Breakdowns.

[sad old git]

Hi All. For a few years now I have been subscribing to a breakdown firm called Autoaid/Boncaster. It was recommended by Which magazine at the time.....Fortunately I have never had to use their service so I continue to pay the premium each year which is much cheaper than other services such as Greenflag /AA/RAC. So I would like to know if anyone has had any dealings with this company and what were the results. Thank you all

[SirOracle]

Can't really be of any help to you SOG regarding Autoaid,but I can only say that over many years I have found the AA/RAC give the best service.

I qualify this by saying that their mechanics do try to solve your problem and get you moving again,but sometimes if they are busy ,then they sub contract the call out to other rescue services. When this happens,very often the sub contracted firm seem unable to fix the problem and tow you to a garage.

[Bazile]

I'm with Autoaid ( i went with them after being recomended by Martin Lewis of money saving expert .com .
My last premium was thirty something pounds as i recall - certainly it was less than £50 for homestart / roadside assistance and relay .

I've only called them out for flat tyres - and once when my Alternator packed up and on another occasion when my gearbox went .

I was towed on both occasions to to my destination of choice .

Apart from the flat tyres , they or any other breakdown service would not have been able to do anything else at the roadside - so i'm not sure how they would perform if it was something that should be able to be rectified at the roadside .

I think that they have contracts with various recovery services across the country and so a local firm to where you broke down would attend .

[Zacs-Master]

67 reviews here:
http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews158321.html#Reviews

[sad old git]

Thank you all for your prompt replies,it sounds like they are a decent outfit but hopefully I will never have to contact them.All the best to you all ..sog

[TWR]

S,O,G, I don't know how other members go on here with their car checks! I check mine every week ( Honest I do ) Oil /Coolant / Tyre Pressures /Lights / Indicators, a look and visual check under the bonnet, Fan belts / the lot, the car is on ramps every so often ( I'm fit enough to do that as yet) to see if all is well, eg / Shocks, It would be worth your while to get your local garage to fully check out your car, say every 6 months at a charge, this I'm sure will save you money. I do not use any Breakdown cover & never have done. Good Luck.

[sad old git]

TWR.Thank you very much for your input. Many years ago I use to do my own checks and maintenance when required but now I'm a bit long in the tooth for doing in depth checks. We are going on holiday (yay!!) in a couple of days time and yesterday I carried out the routine checks such as oil,coolant,brake and clutch fluid levels, visible check on belts,Lights, indicators, wipers, tyre pressures etc and all appeares to be ok. To answer TWR about checking the car out at a local garage which I did and asked for a full service which they carried out and said the car was in tip top condition. Only time will tell. All the best to every one....

[TWR]

Colin, with respect to your answer, If I was not in the position I am now ( In Good health) in your case going out of the UK & into Europe, the ( My) car would have been FULLY CHECKED including All the book check up's.

[TWR]

If the car was FULLY CHECKED how is it that the cooling system was not pressure tested? " Yes, I did read it"

[TWR]

If I knew that the journey I intended to make involved my car travelling "AS you say" Over to England" My car would have been fully checked. Pedantic! I think not, have a nice day.

[sad old git]

Re Breakdowns. Hi all.We have recently returned from a short holiday involving a five hundred mile round trip and I'm happy to say the car performed beautifully Renault Clio four years old.As I said in an earlier post I carried out my own visual checks and because I have only had the car for just over a year I got my local garage to check it out and they gave it a clean bill of health. However I have to agree with colinandjess that the unexpected can happen and a breakdown service is not too far away. TWR I greatly respect your opinion on this debate but I feel that most people are not in a position to check their own cars and therefore have to rely on trustworthy? garages to do it for them so I still feel that a breakdown cover is necessery for most people.To conclude thank you all for your replies and I apologise for any misspellings. All the best to you All S.O.G.