Vehicle Recovery costs

[icbatbh]

My car broke down last week and I was unable to fix it myself. My nearest trusted garage is 12 miles away, so I made some calls to get the car recovered. The cheapest quote I got was £85.

I did a bit of research online and ended up buying one of these for £16.99, and asking my girlfriend very nicely if she could tow me in her car:

https://goo.gl/SSzczr

I was expecting this bar to bend because both my girlfriend and I have no experience with towing, her car has Power Assisted Steering and because my car was broken the PAS didn't work. But we took it nice and slow and the bar worked brilliantly.

Now I'm just not sure whether to return the bar or keep it for similar situations in the future!

[Linea_Norway]

We have a towing rope in the back of both cars. The big car can tow another car. The small car cannot. But both cars risk the need to be towed. Last time my DH needed to be towed out of a ditch in snowy circumstances, there was a tractor around, but no-one had a tow rope. So since then we have them.

[PC2K]

A would say that getting towed by a form of roadside assistance (not sure what the UK has) would be my first choice;

A; they might be able to fix it on the spot or
B; towed professionally.

The towbar are ok-ish, especially compared to a tow rope (towropes snaps easily, can be run over by the towed car and does not prevent the towed car from hitting the towing car). In either case the towed vehicle does not have a working brake booster, so any sudden braking can lead to disaster. Saw an accident last week right next to work with a towed vehicle.

As for recovering a car from snow; do know the limitation of a tow strap; they are not a snatch/recovery strap. I always managed with snow tires, traxion plates and a shovel.

[Linea_Norway]

As for recovering a car from snow; do know the limitation of a tow strap; they are not a snatch/recovery strap. I always managed with snow tires, traxion plates and a shovel.

Eventually my DH came out of the ditch using a shovel and gravel. We always drive in the winter with a bucket of gravel in the car. And with snow tires all winter.