[John320d]

Hi guys, any help on the following would be much appreciated. My 320d is now three and a half years old and obviously no longer covered by bmw warranty.I only average about 4k miles per year so I decided not to have the extended warranty. My question is what level of expertise could I expect with roadside assistance from one of the breakdown services such as AA or RAC etc?.Are these services privy to fault codes and the required fixes. Anyone with first hand experience. Cheers.

[doughboy]

These days they're not really there to fix it, just stick you on a truck and drop you at home / garage.

Unless its something daft like no fuel or a common fault they all know about you'll be waiting for the flatbed.

Even if they did read fault codes etc, there's no a lot they can do at the roadside if your high pressure fuel pump is gone etc.

We just took out the cheapest AA two driver policy for me and the missus, covers us both in ANY car for about £60 I think? Just the relay one that takes you where YOU want, not just to the nearest garage to the breakdown.

[makkan00]

Check with your bank as most banks give you that cover if you have premium account.

[phil200tdi]

I did AA via quidco and got £50 cash back...

With an old landrover it's invaluable!

[Mart1000]

I always found green flag to be the best. But as said on a crablike these I doubt they would fix anything so make sure if you go with the AA etc to get recovery plus, that will get you all the way home.

[doughboy]

I tried Greenflag, but they were vehicle specific, i.e. they wanted to know all about the car, reg, model, age etc.

Whereas AA was simply 2 drivers, any cars, done. The membership is by name not vehicle, so you're covered even as a passenger in someone elses car.

[John320d]

Thanks guys for your input, but not really the feedback I was looking for. I was hoping for a reply from someone who had required roadside assistance and had their problem fixed or not fixed, whichever the case may be. I was curious about the success rate of roadside repairs these organisations claim.

[mc_blue]

Hi John320d, I actually own a vehicle recovery company based in Birmingham. We work for most motoring organisations as a sub-contractor for a given area.

Our technicians carry OBD readers and go on regular training to ensure they have current understanding of modern vehicles. In addition, some of the companies we work with will provide us with technical bulletins to ensure we know of latest developments/common faults on certain vehicles. As has already been articulated in this thread however, it usually depends on the fault with the casualty and also if the customer would like the vehicle to be towed straight to a garage. Most motoring organisations will use companies such as ours as agents.

[John320d]

Hi MC blue , thank you for the informative reply. Would BMW be one of companies that will share information to assist you to perform roadside assistance