Are they franchised self employed?
Are they experienced motor mechanics?
Are they taught everything they need to know in a 5 week course?
Etc.
I have probably called the RAC out 5 times and they have always been really really good, fast accurate diagnosis, back on the road 4 times out of 5 too. One guy was a true Golf enthusiast who had recently put a 225BHP Audi TT engine into a mark 2 Golf GTi and that was a pretty good chat. So what are their qualifications?
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Easy answer, a bit of everything.
Most have some mechanical grounding (some dont).
In fairness most breakdowns are easy diagnosis/fix or tow home! Its not difficult to sort out an easy fix and get a car going. It doesnt take much longer to know that it will take too long to do and arrange alternative action.
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S/employed - no,
Mechanics - rarely.
Taught in 5 wks - no chance!
Most patrols get good at their very specialized task - the old hands can often do it from intuition after 30,000-odd breakdowns. [If they live that long - it's a lethal job; few retire.]
Most of their "road-side diagnoses" on the more complex stuff are now just plain wrong - sometimes laughably so.
Not their fault; the AA has just been gutted like a kipper by Buffini & Co and now has absolutely nothing left - not an office, a training school, a Relay base for a warm and a cuppa.... Nothing - but £billions of debt.
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How lethal?
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Very lethal; the AA would not offer any form of life insurance to it's own patrols. They used to have a collective benefits club that paid-out every time one was killed.
But then again; what would an actuary assess as the life expectancy of someone changing a wheel, kneeling in the rain, on the outside of a car, in the dark, on a busy dual carriageway....?
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Have to disagree screwloose.
People acting on behalf of AA/RAC can be self employed and can be trained mechanics.
A lot of AA/RAC own people have a garage background to some degree (in my area anyway)
And complex stuff doesnt matter if their diagnosis is wrong; they tow it to wherever! Easy diagnosis (broken wire, poor connection, noise etc etc) is easy sorted and car on its way.
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yorkie
The OP did specify "AA/RAC men." As you say; if they sub-contract a job to an garage agent; then it will usually be a mechanic, or recovery man, that goes out and they can be S/employed.
Certainly as far as the AA goes; they say that their staff are there to "render assistance" to distressed members - not necessarily to fix their cars.
In the early days of the AA on the Brighton Road; the patrols only rode bicycles - the members were expected to provide their own tools and spares.
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RAC patrols have to have some sort of City and Guilds certificate or motor-related background before being even considered for the role.
Even the flat-bed drivers have to have this background.
The selection and training is pretty exhaustive and there is a huge emphasis on quality.
I don't know exactly how long the training course is, but it's certainly not a quick 4-5 week course. It is also followed up by rigorous on the job mentoring and continuous training.
It's a tough job - 12 hour shifts, 4-5 days a week - 60 hour weeks.
However, from the guys I know at work, they absolutely love their job and take a real pride in what they do. They are definitely not franchised ! The only franchise area of RAC is the BSM driving school.
When the RAC recently won the VAG contract from the AA, a whole group of AA patrols moved to the RAC and were re-trained, re-branded and sent back out in shiny new silver VAG-branded patrol vans. I understand there was a massive culture difference between the two organisations that took some getting used to.
The AA are heavily recruiting at the moment and slashing their prices dramatically - I think as a result of all the bad press about Buffini and co - as they try to get back to some semblance of being a balanced company.
jdc
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jdc
This is only half the story.
Most people who see 'How knowledgable are RAC / AA men about cars?' would assume that it is refering to the people who come out when you initiate an AA/RAC call out.
Of the direct employees of the AA/RAC who I have met, I would regard them as well trained and knowledgeable, however for the subcontractors who are used it is another story!
I posted on here about 6 years ago about an appalling experience, and to the credit of the RAC they deleted that callout so that my NCD was not affected. They indicated that they also run a 'a n strikes and out ' policy with subcontractors. Hopefully my report resulted in somebody losing a contract.
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Just as the AA/RAC use subcontractors, so too are they themselves sub-contracted sometimes by the other organisations. I once had to call Autonational Rescue and an AA man arrived. Obviously he was nearer so they passed the job on to him.
He did a quick excellent job - a clutch linkage had snapped, and he made a new one on the spot out of an old bolt, hammering a washer into a dome shape on the pavement.
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PMH
Dead right - the contractor issue is an area that causes no amounts of headaches and frustrations.
In fact, I think RAC have recently reduced their contractor network significantly to counter some of the issues you mention. RAC now have a fleet of their own branded flat-beds driven and operated by RAC employees - this has negated the need for such a large contractor network to an extent, but contractors will always be needed to give complete nationwide coverage.
Contractors have very tight guidelines about what they can and cant do for RAC (as they will have for AA, Greenflag etc.) and there are stringent controls about response time, cleanliness of vehicle, driver, overall service etc.etc.
Many times I have fielded complaints about our contractors and these are escalated to the field manager - if there are a few similar complaints, the contractor is on shaky ground ....
jdc
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>>When the RAC recently won the VAG contract from the AA, a whole group of AA patrols
>>moved to the RAC and were re-trained, re-branded and sent back out in shiny new
>>silver VAG-branded patrol vans.
One of the more extraordinary results of TUPE.
In answer to OP, I think it depends. You get some real enthusiasts who have great skill and will do anything for you, which couldn't be learned on any 5 week course.
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I once broke down on the M5 in the VW Caravelle T4 I used to have. The RAC guy pulled up behind jumped out his van and did a brilliant 'double take' when he threw open the tailgate to investigate the engine - the T4 has the engine at the front... I really struggled not to laugh too much until he'd sorted it.
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I've been a member of the AA for about 40 years and have needed to call them out about 6 times. On each occasion I have had nothing but the very best possible service.
The last time was about 5 years ago when the (very old) vehicle that I was driving at the time developed an ominous noise whilst I was on a motorway. I managed to exit at a convenient slip road and the AA man was with me in about 15 minutes. He discovered something wrong in the engine but wasn't sure that the fault was actually the one that had caused the noise. He suggested that I restart the engine and he said that he would follow me home to make sure that the problem did not recur. What he had done obviously had cured the noise problem and the car ran perfectly for another 2 years but what impressed me most was the fact that I lived 16 miles away and he did follow me all the way home.
That, to me, is beyond the call of duty (and I wrote to the AA to put in a good word for the patrolman).
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