Have you had a breakdown?

[Bper]

Under the Toyota manufacturers warranty, breakdown recovery is included. However, when this finishes despite the yearly relax warranty, breakdown is not included.

Considering the reliability of Toyota, what are owners views on breakdown recovery. I wonder how many have never needed recovery since they purchased their cars. Insurance policies have this as an optional extra and of course you can buy this separately but does everyone take this out 'Just in case' or do they have faith in the brand and do not bother?

[Graham47]

I chose to take out the Toyota breakdown cover and have renewed each year since for peace of mind.  It costs about £70 per year which is competitive considering what is included.

In this months Which? Magazine it (and the similar Honda) scheme is highest rated.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Hello Bob, I have it tacked on to my insurance policy.

It's only £23 extra, IIRC.

I don't know how good it is,as I have not used it yet, touch wood 🪵.

Had it for 3 years on the tsport, and 2 years on the Honda before that.

The main reason I have it is due to me being a bit useless physically now, I don't think I could even change a wheel.

I used to be able to cope with breakdowns on my own,or with the help of friends,as in just towing a car in and fixing it at home.

As regards Toyota reliability, I have a lot of faith in it, even or maybe more so in my 19 year old car.

Especially with it being older tech engineering, that I think may have been at its peak with that era of Toyotas.

[FROSTYBALLS]

We've always renewed Toyota roadside assistance on our Toyotas.  Never had reason to use it.

On our Hyundais, until 2019 they came with 5 years roadside assistance. The scheme changed in 2019 to one year, and then it is renewed when the car is serviced by a Hyundai dealer. 

We've used breakdown assistance thrice in the past 22 years - once in 2002 for a flat Battery (Nissan), in 2004 for a puncture (Europ Assist - Mazda) and once this year for a puncture (Hyundai).

Both the Toyota and Hyundai schemes use the AA.

[2toyos]

32 minutes ago, Bper said:

Under the Toyota manufacturers warranty, breakdown recovery is included. However, when this finishes despite the yearly relax warranty, breakdown is not included.

Considering the reliability of Toyota, what are owners views on breakdown recovery. I wonder how many have never needed recovery since they purchased their cars. Insurance policies have this as an optional extra and of course you can buy this separately but does everyone take this out 'Just in case' or do they have faith in the brand and do not bother?

I have recovery with my bank account, but haven't broken down in my Toyota's yet 🤞🏻

[Bper]

Well based on the above replies which are positive would it be unreasonable for toyota to include with each yearly relax warranty breakdown recovery.

It looks like the reliability is that high and there could be a shared cost between owners and toyota . Just a thought. 

[Roy124]

Regardless of Toyota reliability, punctures happen. If you are confident of picking a puncture with a can of gunk, or jacking the car up at the side of a busy road on a dark wet night, go ahead. 

If you run out of petrol..... 

If you lose your car keys...... 

[Bper]

Yes there are many situation's that do require recovery, new cars owners have breakdown automatically included. 

It's interesting that once the 5 year manufacturers warranty is up and the toyota relax becomes available, on this alone confirms to me there confidence in the brand. That being said would the inclusion of breakdown encourage more potential buyers.

As I said in my post it could be a shared cost between toyota and owners and there are other ways of course.

[APS]

Never used it - well, not in the past 20 years or so. But still like to have the peace of mind of cover. Especially since we drive a fair bit across Europe and most modern cars don't come with spare wheels. 

Get cover through our bank/BS.

[Cyker]

So far I've only needed to call them twice, but boy was I glad I had stumped up the money for it!

The scariest one was when I was driving my dad's Verso on the M25 and the front-left tyre suddenly deflated (i.e. a puncture!  ). It was on a section that had just been changed to a Smart Motorway, i.e. A Deathtrap, so we pulled over and jumped out, standing on a muddy thorny slope praying like smeg that nobody would crash into the car, which was half-way down a hill but as close to the barrier as I could get it.

Made the call to Toyota breakdown, which just goes to the AA, but I think they guy couldn't hear me very well as they initially sent a van, which arrived 30 minutes later (Which I thought was pretty good considering this was on an Easter weekend morning!!), but then drove off again without stopping, yelling that he wasn't allowed to stop there and would have to phone it in to their office. Meanwhile some close calls with trucks having to move out the way as they spotted it as they came over the hill... Was another 30 minutes before the Smart Motorway finally noticed we'd broken down and finally our lane was closed and a speed limit set up.

15-20 mins later a Highways Agency 4x4 turned up, closed all 4 lanes 20m before us (I'm sure we were popular on that Easter morning...  ) and had us drive to the next layby on the flat, which took ages as it was on the otherside of a hill and if I went faster than 5mph the tyre would start smoking from all the friction of it rubbing against itself (My brother thought they'd caught fire from all the smoke!). I wish I'd taken a picture of the tyre, as the sidewall had weird V-shaped cuts all around from where it'd been pinching itself, and it stank of burning rubber.

Eventually we got there, AA guy came out again, being allowed to stop now we were in a layby, then had fun wrangled the spare off the bottom of the car (It was very rusty and deflated! I've concluded that having a spare mounted under under the car is a very bad idea...) and we were on our way (...back home, so I could get in my Yaris D4D instead!!)

Needless to say, that experience soured me even more to the whole Smart Motorways pet project... esp. since it doesn't seem to have improved any, judging by how often the M25 still gets closed or I see a car tucked in by the barrier with no gantry warnings!

 

The second time was when I was driving down the A10 in The World's Most Unreliable Mk2 Toyota Yaris, that I'd changed to after being KHAAAAN'd - Gearbox just stopped going into gear and had to pull off into some random sideroad and wait (In the rain!) for a tow home. I did luck out wit that as, after getting ridiculous quotes of £700+ for a salvaged one from local breakers yards, or £700 *and* 2 weeks to repair the box, I managed to find one on eBay from a welsh breakers for £150 and had my travelling mechanic fit it.

That car led to me getting the Mk4 after the AC went, and I finally decided I wasn't going to throw any more money at it, esp. after my dealer misdiagnosed the problem, but I've vented about that enough in other threads!  

 

[AJones]

For me it's more a question of what do you do if you don't have any breakdown cover and you find yourself on the hard-shoulder of a motorway needing to be towed away, or needing to change a tyre?

Or even on an A road and you break down miles away from home when on a long trip, you can't get picked up by relatives or friends and don't know any local garages or recovery companies

You are either trying to find local recovery companies that can come out, or try to find a breakdown provider that will accept you for immediate cover and come out to you. 

Given that there's breakdown providers who charge only around £30 a year, at that price I think the reassurance of having a contact number you can call when you need it is worth the cost.

 

[Roy124]

Apart from a Toyota Battery flat at home and misfuelling incidents, I had a couple of major failures. 

A crap old hire van caught fire.  It was loaded with furniture.  The AA trailered it all the way from Newcastle to Lincolnshire. 

And another with an alternator failure and Green Flag trailered it on to my destination where my daughter had managed to get a small garage to open up that evening for a drop off. 

Over 60 years of motoring I think I have had 8 call outs. My first was at 11pm on a Sunday with a dynamo failure and the AA dug out a garage that changed the dynamo and I was on my way at 3am.

[Max_Headroom]

On 9/22/2022 at 3:03 PM, Rhymes with Paris said:

Hello Bob, I have it tacked on to my insurance policy.

It's only £23 extra, IIRC.

Mine is £35 for roadside assistance and recovery.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Aye Max, I think the stand alone break down cover such as AA RAC etc only cover cars less than 10 years old anyway.

So may be my only option.

Not sure about this though, but I sure hope mine covers punctures, will have to check.

 

[Hybrid21]

I renewed the Toyota assistance purely for peace of mind, especially on motorways.

I feel that things like faulty electronics are out of my league and as I am an old guy I do worry about these things 😀

But my previous Volvo had Volvo roadside assistance included if serviced by dealer, which I thought was a good incentive 👍

[Roy124]

As I said above, a puncture is inevitable at some time.  Thinking back, I have had a blow out, a ruined flat tyre, both necessitating roadside repair, and a couple of flats at home where I could have used a call out

[Eddie G]

Got mine mainly incase the 12v Battery goes flat even if luckly the Mark 4 Yaris has a spare and not a silly gunk can, RAC had a deal on for £80 with home start, was with Green Flag before that but never had to use either so far 🤞 but well worth the peace of mind having cover.

[Mojo1010]

As others have said, for peace of mind I have a breakdown policy, with start rescue. Have not needed to use them yet in the 4 years I had the MK3 yaris. It cost very little on my car £30-40 a year. 

It's a small amount to pay if the car have a puncture on the motorway or country lane at night. 

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.

Please feel free to take a look at our breakdown offering if you wish.

https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/breakdown/

Regards,

Dan.

[Max_Headroom]

1 hour ago, Rhymes with Paris said:

Aye Max, I think the stand alone break down cover such as AA RAC etc only cover cars less than 10 years old anyway.

So may be my only option.

Not sure about this though, but I sure hope mine covers punctures, will have to check.

 

I am with Hastings and i had the same insurance on my 12-year-old Vauxhall before this car, give the comparison sites a try.

[Bper]

The 1 year included breakdown is due to end with Toyota in November, it's interesting that the comparison sites insurance lists breakdown at a reasonable cost. However, reading the policy terms there is a 10 mile towing local radius should you break down. National breakdown is at an additional cost. 

Have members checked their policies to see if this is sufficient cover in the unlikely event and is Toyota breakdown cover a better option?
Comments please.

[Derek.w]

Just a thought if you go for 3 party insurance will the emergency  Ecall button if fitted still work if activated. 

[Roy124]

Derek. It is an emergency call which will activate automatically in the event of a crash, air bag deployment or it you do it. 

It will report to  an emergency centre who will call the emergency services, it is not connected to a breakdown service. 

[Roy124]

2 hours ago, Bper said:

The 1 year included breakdown is due to end with Toyota in November, it's interesting that the comparison sites insurance lists breakdown at a reasonable cost. However, reading the policy terms there is a 10 mile towing local radius should you break down. National breakdown is at an additional cost. 

Have members checked their policies to see if this is sufficient cover in the unlikely event and is Toyota breakdown cover a better option?
Comments please.

I renewed with Toyota who contract with the AA at a lower cost than the AA or many other services.  I used to use Green Flag and I think Toyota was cheaper than GF too. 

[Auris James]

I have a 3 year warranty and service plan when I bought my 2015 Auris 2 years ago. Car came with 1 year warranty as Toyota approved used and 2 years extra bought for £500.

I believe breakdown is included in the warranty? Had a few starting issues but left for 15-30 minutes and started no problem on second try, all during lockdown. Soon after had a replacement 12 volt Battery replaced for £130 at Toyota. No issues since.

With my 1996 Volvo 940, I have Start Rescue, can either insure the car or personal. Found the service very good. They used a local recovery company, who couldn't get it going so recovered 3 miles home.

Used once in 5 years. Turned out my in tank fuel pump on the Volvo at 201,000 miles had died when I got it recovered back home and did some fault tracing myself and VOC advice.

Advised to see if 12 volt at pump wiring connector to rule out fuel pump relay and fuses ok. Got someone to crank it over while I gave the fuel sender end a whack with a bit of wood against the pump sender housing, and hay presto, burst into life. £80 for Bosch eBay pump and I fitted it myself. After replaced the crank sensor and ignition module as preventative maintenance and new fuel pump relay.

James.