Recovering your Supra.......

Now anyone with a aftermarket front, side skirts or nice alloys will know that when it comes to breaking down and getting the AA or RAC to recover your vehicle can be a somewhat distressing affair. I had this the other month, and after clearly informing the girl on the phone that my car is low at the front end, it doesnt like being winched etc, etc, she told me that a special recovery vehical would be dispatched, with skids or something similar. Great I thought, anyway when it arrived I was a little disappointed to find out this is basically a tilt and slide flatbed. To which my Bomex front end still didnt like it being winched on, and consequently nearly departed my car. In the end I was doing more work then the recovery bloke and Im paying him, ffs.

Anyhow since then I have been thinking there must be a company out there that cater more for the recovery in our cars. So I had a quick session with Google the other night and found a company called AVRA......

Their based by Stansted Airport, and charge £45 per hour. Now they have told me some of the cars that they recover and the new Aston Martin, sounds like it locks itself down in such an event of a breakdown, to the point you cant even get the key in the iginition, but these guys with fancy American recovery trucks with all sorts of fancy kit like moddified dolly wheels that can only be purchased from some far off country manage to garuntee they will get any car home by only touching the rubber on your wheels. They can pick something up with as little as 1.5" clearance, which Im sure most of our Supes dont sit that low with skirts.......

Anyway they do say they would do club discounts, I presume in return for maybe a banner of advertisement or something similar ?

Im wondering if this is something the club would possibly consider organising, as I know I would be interested to know that I could have a service in which I know I would speak to a possibility of 2 people (both own the company), and not a call center, and receive a much more personal service in the recovery of my car.

If the club would like to contact them then they can call Don on 01787 469577. I would like to say Don was very helpfull, albeit very chatty too, but thats the sort of personal service Im looking for....

Discuss.......anyone know of anyone else in the South, possibly with annual cover as opposed to an hourly call out. I know Im generally always in the south somewhere but it'll be sods law one day Im in Bonny Scotland and need their assistance so if the hourly rate could be brought down it might make it more appealing to the masses.....

yeah I had the AA pick mine up and I'm stock front and back my RSR only had 2mm clearence when it was going on the truck

I had this problem with the last supra when I chewed up the diff at the pod. They had to send out two trucks even though I asked specifically for a low truck. I even told them how low my car was sitting to the millimetre and they still got it wrong.

I think this is a great idea Ash - its hard work relying on the AA helpdesk to get it right

When you started your policy, did you inform them your car was modified?? is the towing eye still accessible??

Was it the AA themselves?? or a sub contractor?? as I don't believe the AA have any specialist vehicles themselves.

90% of the time a normal tilt and slide flat bed will load anything with the right operator/driver.

I would put it in writing to them if you haven't told them of your modifications (no need for engine mods) as they have the right to refuse you, your recovery.

I'm a little surprised AVRA only gave you an hourly rate, as almost all recovery companies base it on mileage.

This sounds like a good idea - I would be interested in this...

sounds like a fab idea, I've been worrying about this myself to the point if I broke down I'd have to get busy and remove the front and possible raise all the suspension (right royal pita!)

really good thinking, def interested

Well as I said they have a main 24hr number and charge by the hour, so if they are based in Stansted and you breakdown down in Scotland, you could be looking at 45 x 5 = £225, and thats just one way

Could one of the Mods or someone on behalf of the forum contact this company as he said he would give discounts to car clubs but I think he wants numbers of members first. I suppose he wouldnt have to know there is only so far about 4 or 5 of us interested, and you could approach it from the angle that this club has xxxx amount of members...

I would be interested...I will keep my eye on this !!

When you started your policy, did you inform them your car was modified?? is the towing eye still accessible??

 

Was it the AA themselves?? or a sub contractor?? as I don't believe the AA have any specialist vehicles themselves.

 

90% of the time a normal tilt and slide flat bed will load anything with the right operator/driver.

 

I would put it in writing to them if you haven't told them of your modifications (no need for engine mods) as they have the right to refuse you, your recovery.

 

I'm a little surprised AVRA only gave you an hourly rate, as almost all recovery companies base it on mileage.

Sorry forgot to answer these...

No, it wasnt the AA themselves, it was contracted out. They told me they would send a specialist recovery vehicle as I told them its difficult to winch, due to the tow eye being inaccessible, but a normal tilt and slide flatbed arrived.......

But thats my point, on the phone they seemed to understand me, they assured me, then they go off and do something else completely different. Wheres the customer care or attention detail there...?

Thats why I would rather deal with smaller companies, you get a much more personal service. As Don at AVRA said, dont matter what time of day you call, you will always speak to 1 of 2 people so you will speak to them on a more personal basis.

Mods anyone see my plea for help ?

Yeah i had a similiar problem with my supe when my wheel fell off! It was painful watching my front bumper grinding against the bed of the truck, luckily the driver owned a modded skyline and was doing the best he could. This raises another point i had an after market bumper on with no towing eye it was pulled on via the hook on the engine. Does anyone sell a towing eye that is compatable with an aftermarket bumper.

Mate this wasnt a modded Skyline was it, supposedely 900 break, we might have had the same guy, lol, except I knew my guy was talking cod shite about his Skyline, 900bhp and all he changed was cams and cylinder sleeves, WTF !!!!!

Mate, Im thinking about this at the moment, it must be feasable to make a towing eye extensionn bracket. Im sure you could weld an extension bar onto your standard tow eye point, that would extend another tow eye out through your mesh or grill...........

My wheel also fell off, and trying to winch it onto a tilt and slide with only 3 wheels on the car was hard work. We put the space saver under the lower suspension arm to keep the front end of the ground But while it was being winched as the tow eye sits directly behind the Bomex front, the Bomex was flexing severelly......

. Does anyone sell a towing eye that is compatable with an aftermarket bumper.

No but if anyone did, they would make a mint

they are based in Stansted and you breakdown down in Scotland, you could be looking at 45 x 5 = £225, and thats just one way

)

5 hours to Scotland with a Tow truck??

Seriously, put your mods in writing to them, and if you do breakdown again, all your details will be flagged on the computer, and will go out with the job if it's sub contracted out. Even though the call center person may sound understanding of your needs, they rarely send out the info to the sub contractor.

Sorry to bleat on, I'm in the industry

Dont apologies, you cant beat inside information........