Audi Roadside Assistance

[Sponge]

My car will be 3 years old in October and it's my understanding that the Audi Roadside Assistance cover will expire then. Is it usual for them to offer to extend the cover? Can anyone give me an idea of what it will cost?

I know it's a few months off, but I'm looking into Tesco's clubcard deal with the RAC. You get 4x their value when you use them on their 'specials', which includes (at the moment) the RAC. I can get RAC Roadside / Recovery / At Home / Onward Travel Joint for £52.50 (RRP £210). This appears to be cheaper than getting the cover direct from the RAC, via their website.

I'm tempted to order the vouchers sooner, rather than later, to make sure I benefit from the offer when the time comes to renew.

[steve2]

Sponge, I also use the Tesco deal as it is one of the cheapest way to get some decent cover.
If i am right Audi Assist use the RAC now

[Dallan]

Not unusual to be offered extension of cover for a car that is about to be three years old since first registration - the Audi warranty cover, which as you say includes Roadside Assistance. If offered an extension of Audi warranty, it would certainly be worth checking if this includes Roadside Assistance. Any dealership ought to be able to answer this.
However, extending Audi warranty can be expensive.
The Tesco deal looks good - very good for what is included for RAC Roadside Assistance/recovery etc.
D.

[PetrolDave]

We went with Tesco when the warranty expired on my wife's Skoda last year, and we'll extend that to include my RS4 when the warranty expires on that next July.

P.S. Had several phone calls from an international number trying to tell me that the warranty on my RS4 had expired, as soon as I tell them it hasn't since the car it only just over 2 years old they immediately hang up - guess my RS 04 xxx numberplate is confusing them!

[dibbs26]

Craig I renewed my Audi warranty which included Breakdown for about £600, so far I have managed to recoup most of that money with jobs on the car at the dealer
Its worth considering..........

[audi_chick]

Not sure how widely known - but just so you have all the info, and forgive me if this is now old and incorrect info;
when you have the Audi roadside Assistance, the RAC "person" who attends to you will be an audi/vw technician as opposed to an all-rounder general RAC "person". I have only ever had an Audi-RAC person (van had the four rings all over it aswell as the RAC logos) out to help me but I suppose if they are already busy they will dispatch a.n.other engineer ....

[a4andy]

Hi Sponge, I received a mailshot in Feb this year offering me renewal of Audi Roadside Assist at £89 for a year or £145 for two years.

Ultimately given the somewhat lack-lustre reliability of my A4 I renewed the Audi Warrenty which includes the Roadside Assist. This is by no means a cheap option though. When I renewed in March, this was the price structure;

Engine size; Up to 1600cc. £626 for unlimitied mileage, £510 for limited mileage.

Engine size; 1601cc-2000cc £862 for unlimitied mileage, £699 for limited mileage.

Engine size; 2001cc-3000cc; £1109 for unlimitied mileage, £835 for limited mileage.

Engine size; 3001cc and above; £1576 for unlimitied mileage, £1240 for limited mileage.

In all cases the limited mileage option privides cover for 12 months or 15000 miles, which ever occurs first.

The prices may no longer be current; if they have changed I suspect they have only gone in one direction ;-/ However, over the last two and a half years I have had the opportunity to test the Audi Approved Warrenty almost to destruction (this is not a proud boast) and the service I have received has always been of a uniform high quality.

Would have prefered a reliable car in the first place though, tbh :-)

[Sponge]

Thanks for the replies.

Ironically, I got a letter from Audi a few days ago asking about extending my warranty and breakdown cover. They didn't include any prices, just a number to call. I haven't called them yet.

If the prices you list are anything to go by, then I won't be renewing. There's no way I can afford £835 for a years cover. I'll just have to take my chances.

The prices for renewing just the breakdown cover are reasonable, but still higher than what I can get through Tesco.

[Hopsta]

One thing to bear in mind, the Audi roadside bods are employed by the RAC are specialists and deal with Audi's day in day out.

The Tesco membership will just be for the tango brigade, yes they have some diagnostic tools available.

I'm not not knocking the latter as this is what my dad does for a living, just depends on what you want from your cover

[Sponge]

So with your dad working for the RAC, has he said that the Audi Assist RAC bods get better training and have better tools for working on Audis?

Call me cynical, but I've always thought it was a load of rubbish to charge extra. I mean, you have an RAC van that's 15 minutes away, but he isn't 'Audi Assist' - are they going to ignore him and task an 'Audi Assist' RAC man that's 45 minutes away instead?

Edit: I've just been reading Audi's website:

Just a phone call away are 95 qualified Volkswagen Group dedicated Technicians and 150 Audi accredited RAC Technicians, all in specially equipped vehicles, and backed up by the might of the RAC's 1,500 patrols.

Sounds to me like you're more likely to get a 'normal' RAC patrol than the Audi one. 150 v 1500.

It looks like the Audi version of RAC cover is equivalent to Roadside / Recovery / At Home / Onward Travel (although the PDF document I'm reading doesn't actually mention the 'At Home' bit.)

It also seems to me that the Audi version is really attached to the vehicle. So if either my wife or I are in another vehicle which breaks down, we're not covered. But we will be with the tesco version.