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Roadside assistance NSW

What is the best roadside assistance in NSW and how much will it cost?

Even though modern cars are more reliable than they’ve ever been, you can still find yourself stranded beside the road or in a car-park in a situation that’s preventing you from being where you need to be. That’s where roadside assistance comes in.  These days, the major reasons for calling in the roadside assistance cavalry are likely to be for a flat tyre, a dead battery or simply the keys accidentally locked in the car. That said, when a modern car does refuse to start or run, fixing it is not necessarily the simple task it once was. Either way, roadside assistance will be your best friend when it happens.

The various state motoring clubs (in this case the NRMA) have had something of a stranglehold on this market for many decades, but that’s changed slightly in recent times. But those decades of experience have meant that the motoring clubs’ network of servicepeople (the actual folks who drive out to rescue you) are the biggest around and will reach even the farthest-flung corners of the land.

Roadside assistance cover usually costs from about $100 per year and can go all the way to more than $300 annually, depending on the type and scope of cover you choose. The variables include how far from your home address you want the cover to apply, how often you drive outside your home region, how much free towing you want included, how many cars you wish to be covered, whether you want other drivers covered in your car and whether you want extras such as free accommodation if you’re stranded, taxis and hire cars if your car is out of commission for a length of time. Other conditions can place a cap on the number of call-outs covered per year while some policies offer unlimited call-outs.

Increasingly, though, we’re seeing car companies offer a period of free roadside assistance thrown in when you buy a new car, and insurance companies are increasingly offering roadside assistance as part of their policy (sometimes as an extra-cost option).

Then there are the private companies offering roadside assistance, sometimes through a national network of service providers (usually mobile mechanic networks) and sometimes (particularly in regional areas) tapping into the motoring clubs’ network.  Don’t forget, too, that there are third-party websites that offer a comparison service to compare the various offers from one online location.

There are no hard and fast rules for what level of cover you need, and each provider has a range of terms and conditions that you need to understand before signing on the dotted line. You need to be absolutely sure that the policy you choose will cover you for all your driving and be aware that really basic policies are just that, and may not cover you beyond a certain distance from home. A good, if expensive, policy, however, will incorporate cover for you and others driving your car, regardless of where you happen to find yourself, as well as including a taxi or hire car to get home, a room in a motel if necessary and enough towing allowance to get the car back to a workshop for proper repairs.  The other thing to check is whether you’re covered once you’re off what’s called a gazetted highway (that is, an official road). Off-roaders should make doubly sure they’re covered when driving on tracks, as recovering a vehicle from the bush can be hugely expensive. Specialist insurers are a good place to shop for off-road mechanical assistance.

Disclaimer: You acknowledge and agree that all answers are provided as a general guide only and should not be relied upon as bespoke advice. Carsguide is not liable for the accuracy of any information provided in the answers.

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