Breakdown cover on a new Toyota UK.

[Yugguy1970]

Hello everyone.

Yesterday I put a deposit down on a new RAV4 but I forgot to find out about breakdown cover.

I've seen on the website you can buy Toyota cover but before I call the dealer again I thought I'd get some info and ask here if a new Toyota comes with free breakdown and is Toyota supplied cover any good?

I've got a Focus at the moment and I've found the Ford breakdown cover to be really good.

Cheers everyone.

[FROSTYBALLS]

One year Toyota Roadside Assistance with a new car - provided by the AA. For the past couple of years or so, the scheme has been a Which? Best Buy for manufacturer branded schemes based on a combination of response times, ability to repair at the roadside, and customer score.

[Yugguy1970]

Awesome thanks for the info.  Ford breakdown is also through the AA so that's good.  I'm guessing you can roll on another year if you service at Toyota?

[MyOpinionIsWorthless]

On 6/27/2021 at 8:56 AM, FROSTYBALLS said:

One year Toyota Roadside Assistance with a new car - provided by the AA. For the past couple of years or so, the scheme has been a Which? Best Buy for manufacturer branded schemes based on a combination of response times, ability to repair at the roadside, and customer score.

I’ve used this for the last 6 years

[Cyker]

On 6/27/2021 at 9:07 AM, Yugguy1970 said:

Awesome thanks for the info.  Ford breakdown is also through the AA so that's good.  I'm guessing you can roll on another year if you service at Toyota?

Actually you don't even need to service it at Toyota - After the first year, the Roadside Assistance thing becomes a chargeable thing like any other breakdown service; The only difference between going with e.g. Green Flag, RAC or AA directly, is that the car has to be a Toyota and it's a good bit cheaper than AA's price for some reason.

Also, it follows the car and not the policy holder so if other people drive the car they're still covered.

You can also get it discounted or free in a variety of ways - e.g. you can negotiate it as part of a service plan, or if you buy an extended warranty you get it free for the term of the warranty (Not the new Relax warranty sadly!!). If you have more than one Toyota, you can also have the extra cars covered at a reduced price as long as one of them is paying the full.

Having the Roadside Assistance also grants a small discount if you take out Toyota Insurance, but it's usually so small it barely factors into it. 

Would recommend it; Has saved my donkey once already when I had the nightmare scenario of getting a puncture on a smart motorway! 

<ranty bit>

Turned what should have been a straightforward and safe scenario (Me pulling onto the hard shoulder and changing the tyre) into a butt-clenching 2 hour ordeal of mild terror (Pull to the side, gtf out of the car asap into the muddy stinging nettles, try to call the roadside assistance over the noise of the traffic, get told they can't recover us because there is no hard shoulder but that they will contact Highways, wait 30 minutes for Highways to notice we're stranded and start changing the signs to close the lane, which everyone ignores because of all the false alarms, more waiting until a Highways 4x4 comes along and then proceeds to close the whole M25 (!!) on an Easter Sunday morning (!!!!), then we have to drive nearly 2 miles (reeeeally sloooowly) on the flat tyre with them escorting us to one of those laybys, where they took our number and drove off, leaving us to wait for the AA to come!)

I really want to force whoever devised such an asinine system to be only ever allowed drive on them, and in a Lada or Yugo or something, until they see sense and give us the hard shoulder back! Or die horribly, which is also quite likely.

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

On 6/27/2021 at 9:07 AM, Yugguy1970 said:

Awesome thanks for the info.  Ford breakdown is also through the AA so that's good.  I'm guessing you can roll on another year if you service at Toyota?

As far as I'm aware, the Roadside Assistance is chargeable after the first year. 

if you ordered the car before 1st June it will come a 5 year/100,000 mile new car warranty. If ordered on or after 1st June, it will come with a 3 year/60,000 mile new car warranty. With Toyota's new Relax warranty scheme, once the new car warranty has expired, each time the car is serviced by a Toyota dealer, the Relax extended warranty will apply for 1 year/10,000 miles, and this may be extended up to the car's 10th birthday.

[Yugguy1970]

I had a Yugo 45 back in the day.  At the end of its life it struggled to reach 45 😂

I'm not a fan of smart motorways either.

Ford breakdown could be renewed up to four years free if you serviced at Ford.

[Cyker]

13 hours ago, Yugguy1970 said:

Ford breakdown could be renewed up to four years free if you serviced at Ford.

Ooh, now that I didn't know! That's not a bad deal!

 

[FROSTYBALLS]

Similar to Hyundai - Roadside Assistance renews each time the car is serviced at a Hyundai dealer, though there is no limit on the number of years it renews. Mapping is also updated as part of a service for the first seven years. 

[Catlover]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

Ooh, now that I didn't know! That's not a bad deal!

 

If you looking for a good deal with roadside assistance and at home problems take a look at Start Rescue. Been with them about 12 years, both cars. It cost me last year less then £70 for BOTH cars. And we have used them, once when the wife’s starter motor went and she was stranded, they were out quick put the car on the back and took her to our local friendly garage which is about 100 yards away. Then her 12v Battery went flat, they were out quick again and got it sorted. I give them 10 out of 10

[Yugguy1970]

I liked the Ford breakdown as the breakdown gave me a hire car the same day, then the dealer paid for it until my car was fixed.  I dropped the hire car at the dealers when mine was ready.  Super easy.

[delbois]

I'm just off the phone to Toyota Roadside Assistance following a misunderstanding.

I bought an 8 month old ex-demonstrator in March 2021 and assumed the Roadside Assistance would expire on 1st June this year when the car was 12 months old. So I renewed it in June 2021 but when I received the membership cards today it shows the membership as running from March 2022 to March 2023.

The explanation was that the one-year membership started on the date I bought the car and therefore the renewal commences one year after the purchase date.

The agent told me every new or used Toyota bought from a dealer automatically comes with a full 12 months Roadside Assistance membership, hence my confusion.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Also if one buys a new Toyota and have existing Toyota Roadside Assistance membership, you can phone and get the balance of your existing membership transferred to your new car.