Which breakdown service comes quickest?

Posted by jamawg@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 28 comments

I have been waiting 3 hours for a certain recovery service, which has still not arrived. Last time it took over 5 hours.

Is there a better service, or do they all just use the same pool of local mechanics?

Or, do any of them have a VIP service where I can pay more to go to the front of the queue?

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FrankNicklin@reddit

You never know how good they are until you need them most.

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Don't choose RAC, they left me and my young family on a motorway siding in freezing conditions for over 2 hours before I called a local company to pick us up, the best bit is they only refunded me half of what the tow cost me

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Sorbicol@reddit

A good friend on mine car broke down on the M25 a year or two back. The RAC left him overnight (10pm - 5am) and they only came after the police stopped to check up on my friend because the car hazard lights were no long working after draining the battery. The police called the RAC to ask wtf was taking them so long and they turned up 20 minutes later.

However, they then took him back to Basingstoke to drop the car off at a garage (he was travelling to St Albans, he broke down not far from the Watford junction) and pretty much abandoned him there.

As you can imagine, that was the last time any of us have ever considered using RAC again.

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MrPogoUK@reddit

They were pretty quick the two times I used them, though on the second occasion the bloke told me I was lucky I didn’t call a few minutes later as he was the only one covering the whole county that night, and otherwise would have been on his way to a job that was an hour’s drive each way from my spot!

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Nitrogenflux@reddit

Sounds about right, my second experience with RAC was a 6 hour wait. Luckily I was close enough to home to arrange transport for the wife and kids

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AverageLoz@reddit

I was left at the roadside by RAC in Oct. 24 for 19 hours!

Everytime I called I got told it will be 'at least 2 hours' constantly. They did offer a free hotel at 9-10pm but I asked if I am going to be collected tomorrow then I dont want a hotel as I had a meeting early the next day, replied with 'no problem I'll make sure someone comes out'. Nothing again all night.

Complained about it but recieved no reply or apology!

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UnacceptableUse@reddit

Depends where you are and the circumstances in which you broke down

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breaded_skateboard@reddit

My ex.

He constantly broke down, and came very quickly

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AskUK-ModTeam@reddit

A top level comment (one that is not a reply) should be a good faith and genuine attempt to answer the question.

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phatboi23@reddit

fuckin' brilliant.

unlike the ex. haha

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ross-dirext-words137@reddit

There is not really a quickest.

I comes down to how much of a priority you are. In a live lane.

How busy they are and if the call handler is any good.

My works breakdown is not cheap and we had some horror stories of people being stuck for 6h

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Bigtallanddopey@reddit

It always depends on how busy they are, where their vehicles are in relation to you and how high a priority you are.

Have young kids with and stick at the side of the motorway, you will likely be seen quickly. Male, on your own and stuck in a nice village somewhere, yeh it’s going to be hours.

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Bowtie327@reddit

If you breakdown, make sure to be a woman, have a baby in the car, or if you’re neither of those, break down with the car of other traffic

They come quicker if you’re obstructing the road

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AirlineSevere7456@reddit

I've probably used them all in 30 years of driving. RAC seemed the better one overall. Green Flag were good too.

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Koda614@reddit

LV Britannia Rescue have been good to me any time I needed them with very quick arrival. As were Allianz Global Assistance and Green Flag.

AA, RAC and ETA Breakdown have all proven to be a massive letdown in my circle of friends and family.

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Worried-Penalty8744@reddit

They all sub out to local recovery agents if they don’t have their own branded van nearby. The local agents prioritise jobs based on how much money they get.

If you just go straight to a local agent they will get more money so will be there quicker. They usually won’t do anything more elaborate than a tyre change though, will be a lift and shift.

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OfficalSwanPrincess@reddit

You're talking about RAC aren't you lol

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CoffeeIgnoramus@reddit

Sadly, until you get into expensive services, they're all much of a muchness.

I used to work in a car club and we were sponsored by a high end insurance company. They had a tow truck to customers in under an hour almost every time. But you paid a ridiculous amount for insurance and they only did luxury cars. But our work vehicles were also covered (as part of the sponsorship) and we did use them a couple of times and never had issues. It was the least hassle of anything I've ever done. Broke down, called, waited. got picked up quick, car mended and brought back to us the next day. Easy.

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Lonely-Job484@reddit

AA - based on limited experience though.

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Petrichor_ness@reddit

I've never used AA or any of the big brands since I was left for 12 hours stuck on a single lane country road in the middle of nowhere after being pushed off the road by a tractor!

Now, I use National Breakdown. Not only are they so much cheaper but they sub contract out to local tow trucks rather than waiting for one of their own fleet to be available. I've had to use them twice since the abandoned country lane incident and they've been out in less than 30mins each time.

I also keep the details of our nearest mechanic with their own tow trucks in my phone, just in case.

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spaceshipcommander@reddit

AA based on everyone I know and my own experience

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the01li3@reddit

Ive only had the AA when i had an electrical small fire in the car, took 40 mins ish and was in the middle of a town, just enough time to go down to the cafe quickly and get some food.

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LazyEmu5073@reddit

I had the AA out recently, they estimated 50 mins, he was here in 35. (early evening weekday)

Had the AA out for my old van on the A10, there in about an hour. (weekday, 10AM-ish)

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