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Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 10:24 am
by BILLY BEAN
POST SCRIPT
The oil line debacle had a positive and heartening up side. Stretch (Dave O'Connor) was with me at the time of the incident and in his own car. Not only did Dave contribute to the clean up of the side of the car but he also stayed with me for quite a long time and took some convincing that he should continue home. There after he contacted me by WhatsApp to make sure I was OK. Proper mate. A couple of other mates, who heard about the situation, also sent encouraging messages: " Hello Slick how is the oil well". Thanks also to Kirsten ( Porchebelle) for contacting the RAC, providing copious cleaning materials and helping with the initial clean up.
My lonely vigil, which seemed like 'Waiting for Godot', at times, was enlivened in the first few hours by members of the Porsche community stopping to see if they could help: two guys in a RHD 2.4 911, two in a 356, Gary Cook of GDC who tried, unsuccessfully, to divert a truck and two car trailer carrying a single car he had commissioned, Steve Winter and his wife from JAZ, two guys from Autofarm, and a few others. Of course no one could actually help but it made me think about the value of the early Porsche community. And finally to Steve of Autofarm for leaving a courtesy car so, at 4.00am, I could finally get home after dropping off the ST.
I was also grateful late at night, when the battery on my mobile was very low, to a truck driver who pulled into the layby and kindly charged up my phone for 30 minutes.
And of course a mention to the RAC who are the biggest bunch of ...............( fill in your own epithet here).
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 1:03 pm
by matteo68
Reading that gives me a warm glow inside - such great people in the early 911 world who I personally have grown to know and value (stretch, Steve Winter et al)
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 2:20 pm
by hot66
That’s an adventure and a half !
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 2:47 pm
by rhd racer
Oh dear Kirk! I share your pain, I had the crank sensor go on the 964 earlier this year and the AA could not muster up a recovery. Offered me a hire car and just to leave it in the middle of nowhere so I fell out with them. I ended up accepting a lift up the country from a friend and recovering myself by driving all the way back with motorhome and trailer at a cost of £100, and a late night (though not anything like as late as yours). They then had the cheek to put my renewal up by almost £100 for the breakdown that they failed to deal with. Then to add insult to injury they sent a breakdown report through saying that the oil level and coolant levels were correct - one of which cannot be checked in a stalled motor and the other clearly does not exist in an air cooled car! My complaint letter made it very clear what I thought…
I am not sure what the answer is other than hoping not to have a breakdown….
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 3:01 pm
by Lightweight_911
.
Sounds like a nightmare Kirk - reminds me of a very similar scenario that happened to me
many years ago when a problem with the back axle on my TVR Grantura left me stranded on the Western Ave (A40) near Park Royal. Same (long, drawn-out) wait for the RAC to arrive (they never did !) but in the days before mobile phones.
I vowed after that I would never have anything to do with the RAC again - & never have ...
Kudos to Dave - & all of the other people who stopped & offered help - heart-warming.
BILLY BEAN wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 10:24 am
- which seemed like 'Waiting for Godot' ...
That brought back memories of the first time I saw an enactment of that Beckett play - at the Bush Theatre in Shepherd Bush - brilliant !
.
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:11 pm
by majordad
Somewhere recently I read that the high output Alternators don’t charge below something like 1500 RPM or so.
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:20 pm
by BILLY BEAN
majordad wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:11 pm
Somewhere recently I read that the high output Alternators don’t charge below something like 1500 RPM or so.
No high output alternator installed. Replacing the lightweight battery with a regular one seems to have sorted the starting problems..............
for now.
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:20 pm
by BILLY BEAN
hot66 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 2:20 pm
That’s an adventure and a half !
Certainly was James but I have lived to tell the tale.
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:31 pm
by BILLY BEAN
rhd racer wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 2:47 pm
Oh dear Kirk! I share your pain, I had the crank sensor go on the 964 earlier this year and the AA could not muster up a recovery. Offered me a hire car and just to leave it in the middle of nowhere so I fell out with them. I ended up accepting a lift up the country from a friend and recovering myself by driving all the way back with motorhome and trailer at a cost of £100, and a late night (though not anything like as late as yours). They then had the cheek to put my renewal up by almost £100 for the breakdown that they failed to deal with. Then to add insult to injury they sent a breakdown report through saying that the oil level and coolant levels were correct - one of which cannot be checked in a stalled motor and the other clearly does not exist in an air cooled car! My complaint letter made it very clear what I thought…
I am not sure what the answer is other than hoping not to have a breakdown….
The report you got is both laughable and shows a pathetic lack of knowledge.
Thanks for relating your story. I think the RAC are not competent although I have been with them over 15 years this is my first call out. I admit that last year I switched to the AA with hardly an astounding result as they refused to come to attend a flat battery because the car was not MOTed.
I think you are correct in saying it is best not to break down. Must consider myself fortunate in that I have had three breakdowns (two in the ST) in 54 years of car ownership.
Kirk
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:40 pm
by BILLY BEAN
Lightweight_911 wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 3:01 pm
.
Sounds like a nightmare Kirk - reminds me of a very similar scenario that happened to me
many years ago when a problem with the back axle on my TVR Grantura left me stranded on the Western Ave (A40) near Park Royal. Same (long, drawn-out) wait for the RAC to arrive (they never did !) but in the days before mobile phones.
I vowed after that I would never have anything to do with the RAC again - & never have ...
Kudos to Dave - & all of the other people who stopped & offered help - heart-warming.
BILLY BEAN wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 10:24 am
- which seemed like 'Waiting for Godot' ...
That brought back memories of the first time I saw an enactment of that Beckett play - at the Bush Theatre in Shepherd Bush - brilliant !
.
Andy,
I know that stretch of A40 rather well as I used to commute along it and it was less than a mile from my home in Ealing many years ago.
The contractor who initially picked me up from the A120 did contract work for the RAC, AA and Green Flag. His view was that they are all poor but did say Green Flag was a cut above the other two. Unfortunately, Green Flag do not deal with cars over 15 years old so I believe.
Glad my cultural reference to Beckett was not wasted!
Kirk
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 10:25 am
by Ralph
BILLY BEAN wrote: ↑Sat Oct 15, 2022 4:31 pm
Thanks for relating your story. I think the RAC are not competent although I have been with them over 15 years this is my first call out. I admit that last year I switched to the AA with hardly an astounding result as they refused to come to attend a flat battery because the car was not MOTed.
Just read this - so the AA won't come out to an un-MOTed car even if it's a classic that isn't required to have an MOT?
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 11:50 am
by Hugo 356
Check your classic car insurance; many policies have breakdown recovery included - remember to carry the phone number with you
Club is a misnomer; the RAC is jointly owned by private equity / Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. They may prioritise making money over getting you home quickly...
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 12:19 pm
by theorangeperil
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I was keen to vent about the RAC…
I had a very similar problem coming back from Revival in my 67 year old Bug a few weeks ago.
Call to RAC at 9pm.
Then followed 15 texts from them 30 mins apart that told me literally nothing on my status.
Dressed for Revival was hardly suitable for 4 degrees at night in the middle of nowhere.
Patrol man finally arrived at 4am. 7 hours later.
He knew nothing about old cars and was kind enough to immediately tell me.
Spent an hour going over everything I had already tried.
Gave up at 5 am. After querying my membership options I was told I could actually get a taxi home, a hire car or a hotel room. They hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with that info.
I was told no low-loaders would be available for at least another 2 hours when the morning shift started.
Got a cab home and arrived at my front door at 7 am. Left my car in a lay by with keys under wheel arch.
RAC put the heavy emphasis on this being at my own risk.
My car arrived at 4.30pm the next day. Glad I didn’t wait. Would probably have had hyperthermia by then.
I had been convinced it was a fueling issue, and had pulled the carbs apart and the fuel pump in the pitch dark on my own to no avail.
Doing this stuff on your own in the pitch dark on the side of the road is hard. A pal had provided phone support from 9pm until midnight.
I’m embarrassed to say it turned out it was the condensor. I had one in my glove box the whole time and it took 5 mins to change a couple of days later.
To be fair diagnosis or recovery was what I thought I paid £300 pa to the RAC for…
To add insult to injury this was their response to my complaint:
Dear XXXXXX
I understand you were dissatisfied with the response.
I've reviewed our investigation into your complaint again, as well as the points you've made. Following this review, I'm confident all of your concerns have been fully investigated and that we're now at the end of our investigation process.
I can appreciate it must be frustrating not to receive the outcome you had hoped for. Whilst it's always our aim to resolve matters of contention to our customers' satisfaction, we also have to take the action we believe fair and appropriate.
I hope you can understand our position on this matter, and I'm confident that your next experience with the RAC will exceed your expectations.
Yours sincerely
Samantha
Customer Care Executive
A friend of mine broke down in his 105E Anglia the next day on the way back from Revival. Green Flag got to him with in 25 mins and had him back on his way in no time.
Think I know what I’m doing at renewal time. I’ve been an RAC member since 1997.
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 3:16 pm
by BILLY BEAN
Hugo 356 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 16, 2022 11:50 am
Check your classic car insurance; many policies have breakdown recovery included - remember to carry the phone number with you
Club is a misnomer; the RAC is jointly owned by private equity / Singapore's sovereign wealth fund. They may prioritise making money over getting you home quickly...
Thanks for the above. I was aware of the ownership. I think you were being kind when you said they prioritised making money over getting you home quickly. At one point in the proceedings I did not think I was actually going to get home. I think threatening to throw myself in front of a passing vehicle was the turning point for the RAC to actually do something. Maybe there is a lesson in that for the future? The "trusted contractors", the RAC uses, who have tow vehicles and flat bed trucks are paid a pittance. I also learned that contractors sometimes agree to do a job but then realise the distances involved and just bottle out.
Re: 1972 ST Clone
Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2022 3:28 pm
by BILLY BEAN
theorangeperil wrote: ↑Sun Oct 16, 2022 12:19 pm
Sorry to hijack the thread, but I was keen to vent about the RAC…
I had a very similar problem coming back from Revival in my 67 year old Bug a few weeks ago.
Call to RAC at 9pm.
Then followed 15 texts from them 30 mins apart that told me literally nothing on my status.
Dressed for Revival was hardly suitable for 4 degrees at night in the middle of nowhere.
Patrol man finally arrived at 4am. 7 hours later.
He knew nothing about old cars and was kind enough to immediately tell me.
Spent an hour going over everything I had already tried.
Gave up at 5 am. After querying my membership options I was told I could actually get a taxi home, a hire car or a hotel room. They hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with that info.
I was told no low-loaders would be available for at least another 2 hours when the morning shift started.
Got a cab home and arrived at my front door at 7 am. Left my car in a lay by with keys under wheel arch.
RAC put the heavy emphasis on this being at my own risk.
My car arrived at 4.30pm the next day. Glad I didn’t wait. Would probably have had hyperthermia by then.
I had been convinced it was a fueling issue, and had pulled the carbs apart and the fuel pump in the pitch dark on my own to no avail.
Doing this stuff on your own in the pitch dark on the side of the road is hard. A pal had provided phone support from 9pm until midnight.
I’m embarrassed to say it turned out it was the condensor. I had one in my glove box the whole time and it took 5 mins to change a couple of days later.
To be fair diagnosis or recovery was what I thought I paid £300 pa to the RAC for…
To add insult to injury this was their response to my complaint:
Dear XXXXXX
I understand you were dissatisfied with the response.
I've reviewed our investigation into your complaint again, as well as the points you've made. Following this review, I'm confident all of your concerns have been fully investigated and that we're now at the end of our investigation process.
I can appreciate it must be frustrating not to receive the outcome you had hoped for. Whilst it's always our aim to resolve matters of contention to our customers' satisfaction, we also have to take the action we believe fair and appropriate.
I hope you can understand our position on this matter, and I'm confident that your next experience with the RAC will exceed your expectations.
Yours sincerely
Samantha
Customer Care Executive
A friend of mine broke down in his 105E Anglia the next day on the way back from Revival. Green Flag got to him with in 25 mins and had him back on his way in no time.
Think I know what I’m doing at renewal time. I’ve been an RAC member since 1997.
No need to apologise for hijacking the thread. The topic is relevant bearing in mind what happened to me and will be of interest to others that the RAC failed to cover themselves in glory yet again.
I loved the standard letter you received which basically says it is not their fault and then provide you with a load of BS. I received something similar when I complained to the AA last year. Not worth the trouble of typing the email. Although by the sound of it they are standardised letter which is just cut and paste.