Value of RACV Total Care (or similar products)

George, bogged off road, no use at all. It is not that sort of service. I will relate a tale about RACV Total Care from a few years ago and a more current one.

First day of a 3 month trip to the Top End, about 150k's from home, head gasket blew. Limped to a repair place, booked in repairs. Total Care supplied a rental car for the time the car was off the road. Three months later, second last day of trip, I nosed into a gutter to park, on restart, horrible noise from engine, kaput, Total Care supplied a motel for the night and rental car until car returned from original repairer and tray truck to deliver vehicle back to original repairer, they hadn't tightened cam gear bolt correctly. Certainly saved me a lot of bucks.

More recent, travelling back to Melbourne from Qld, wheel falls off camper trailer, Total Care supplied tray truck to return it to town for repairs, couple of days delay to get parts, Total Care was going to supply motel till fixed, but in the end we needed to return to Melbourne. Total Care supplied tray truck to return camper to Melbourne when repairs completed. Again save me a lot of bucks.

Do I leave home with out RACV Total Care, not on your nelly.....................

G'Day George_M,

I have NRMA premium which I believe is similar.

I thankfully have never needed the benefits such as accommodation and vehicle hire but I was bogged out the back of Brewarinna and contacted the NRMA through my son via satphone.

The NRMA organised the SES to come and drag us out at no cost to me.

I think in the vast extremes of Australia no road service organisation can be expected to provide road service as we expect in suburbia but for not a lot of money the added benefits at the time of high stress is worth it.

William

A couple of years ago on the Mereeni Loop we came upon a family whose camper had suffered a suspension failure. Ie the axle had come adrift from the camper. They had the RACV Total Care.

There was no mobile phone coverage so we lent them our satphone.

There is only one number for roadside assistance, and on this occasion the wait was interminable. Over $100 later with no answer they and we gave up.

If you get the service it's great. But it costs a lot either in $$ or unacceptable inconvenience to get the service.

A 25 minute wait in a roadside service situation is unacceptable. It is an emergency, albeit it a low priority one. These organisations, all of them, need to lower their telephone queue lengths. Or provide a number for callers from remote areas.

Worth every penny. Read the conditions very carefully as to what is covered and what is not covered. It covers breakdowns and your comprehensive insurance covers accidents you need to be aware of the difference.
TIP. If you ring total care you get an operator sitting in front of a computer who has no mechanical or automotive knowledge. All you need to say is the vehicle is broken down and can't be driven, and give your location. The more information you give the greater the chance your requested will be denied. You have been warned.

Hi George
l've got RACV Total Care for all the reasons John has mentioned above.Another good reason is that it also covers any car that you are driving. l've got Betty's car as nominated car, but when we are travelling in the ute l'm covered as well.

Murray

Like all insurances it is a total waste of money until you need it.
For us, the NRMA equivalent on a Sunday afternoon after our suspension collapsed on our CT 120km from Bamaga (tip of Cape York) it was priceless . Just getting the CT retrieved same day (thank you Marco @ RACQ Bamaga) was worth it, let alone accommodation assistance. I'm sure we could have "milked it" for more but that's not we were interested in.
We would have spent more in extra premiums over the years than what we have "recovered", but it's hard to put a $ figure on your hour in need. I continue to buy it, hoping I never need to "recover" those premiums.
Mark

We have RACT Ultimate care [ same thing different name]. We had a bearing and axle failure on the caravan in northern N.S. W. Had the van tilt tray towed to the nearest repairer cost me $30 excess mileage charge.
We returned to Tasmania without the van accommodation paid for by RACT and then when the van was repaired some 6 weeks later they paid for the return trip to collect the van and return home.

As they say in the classics " don't leave home without it".

Worth every penny [ or is that dollars these days.

We have RACV Total Care & over he years have used it several times following breakdowns. Every time the service has been superb with a definite ethos of wanting to help, never a sense of avoiding responsibility.

The experience when we needed to get a replacement motor fitted to our bus in Katherine is just one example. We had towing, accommodation & car hire paid for. After collecting the bus we got 100kms (to Pine Creek) before the engine rear main seal failed (incorrectly fitted by the motor supplier). A distressing time, but RACV said "sorry to hear about that, but don't worry, we'll be treating it as a new incident & will provide full cover for you again".

We have off road cover with Club 4x4, who suggest it wise to have RAC cover to save on costs once the car is recovered to a 2wd navigable gazetted road.

We wouldn't travel without RACV cover any more than we would travel without water.

My experience with RACV Total Care is similar to the others in this thread. My diff lock let go at 60kph just outside Winton in central Qld. The gearbox was growling and there was no way I was driving the vehicle and van back to Melbourne. The local mechanic couldn't attend to it for at least 3 weeks. We called RACV and they arranged everything. We didn't have to wait on hold at any time during the numerous calls to them making arrangements. We had a few nights in a motel, flights out of Winton to Townsville then on to Melbourne and the car and van arrived a few days later. I asked the guy who delivered them if he could leave the car on the truck and run it around the corner to my mechanic. He said he wasn't permitted to do that but why not ring RACV? I said you gotta be kidding!! My wife rang them and they answered the phone with a "hello Liz, let me guess - your car is back and you want it towed to your repairer". They then apologised and said it would be an hour before they could get there !! They were marvellous.
As others have said, read the terms and conditions. The RACs, NRMA etc differ significantly from state to state. The covers are quite different too. The last time I did the research - about 3 years ago - RACV Total Care had the best package. You don't have to be a Vic resident to buy it.

Thanks folks - that is consistent feedback in favour of continuing to subscribe to this type of service.

I really appreciate the clear and prompt responses. Safe travels!

George_M

Premium care or similar can also be used if say you the driver takes ill and needs medical help i have read. Maybe your wife cant drive your manual 4x4 or tow your caravan. They will get your vehicle and Caravan to nearest town and set your wife up in a motel if you need medical help or hospital. They just apply their help as a traveller to your situation. We have had it(NRMA) for years but fortunately never had the need to use it. Michael

Well worth it. And without going going into the amazing way they have helped myself and family members, a hint for you when taking it out. If you and your partner drive different cars, you cover yourself and your partners car or vise versa. This way you are both covered on both cars on the one policy,
This works for RACV however I'm not sure about other states. AANT in the territory only covers the person and not the vehicle, so the person covered has to be with the vehicle.