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years ago when I was a young lad and driving Minis about, my dad was in AA or RAC and we used them a lot, however in recent years they got really expensive, the guys used to be able to sort out anything on those old cars which makes me wonder what they can do now? can they still get old ones going? do they prefer to just transport newer cars back to a dealer? or plug them into a reader and say "computer says no" having a K Series engined MG ZR [2 of] I sometimes think I should be a member again, but meh, its exciting knowing it could go wrong at any moment!! have an old AA van
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VIP
South East
Posts: 8,293
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A recent breakdown revealed no feed to my diesel shutoff solenoid, the AA chappy hotwired it straight to the battery so I could drive home.
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Hi, the reason I have AA is not because of roadside repair, I have tools and stuff to effect a temporary repair my self. All I want is the recovery bit to get the vehicle home where I can fix it. Can't have the second without the first. If you say it's brakes or steering they won't attempt a repair at the side of the road, they will just recover it.
Colin
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Broke down in the middle of town in my Lotus last year, phoned AA, older guy came out (maybe they send out an older guy if it's an older car ?) , after messing about with the carbs and changing the fuel filter managed to get it going, though it was running rough, followed me home and helped me get it into the drive.
Didn't fix the problem though, turned out to be the fuel pump eventually diagnosed myself, main thing was i got the car home and into the drive so worth it just for that.
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72 Pontiac Firebird Formula 400. 95 BMW E34 525i Manual. 80 Lotus Elite, sold 86 Mk4 Escort RWD V8, sold
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IT really depends on who turns up, but I've generally had good experiences...including a few years ago when a lovely RAC man changed a starter motor at the roadside for me...certainly more than I expected when I called.
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Clutch pedal top pinged off on my leon [ common VAG group fault ] He shoved a but and bolt through the top so i could drive it home .
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slomoshun
Part of things
Going forward one nut and bolt at a time
Posts: 319
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Was in RAC for years but recently went to AA as deal came with my insurance. Recently had to call them out. Very quick less than 30 minutes plus i had a flask and sandwiches so no hardship. My scooby was misfiring so chap put the scanner on but said as its year 2000 too old for their diagnostics but could be they never had the SSM set up needed for scooby. All not lost cos AA chap was old skool. Disconnected Maf sensor problem solved. And he followed me home about ten miles. So RAC and AA very good although on my old vitara RAC diagnosed head gasket when it was in reality a blocked and silted up expansion tank. If your at the side of the road and have breakdown cover its either fix or load on the transporter. Either way a result. Leaving broken down car at side of road not an option in this day n age.
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Traction and horsepower is nearing perfection
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Like a few have said already, the option to get a tow anywhere in the UK is the best part for me. The cost of a tow at 3am on the side of a motorway to 200 miles home does not bear thinking about. I had a gearbox disintegrate on a MKII Golf and they took it and me home. Priceless!
That said I have had varied experiences with the guys, and woman, who came out to me. A RAC chap had left his jump leads at the previous job and another actually changed the wheel bearing assembly for me in a service station once he had got the part.
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A mates clutch cable went on his daihatsu mira turbo, he rung them to get recovered the AA guy turned up and made him a clutch cable from universal parts and he was merrily on his way
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I'm with Green Flag now after the AA refused to recover my car on their deal after a spring broke and locked the wheel. I'd even changed the feckin wheel myself before they sent a bloke to pick it up and move it 1.5 miles for £108.... Oh yes, they carefully monitor social media against criticism so that was an interesting phone call......
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Rover Metro - The TARDIS - brake problems.....Stored Rover 75 - Barge MGZTT Cdti 160+ - Winter Hack and Audi botherer... MGF - The Golden Shot...Stored Project Minion........ Can you see the theme?
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Ryannn
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,420
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I've had two fan belts changed on the same car, within a week, at the side of the road! My mate has had a fuel cut off bypassed and a fan belt done on a mini aswell.
I once had my Volvo recovered from Northampton to Halifax after the guy failed to sell me a battery. He was whinging about the distance until he realised it would be his last job of the day!
Oh and also, one jabbed a screwdriver into the starter soienoid of my dads mini van to jump it so we could drive it home. It's all good!
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Imo one of the most promising things is when whoever you call turns up in a van instead of a recovery vehicle, since it usually means (fme) it'll be a roadside fix. Worst that can happen is they'll need to call recovery out instead, but either way you'll still get home.
I had a radiator hose burst and it was patched up at the roadside, and whether it's far or not they almost always follow just in case.
It's well worth it, you never know what might spring up!
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Last Edit: Jul 1, 2015 22:18:09 GMT by Deleted
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,188
Club RR Member Number: 170
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It does depend on the repair and what can get you back for a given distance IMO. Of course the person makes a difference as well.
Here are my experiences
VW Beetle - It would randomly cut out ; the bloke came down, adjusted the points and despite it struggling to fire up it did run well at points in time. I was sent on my way. It did not cure the problem but it was an odd issue to be fair.
Ford Mondeo - Whenever it did something to halt the drive they generally towed it back (a split hose for instance). On a few occasions two peeps tried to get it going as follows: 1) A jumper pack to see if it could be driven ; it couldn't, the alternator was draining the battery badly. 2) Changing Heat exchanger hoses ; I had changed these before (depending on who you talk to it's ideally an front exhaust manifold off job (whenever I have done this job; space is tight on a newish Ford V6). He tried everything for a couple of hours, including loosening off the exhaust manifold. In the end he towed me back home. 3) The main coolant hose split. He tried tape but being a higher than an older car pressure for the coolant it blew the tape off. He said my HG had gone. 50k later the car was fine. Back on track he towed me back home.
Again, my 944 had a handbrake shoe spring snap, not something would carry on them. He towed me back without question.
On the Escort however, the Green Flag man was very helpfull:
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I turned up at hospital on my motorbike to have a plaster cast on my leg changed as it had gone a bit mushy having been caught out in the rain previously on said bike. On finding out that I was planning to ride home hospital staff said that if I rode away they would call the police immediately as I shouldn't be riding a bike with a plastered leg. I called the AA and they took me and the bike home once the girl on the phone had stopped laughing. They had also took the same bike home a couple of weeks earlier following the accident that lead to the afore mentioned plaster.
That was 1989 though when I was a bit stupid and the AA were a lot more flexible.
Not much help I know, just an amusing story.
I've been a member ever since and have used them rarely and am happy with the service. I think last time would be about five years ago for a broken immobiliser on my Carlton while on holiday, their computer system had full instructions on how to bypass it which we did and I was on my way. Most of their people I have met have been car people and have shown a real interest in retro stuff.
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a few years back i called AA when the gear leaver snapped off on a smelly old Nissan vanette i told them on phone will need towing they sent a guy on a bike when i told him i explained on phone that needed towing guy says there very busy but to get someone there within the hour they sent him so had to wait another hour for tow wagon ,,,
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mylittletony
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,335
Club RR Member Number: 84
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I've had a few callouts for bikes and cars, most end up with a tow, but not without quite a bit of investigation first. They have all been both interested and knowledgeable, I assume they have to try and fix it to save the cost of the recovery, which is frequently outsourced in my experience.
One that made me chuckle was a mk1 fiesta which shredded a driveshaft spline. The chap (with a fold out dolly) nearly left me there because he couldn't get the strap between the wheel and arch. So I had to lift the car so he could slide the strap through the gap...
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had AA for years (too lazy to shop around to be honest) and had good experiences:
2 different Saabs, same clutch cable problem, fixed at roadside (once in a deluge) Volvo 480 - clutch cable - fixed at roadside
Grand Cherokee - cam position sensor. relayed from coventry to surrey
Crx - distributor, common failure. relayed from worcester to bucks. AND he dropped me a mile from home and fitted my own replacement (less than a mile was home start which i don't have)
BX16V - weird electrical fault causing non start (turned out tacho had failed which prevents firing?). New Years Day. eventually relayed from wigan to bucks. 1st transporter broke down so we transhipped in oxford. my how we struggled with supension that had sunk and a very low kit but he got there in the end. and he dropped my passenger at home before we went off to the dealer to drop it off at 03.00
paul
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dungbug
Posted a lot
'Ooligan!
Posts: 2,852
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I turned up at hospital on my motorbike to have a plaster cast on my leg changed as it had gone a bit mushy having been caught out in the rain previously on said bike. On finding out that I was planning to ride home hospital staff said that if I rode away they would call the police immediately as I shouldn't be riding a bike with a plastered leg. I called the AA and they took me and the bike home once the girl on the phone had stopped laughing. They had also took the same bike home a couple of weeks earlier following the accident that lead to the afore mentioned plaster. PMSL, that's a dedicated biker
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Past: 13 VW Beetles from 1967 - 1974 Bay Window Campers (1973 & 1974) Mini's (1992 Cooper lookalike & 1984 '25 Anniversary) MK2 Polo Coupe S (1984 & 1986) MK2 Polo Breadvan (1981 & 1984) MK4 Escort (1989) MK2 Granada Based Hearse (seriously) Fiat Uno 60S (1986) Punto 60S (1998) Cinq (1997) 1998 Yamaha YZF600R Thundercat 2003 Ford KA
Current: 2004 Ford Focus (barely alive)
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I've been with the RAC for years. Haven't had to call them out many times but they have always been good when I have.
The last time I used them was a couple of years ago when the alternator on my Cinquecento died. The guy diagnosed the problem straight away, phoned round for the cheapest replacement, and fitted it at the roadside. Didn't take long and as a bonus he was a nice bloke and we had a good chat and laugh while he was doing it!
The recovery part is the really important bit, I reckon. A few years ago the engine in my old Camry decided to eat itself. On a Sunday about 200 miles from home. The RAC loaded car, family, and me on to a truck and took us all home. All included in membership fee. It's at times like that you appreciate the value....
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bazzateer
Posted a lot
Imping along sans Vogue
Posts: 3,653
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Been with the AA for over 30 yrs now. Always good service except when I wrecked the engine in my Imp in Belgium. Despite telling them the engine was beyond repair and I needed recovery for the car and trailer-tent from Dover to Watford they sent a guy with a spec lift to see if he could fix it. This then led to a 6 hr wait for recovery on the dockside from 0100 - 0700. Was not happy about that.
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1968 Singer Chamois Sport 1972 Sunbeam Imp Sport 1976 Datsun 260Z 2+2 1998 Peugeot Boxer Pilote motorhome 2003 Rover 75 1.8 Club SE (daily) 2006 MG ZT 190+ (another daily) 2007 BMW 530d Touring M Sport (tow car)
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