since the call centre was flexible enough to accept this as a way of doing business.

Also (source being agents) Britannia pay better than anyone else so you're doing them a favour too and they return it by making Britannia clients priority over, say, Green Flag.

https://www.autoaidbreakdown.co.uk/

Cover any car you are driving.

My dad was with the RAC once, he accidentally put petrol in and it stopped next to Darlington football stadium right after the roundabout and we rang the RAC up. We were stuck there for over 2 hours until a low loader came out, took us to a garage in the middle of nowhere, sucked the £20 of petrol and the diesel that was left out, put £10 in, started the car up and charged £215 for the privilege. "the price is set by the RAC not us, sorry" Tat was after paying for membership.

 

I was a member of the AA when I had my Peugeot. I was coming home from college one day and just as I pulled onto the A1 it started beeping at me and lost power, it wouldn't pul up hill so I went into the slow lane and nursed it to the next exit, went onto a quiet road to pull over safely, pulled into a lay-by behind an AA van that just happened to be on his lunch break and also just happened to have a coil pack for a Peugeot 206 in the back of his van because it's such a common problem. Fitted for £115. (said it was parts cost only and no labor) So I can't comment on dispatch time for the AA but you already know that. The AA will never get another penny out of me though for the sheer cheek and arrogance when I had my Pug insured with them and when they wanted to renew my breakdown.

Britannia Rescue.

Far cheaper then any of the other organisations.
 

I get RAC at home, recovery and roadside assistance for me and SWMBO personal, not car specific for around £60 with Tesco club points. There's no discount if you don't use them, nor no increase in the cost if you don't. As I don't actually use any of my own money I find that hard to beat, but you have to either shop at Tesco or like me use their credit card to gain enough points to exchange for the membership.

Autoaid.

 

£49 for 2 drivers, 2 cars, home start, breakdown, and tow-in.

 

A quarter of the AA's renewal offer!

 

And that to a "gold" member of nearly 20 years!!!

 

AA can get lost forever.

 

In the first year with Autoaid needed them twice, great service both times.

6 call outs in... 35 years?

 

You can ring any of the major recovery providers at the time you breakdown 24/7 and request a tow home. Yes you pay a significant premium for it but you'd need to break down a lot more than 6 times before you reached the amount of money you've already paid over the years.

I have broken down once in 20 year's. Luckily I had aa cover they were out immediately. Snapped weld on Octavia clutch pedal. The aa fella wanted to try and fix it. I said no thanks I will do it myself just tow me back to my garage. Could not fault them.

Autoaid.

£49 for 2 drivers, 2 cars, home start, breakdown, and tow-in.

A quarter of the AA's renewal offer!

And that to a "gold" member of nearly 20 years!!!

AA can get lost forever.

In the first year with Autoaid needed them twice, great service both times.

I'm trying auto aid this year

Green Flag for about 20 years.  We got to know the local guys extremely well when we had the Scenic and they were always very good.

having been with the aa for 35 years, of which I have only called them out 6 times I am getting sick of ringing them up every year to get a reduction in their renewal fees,,they quote me  £143 in my renewal, then reduce it to £98, I do however get complimentary home start for being a long term member.

The RAC is the same, and after 21 consecutive years with them I also got fed up ringing them every year to reduce the annual renewal fee. I no longer belong to the RAC and can't comment further on any similar organisations as both my wife and myself have company cars so we're both covered.

I'm with Britainnia, just renewed on the 18th. I pay £88 that's for me and the wife in any car to contour the journey or towed home/destination regardless of distance. Also covers my car regardless of who's driving ie if we're not in it.

I also get £10 back if they don't tuen up in 1 hour.

Been with the RAC for around 8 years but have never made a call out. More for piece of mind.

Have only ever used AA in anger. Came with the car. Couldn't fault them tbh.

Either RAC or AA. I've called both out several times over the years. The Patrols are always spot on. Basically their motivation is to mend your car and get you on your way. The contractors can be a bit hit and miss, unless I know it just wants towing, I refuse them when I phone up.

As far as rest of them go, I'm inclined to think their motivation is to find a way to get you back to their garage to make some money out of you.

We have Skoda Assist on both the cars but I have AA personal for the bikes

Unfortunately the AA patrols( prompt... Efficient and roadside fix) are rare now,..as often tied up with Jaguar,Seat,Skoda assist jobs etc...

Local contractors..(not to good often... no fix.. Recovery only) are subcontracted.

Timings they give to AA operator often bears no resemblance to timings actually needed.

If they are on a job.. And won't get to you for hours..they won't tell AA.. As the job may go elsewhere.. So 1 hour eta given.. Job taken... Get to you in 3 hours... Waffle about wrong location etc..

Green flag and RAC still seem best options.

Phoned AA when I had a crash. I explained to them that the car can't be fixed or towed on 2 wheels and has to be put on a flatbed. They still insisted on sending me the patrol guy in the van just for him to say yeah that can't be fixed you'll need a flatbed    . Spent 6 hours stuck on the side of a mountain by the time it finally turned up...

Phoned AA when I had a crash. I explained to them that the car can't be fixed or towed on 2 wheels and has to be put on a flatbed. They still insisted on sending me the patrol guy in the van just for him to say yeah that can't be fixed you'll need a flatbed    . Spent 6 hours stuck on the side of a mountain by the time it finally turned up...

Score another point for Britannia; I had a roll-over crash, and not only did they send a flatbed straight off, but the recovery crew spent an hour lifting bits of my stuff out the ditch.

going by the answers so far, the consensus seems to be britannia first, followed by green flag.

Phoned AA when I had a crash. I explained to them that the car can't be fixed or towed on 2 wheels and has to be put on a flatbed. They still insisted on sending me the patrol guy in the van just for him to say yeah that can't be fixed you'll need a flatbed    . Spent 6 hours stuck on the side of a mountain by the time it finally turned up...

Id say the opposite. My mate had a rear wheel bearing check out on a dual carriageway. We explained to the AA that we were safe, but unless they wanted to do a turn around, it would need a flatbed. We got a flatbed in 40 mins.

Id say the opposite. My mate had a rear wheel bearing check out on a dual carriageway. We explained to the AA that we were safe, but unless they wanted to do a turn around, it would need a flatbed. We got a flatbed in 40 mins.

The flatbed they sent me after 6h from my initial call wasn't even one of their own, was just some grumpy 3rd party recovery guy. My phone ran out of battery minutes after my car was loaded onto the back, which was fairly lucky. If I hadn't gone through my insurance they would of charged me for this privilege too. Fair enough I crashed the car, but if you're going to charge someone on top of their membership fee then at least don't take 6 hours about it!

The flatbed they sent me after 6h from my initial call wasn't even one of their own, was just some grumpy 3rd party recovery guy. My phone ran out of battery minutes after my car was loaded onto the back, which was fairly lucky. If I hadn't gone through my insurance they would of charged me for this privilege too. Fair enough I crashed the car, but if you're going to charge someone on top of their membership fee then at least don't take 6 hours about it!

Britannia rescue don't charge you for recovery when you've had a RTC, another reason why I wouldn't use AA. Britannia will try and charge your insurance however if they can't, ie your third party only or you're not claiming they won't pursue it.

RAC. Called when my wife put the keys in the boot and closed it. They were very good despite the dog passing the time chewing the patrol man's tool bag.