Classic Care
Normal price $110 for first year
Under this deal, $9.99 x 9 = $89.91 for first year
Premium Care
Normal price $199 for first year
Under this deal, $18.99 x 9 = $170.91 for first year
Premium Plus
Normal price $328 for first year
Under this deal, $29.99 x 9 = $269.91 for first year
You save more if you are not an NRMA member at the moment as $55 joining fee is waived
@netizen Racv usef here through link with motoring association with membership. From what I read as Aus wide.
They offer this to lapsed members who's membership was not renewed.
Nothing to see here.
For new members not existing members. Might be worth getting as I dont have any at moment.
Thanks OP!
Budget direct is 79.95$ per year. They operate in whole Australia and use RAC.
https://www.budgetdirect.com.au/roadside-assistance-australi…
$79.95 per year seems like a very good deal.
I wonder if RACT would price match Budget Direct.
@eric881104 Compared to 9.99/29.99
I have just checkex their t&c..
We may not be able to provide our service or there may be delays to the service when: 37. There are inadequate resources in the area you have broken down — for example there are no tow trucks or repairers available; 38. Circumstances which are beyond our control—such as extraordinary delays caused by extreme weather conditions, roadblock and/or diversions, a serious accident or traffic congestion;
We will arrange for the Roadside Contractor to provide limited mechanical repairs to your Vehicle (including but not limited to fuses, repairs to hoses and drive belts) up to the value of $20.00. We will only do so, where we believe repairs can be satisfactorily and safely completed at the Vehicle’s location and the necessary parts and/or equipment are available at the time of the callout.
Which bit are you upset about?
Not upset just found their limit for repair up to $20. And if there is traffic congestion or road block or serious accident they can simply "U turn", and get out of there.
Simply copy and paste to share here.
I think the $20 limit refers to parts which seems reasonable. For the annual or monthly fee that they charge, it would be consumed easily by more expensive part (and the time to fit parts other than belts, hoses, fuses, etc may well be too long). And although it's no real help to the customer affected, sitting in a traffic jam, going into a flooded area, etc and not attending to other customers in more accessible areas seems like a poor overall strategy to attend to as many customers as possible.
@jdr: Your monthly fee may be 'consumed by the part' but the point is, like insurance, they make money on the fact not everyone is going to need to redeem the (so-called) 'service'. Allowing only $20 is ridiculous. Many generic belts may be that price, but few OEM ones are. And if you're driving anything that isn't 2 years old, they probably won't even have THOSE in stock.
So it almost sounds like all they offer is jumper cables and fan belts. One would hope they do more than that, but if not - people could visually check their fan belts for fraying/cracking and/or just change them every 1-2 years, and either get a free battery capacity test at a battery shop or carry a jump starter pack in the glove box.
I have used them mainly for battery replacements and changing tyres (Last 10 years due to all the excess development in sydney and probably a lot more trucks and tradies on the roads with loose bolts / screws dropping onto the road), i have encountered a lot of screws and bolts into my tyres, far more than i did the previous 20 years. I seem to get one in my tyre every few months or so.
But a coule of times it has been other issues where they would do a temporary fix till i could drive it to the mechanics
I’m think their service is just to get you going if possible but not to supply any significant parts really. If your battery fails, they’ll sell you one and the service bit is fitting it for you. If you have a belt or hose fail, I don’t expect they will replace it for you because the part costs a significant amount and they won’t likely have one with them for your car anyway. Maybe they can do a patch or temp fix to allow you to get to a repairer.
It’s an emergency service, the cost of any significant parts and repairs are still yours.
@jdr: Yeah, I don't know - I do know I don't trust them after reading about their insurance 'scams' in car newsgroups either… How yes, you get free towing, but to a depot of their choice, a repairer of their choice, etc. who then charge more than if you arranged it yourself, etc.
I'm just tired of everyone (business) seemingly out to cheat us all. Just a few $ more and offer something that isn't a deskfull of red tape and deception.
I have NRMA for years and they are great. Is budget direct the same?
Signed up 😬 thanks OP
I signed up but haven't gotten a confirmation email. :(
i havent either
Do they offer more than one towing a year?
NRMA bunch of old fuddy duddies obsessed with paving the planet
Bargain. I've been thinking about replacing my old beat-up commuter car with a new one, but for $90 I can keep driving it for another year (or until the wheels fall off) without worrying about being stranded.
Better than spending thousands on a new car when my old one still kind-of works.
They don't repair your car, they just tow it.
That’s fine. Once it finally breaks (and when it does the next time, it’s likely to be a catastrophic meltdown), then I’ll get a new one.
You'd still have days of hassle though, seems a bit silly.
I'd just get an Uber after being towed, then use my motorcycle or weekend car until I get another beater for commuting.
Silly?
The people spending thousands on a new car every few years seem silly to me. I get 15-20 years out of a basic car for commuting.
I can spend the money I save on not having a shiny new car (that is just used to crawl to and from work) on nicer things. Including less practical vehicles for the weekend.
I’ve actually only needed to be towed once in decades of driving (and that was when a distracted driver ran into me). But getting an NRMA membership has always been in the back of my mind. Especially now that my current car is older than many of the drivers on the road.
At this price, it’s a no-brainer, and will put my mind at ease.
That's strange. I'm a NRMA member with other insurance with them, signed up to 1 year of Premium Care last month for $150.
you get a discount if you have NRMA insurance
Hi Edfoo,
I just tried to get the same deal. NRMA denied there was a $150 deal, but did mention $159 as a once only introductory deal, with the price going up when renewal occurs.
The best price I have been able to get is 174, and that is being a gold member (being with them for 20 years I think).
I do know they have an outbound call centre that offers 3 month bonus to those that have lapsed, but this is not offered when phoning the customer service department (they acknowledge this exists though, when I spoke to them).
Any further discount if you hold other policies?
NRMA operate in WA?
No
Anything for an existing member who just renewed NRMA insurance last month at the full price?
They made their money while it lasted and competition wasn’t much !
That joining fee was pretty much a penalty when you needed to join them.
Now they feel the heat and lower their prices !
My car is 7 years old, and I have never even once needing this. Never out of fuel (who does?), never had flat tyre.
I can't thing of a reason why I would be needing this.
I had an accident once, the insurance paid for towing, and I paid $20 for taxi to the station.
Can someone tell me why would I be needing this?
Does anyone drive the car that can't change a tyre? Do your headlights turn off with the ignition? + 7 uear old cars may still break down but you can play the odds I guess.
Good point. My wife can't change tyres
Also, I can change a tyre in my garage but if it happens on the highway I would rather have the NRMA guy park behind me and change the tyre for me
Every time I think of getting something like this, their terms and conditions make it silly to do so. e.g. Towing only within 20km in metro areas. Does this mean people who don't live in Sydney or Melbourne city get NO towing at all!? So…
NRMA: "Where are you located, sir?"
You: "I'm xyz."
NRMA: "Oh, that's 21km from our nearest tow truck. Thanks for your donation to my wages, and enjoy your walk pushing your car, sir."
Next two plans up are the same thing just increased to 100km. So if your car breaks down 101km from home…
I know most people don't travel that far from home most of their lives, but the point is, you might get these services knowing that - but 10 months later when you break down 105km from home, you've forgotten the fine print. May as well carry a portable jumper starter, 5L of spare fuel (which you regularly rotate to keep it fresh), learn to change tyres, and get your car serviced at least every two years (or do it and some basic checks - like is there oil in your water or water in your oil - yourself).
firstly, the towing only within 20km in metro areas means that they'll tow you from your location to somewhere of max 20km away from it. not that they won't service you if you're more than 20km away from metro areas which sounds very difficult to define.
secondly, even though the next two plans only have 100km towing, this is just for your car. the benefit of them is that you get $3000 in major breakdown benefits which will cover "accommodation, car hire, and onward travel for you and your passengers" which is huge.
Wouldn't I still be able to find a tower myself that is covered by my comprehensive insurance?
so your comprehensive insurance covers towing for breakdown at no cost ?
good for you then
"Ultimate protection for larger vehicles holidaying and towing."
I think I've known ONE person in life that took a weekend break within 100km from home, and NO-ONE that holidayed.
Who wants their car towed home when it breaks down?
Tyically recovery insurance will tow you further than their limits, you just have to pay per Km directly to the contracted company. I was looking at using, I think, Budget or AAMI and asked this question via a chat. It was 5$ per Km after their meagre limit.
Thats interesting. Unless the policy has changed for AAMI, they were only willing to reimburse $100 the last time I had my car towed to my mechanic. Tow cost a total of $250, which set me back $150 for 28kms which is only 3kms over their T&C. Towie mentioned that competitors such as Allianz and NRMA would of covered the 3kms at no cost.
In other words, I'll be moving away from AAMI in 3 days time since its up for renewal.
Will this work in Victoria?
It’s very unfortunate for me. I just registered for the very first time on Friday afternoon (still under 48 hours from now). Understandably I was really upset when I saw this deal. So I gave them a call and tried to see if there was anything they could do for me. They weren’t willing to budge or even waive the joining fee or even credit anything into my account which could be used to pay for the following year. In fact I was somewhat blamed for not noticing this deal and they had this since 2nd of July. I honestly think this promotion was not visible at any stage when I was registering.
So heads up for new members that didn’t see this deal before signing up.
They don't have a cooling off period?
Nope. They tell me it’s because it’s not an insurance plan. It’s roadside assistance. Bummer though. I know they’re not obligated to do anything but I would have thought they could have practiced some discretion on their part.
Also, Free2Go is still active.
Ages 16 - 20 Years old get free membership up to 4 calls a year, for ANY vehicle.
Ages 16 (two year membership free)
Ages 17 - 20 (one year membership free)
https://www.mynrma.com.au/cars-and-driving/roadside-assistan…
Sorry for my naive question, do they operate at Melbourne?