If I remember rightly, in a Which? investigation, AA came out best. I’ve always had good service from them… 
The AA through my bank account.
dazaster:
is it the aa or rac or something else? based on price
All depends what level of service / assistant/ grade/ you want to apply/pay for really . Or get for free 
Make sure that you dont/do fall under a commercial policy ( dependant on vehicle type/size/weight you may wish to have covered).
If its motorcycle / car , some give free breakdown/recovery on your insurance - mine does :grimacing: If its a car , some banks or insurance will offer a free basic low level attendance - 10 mile limit recovery (place of safety) cover.
Dont forget , If you tow a caravan/trailer at all , you may have to cover that seperately or get it included in your policy. ## 
Personally, I go with RAC - 2 for 1 - full kit and caboudle and have received excellent response/repair /recovery everytime over the years,
I can`t fault them.
Thats my preference and I am happy with it, and I do a fair few miles UK + Eu with a variety of vehicles , the policy stays with me and my co-policy holder (my Son) , Not the vehicle.
You pays your money, you takes your choice.
Anything is better than nothing - and being ripped off by joe bloggswhoevertheyare when your stuck stranded. 
When your for example 120 miles away from home - - The last thing you want/need is being charged £1.00 /per mile (price may vary) to get home intact with your vehicle + occupants and onboard belongings and posessions at whatever time of day or night.
- Try squeezing your insurance Co. or bank for free extended cover 1st and then do a price comparison with the rest for what level of cover you are wanting and expecting.
Even those who are even the slightest mechanically minded and with all the best intentions to do whatever they can to bail themselves out of the ■■■ ■■■ by whatever means roadside cannot always fix it /move it – - - Try doing a wheel bearing /clutch/ gearbox or diff roadside and no parts - your stranded.
Good luck with your search and merry christmas 
Chas:
cieranc:
I’ve used that AA warranty cover last year. Mitsubishi Challenger, dampened crank pulley seperated and chewed through the plastic timing case (and into the timing belt, but hadn’t thrown the belt off).
I knew what the fault was, but rang the AA as I didn’t want to drive into work in fear of the belt going.
AA guy diagnosed the same thing, I got recovered to the garage.
Garage prepared a quote for the repair, to include timing belt kit including tensioners, balance bar kit, timing case, crank pulley and alternator belts and tensioner. Full price with labour came to £450 ish.
Rang the warranty place, they took £35 payment from me, gave the garage the go-ahead. Garage did the work and the AA paid them directly. I was back on the road dinnertime the next day, the delay was getting order parts overnight.So for me, the warranty was spot on with no hassle. I was expecting a chew on, having to send them the service history/mot certs etc, but they never asked for them.
The bonus for me? It was my garage that did the repair!
I’d like to put this type of bovine excrement to the test. I’d like to buy a disposable car & sabotage it, call them out & then see what happens.
Did you know that the AA were successfully prosecuted a few years back 'cos they put their roadside patrol staff on a £bonus scheme according to how many new batteries they sold ?
They sold thousands of gazillions of 'em. I’ve heard said it was somewhere in the region of an 8000% increase in the amount of breakdowns caused by total battery failure!
No , it`s true 
Them makes are notorious for slinging crank dampers
I road tested an earlier model once, got part round the block - popped the hood- and thought I needed to call out Red Adaire
Regarding the warranty cover, – Vehicle Age limits may apply (as previously mentioned by others), see policy small print.
Chas:
voodoo1:
AA is good.How many times have you used them?
Family has 3 times, each time under 1h 20 mins they were to us, friendly and super service
Currently with the RAC but also got breakdown cover included with Adelaide insurance - check your policy
I never just allow my recovery to renew, as the price goes up after the 1st year, so always cancel and re-join / shop around
As others have said, quid co or topcashback are great for getting money back too
edited to add
Had to call RAC out when my caravan tyre got shreaded due to a ratchet ■■■■■■■■ the motorway getting stuck in the tyre 
(damned truckers), they were great. I could have changed it myself, but it was the offside tyre and the wombles let me down, leaving me sat there for over 2hrs - thanks gitto’s.
my mate is with the aa and had to be towed back from ipswich…first bloke took him to cambridge services,coz that was the end of his boundry,second bloke dropped him at trowell,coz he was running out of time 
and the 3rd bloke took him the final 12 miles home.
what a ■■■■ service…im also with the aa,but fortunately never had to use them.ill certainly be asking some questions come renewel time
commonrail:
my mate is with the aa and had to be towed back from ipswich…first bloke took him to cambridge services,coz that was the end of his boundry,second bloke dropped him at trowell,coz he was running out of time
what a [zb] service…im also with the aa,but fortunately never had to use them.ill certainly be asking some questions come renewel time
I worked with The AA a few years back and we didn’t have boundaries to work within. We did use tachos though and had to work within the drivers hours rules and regs, where the majority of other recovery operators didn’t. So perhaps the drivers were just leaving themselves enough driving time to get back home. I reckon you would probably do the same if you were the recovery driver.
i thought recovery drivers were exempt from drivers hours regs…even so,the last bloke dropped him at trowell,when he only lived off j28.
the aa should send someone with enough hours to do the job
damoq:
commonrail:
my mate is with the aa and had to be towed back from ipswich…first bloke took him to cambridge services,coz that was the end of his boundry,second bloke dropped him at trowell,coz he was running out of time
what a [zb] service…im also with the aa,but fortunately never had to use them.ill certainly be asking some questions come renewel timeI worked with The AA a few years back and we didn’t have boundaries to work within. We did use tachos though and had to work within the drivers hours rules and regs, where the majority of other recovery operators didn’t. So perhaps the drivers were just leaving themselves enough driving time to get back home. I reckon you would probably do the same if you were the recovery driver.
Agreed. Most recovery is on domestic (book of lies) for upto 100km radius from base, but after that it’s tacho… … Erm… Well, should be How many bases has the firm got, where’s the closest base, is it under 100km radius… sorted, no tacho then, that’s where I’m runnin’ out of 
commonrail:
i thought recovery drivers were exempt from drivers hours regs…even so,the last bloke dropped him at trowell,when he only lived off j28.
the aa should send someone with enough hours to do the job
Read above 
waynedl:
damoq:
commonrail:
my mate is with the aa and had to be towed back from ipswich…first bloke took him to cambridge services,coz that was the end of his boundry,second bloke dropped him at trowell,coz he was running out of time
what a [zb] service…im also with the aa,but fortunately never had to use them.ill certainly be asking some questions come renewel timeI worked with The AA a few years back and we didn’t have boundaries to work within. We did use tachos though and had to work within the drivers hours rules and regs, where the majority of other recovery operators didn’t. So perhaps the drivers were just leaving themselves enough driving time to get back home. I reckon you would probably do the same if you were the recovery driver.
Agreed. Most recovery is on domestic (book of lies) for upto 100km radius from base, but after that it’s tacho… … Erm… Well, should be
commonrail:
i thought recovery drivers were exempt from drivers hours regs…even so,the last bloke dropped him at trowell,when he only lived off j28.
the aa should send someone with enough hours to do the jobRead above
i have
AA work off a operators licence (and also think the Rac) so all recovery trucks are on tacho rules.Thus why they use what they call relay.
The transit vans with the spec lifts can take you up to about 40 miles i think and then they swop you over to recovery truck.
The recovery truck and driver have no boundarys so it depends what driving hours they have left etc.
The reason they operate under tacho rules is as its the only legal way to move a vehicle that not in a so called distressed state so you are only exempt from tacho when you are recovering broken down vehicles not when you are moving a working vehicle from one place to another.
The majority of times even if you know your car is a non fix at the roadside and you tell them this they will still send out a mechanic first to see can it be fixed before calling in the recovery truck which can cause a delay of a few hours as the recovery call wont be put in until its first checked to see does it need recovery which is pita.
waynedl:
Had to call RAC out when my caravan tyre got shreaded due to a ratchet ■■■■■■■■ the motorway getting stuck in the tyre
In what way did HATO let you down? They are not a recovery service, you’d called your recovery and they were on route. Yes a hato patrol could possibly have attended to give protection whilst you changed the wheel yourself, but maybe they were busy with other jobs, live lane breakdowns, RTC’s, Live lane debris etc. There has to be an order of priority, and a non disabled driver that is on the H/S with recovery on route is well down the list.
Did they know? did you call on the SOS box? or just hope that a knight in yellow / black batternberg would come driving to your rescue.
HATO’s no longer randomly patrol, they are despatched to incidents. If you call in to us, or your recovery inform us of your breakdown, then unless there is a safety factor or over-riding requirement that warrants a patrol to attend, HATO will not be sent to you.
HATO’s are not nursemaids for everyone that breakdowns on the motorway, their main priority is to try to keep the motorway running by clearing RTC’s, debris etc.
Drivers need to think ahead before making that journey.
Is my mobile charged up? do I have credit?
Have I got current breakdown recovery cover? who with? have I got my membership details to hand?
Have I got enough fuel?
Have a got a usable legal spare wheel? a car jack? adaptor to remove the locking nuts? a wheel brace?
Are there waterproof warm coats in the vehicle for all occupants?
99% of the time the answer to a good number of these questions is NO. Truck drivers usually are fully sorted because it’s your job, but car drivers think that everyone else should look after them, it’s not their fault.
(You’ve got me going! I would love to be allowed to get a few of you in our place and see just what the great british general public are like!)
I used to be with the AA but when shopping around the RAC so switched to them and have to admit have had better service from the RAC, never had to wait more than 30 mins for them to arrive!!!
cieranc:
Yes Chas, I have heard of them
They offer the same service all the call centre/contractor only clubs do - Call Assist, IPA, First Call, Europ Assist, they all the same.
I won’t use any service where you have to pay up front. What happens if you don’t have the dosh up front?
You ring them and tell them and they pay it directly. I am also with autoaid and know this as I have been in that exact position, although understandably they don’t like to advertise this. Autoaid is more like a £38 insurance policy to my way of thinking. You break down, you sort it yourself (they will help you if needed), organise your recovery back home or book into a hotel etc, then just send them the receipts and claim it back later. It’s not for people that can’t think for themselves and need nannying around - those people should stick with the “proper” breakdown companies. Personally, for what equates to ~ £3 per month for complete peace of mind if my motor packs up away from home I wouldn’t be without it.
AA (& RAC for that matter as well) have an absolutely shocking reputation when you come to need them. Some enlightening reading HERE.
The real Biffo:
waynedl:
Had to call RAC out when my caravan tyre got shreaded due to a ratchet ■■■■■■■■ the motorway getting stuck in the tyreIn what way did HATO let you down? They are not a recovery service, you’d called your recovery and they were on route. Yes a hato patrol could possibly have attended to give protection whilst you changed the wheel yourself, but maybe they were busy with other jobs, live lane breakdowns, RTC’s, Live lane debris etc. There has to be an order of priority, and a non disabled driver that is on the H/S with recovery on route is well down the list.
Did they know? did you call on the SOS box? or just hope that a knight in yellow / black batternberg would come driving to your rescue.HATO’s no longer randomly patrol, they are despatched to incidents. If you call in to us, or your recovery inform us of your breakdown, then unless there is a safety factor or over-riding requirement that warrants a patrol to attend, HATO will not be sent to you.
HATO’s are not nursemaids for everyone that breakdowns on the motorway, their main priority is to try to keep the motorway running by clearing RTC’s, debris etc.
Drivers need to think ahead before making that journey.
Is my mobile charged up? do I have credit?
Have I got current breakdown recovery cover? who with? have I got my membership details to hand?
Have I got enough fuel?
Have a got a usable legal spare wheel? a car jack? adaptor to remove the locking nuts? a wheel brace?
Are there waterproof warm coats in the vehicle for all occupants?99% of the time the answer to a good number of these questions is NO. Truck drivers usually are fully sorted because it’s your job, but car drivers think that everyone else should look after them, it’s not their fault.
(You’ve got me going! I would love to be allowed to get a few of you in our place and see just what the great british general public are like!)
The original post is around somewhere, you can search for it and see why they let me down
DAF95XF:
I used to be with the AA but when shopping around the RAC so switched to them and have to admit have had better service from the RAC, never had to wait more than 30 mins for them to arrive!!!
You’re the frigin expert on recovery
Having been in recovery for tooooo long,
You pays your money and you takes your chance 
I’ve been with the AA for forty years.When you get your quote haggle on price,if you get a cheaper quote from RAC,tell the AA and they will match it.
I am with rescuemycar.com/breakdown/ but I have never had to call them out so can not say how good they are.
Paul