Thread: Outback Roadside Assist

A few years ago I hit a few pot holes in a row on the way to Birdsville in my 101. End result? Front diff hit the oil filter and popped it off - complete loss of engine oil. Rang RACV and was honest with them. “Oh that’s a collision - we won’t recover you, you need to ring your car insurance company”. Incredibly frustrating. Next time I will simply say “oh dear, my oil pressure light is on and there is no oil in my engine-not sure what happened”.. Which would be covered...

Originally Posted by grey_ghost

A few years ago I hit a few pot holes in a row on the way to Birdsville in my 101. End result? Front diff hit the oil filter and popped it off - complete loss of engine oil. Rang RACV and was honest with them. “Oh that’s a collision - we won’t recover you, you need to ring your car insurance company”. Incredibly frustrating. Next time I will simply say “oh dear, my oil pressure light is on and there is no oil in my engine-not sure what happened”.. Which would be covered...

Had exactly the same experience with RACV Total Care. Had a rock slam into the Salisbury rear diff on my 130 and cracked the housing near Kalumburu. Called RACV and told them that my diff was damaged. I stupidly was honest with them and the response was sorry your not covered, call your insurer. The lesson is to just say that you don’t know what’s wrong.

Originally Posted by Ferret

Had another friend recovered from Kunawarritji (Canning Stock route) to Perth - broken chassis. That was done by his insurance company.

Ouch.
That would have to be your worst nightmare on a trip.
You can carry spares, but not usually a spare chassis!!!

Originally Posted by Aussie Jeepster

...You can carry spares, but not usually a spare chassis!!!

Part of the problem actually, he had a spare of everything and then more (overloaded for the conditions). Though sadly, no spare chassis.

Was astounded something like that was actually covered by vehicle insurance. Though I suppose it could be argued he hit something while driving - 1,000,000 corrugations plus 10,000 wombat holes on the sand dunes. Sun Corp insurance I think it was.

Originally Posted by Nick S

Had exactly the same experience with RACV Total Care. Had a rock slam into the Salisbury rear diff on my 130 and cracked the housing near Kalumburu. Called RACV and told them that my diff was damaged. I stupidly was honest with them and the response was sorry your not covered, call your insurer. The lesson is to just say that you don’t know what’s wrong.

Similar situation on the Gibb river road near Galvans Gorge when the LH Salisbury housing snapped.....RACWA Classic cover recovered us to Derby[$2300]....we then paid $900 for its road train trip to Perth.

Originally Posted by Ferret

Part of the problem actually, he had a spare of everything and then more (overloaded for the conditions). Though sadly, no spare chassis.

Maybe if he didn't carry so many spares and was overloaded he would not have broken his chassis.

Most probably true, I thought that was what I was alluding to.

Originally Posted by TB

They will help organise recovery from 4WD sites but that part is at our own expense, at least that's how I interpret the T&C's.

Correct. They will also arrange pick up of vehicle/car hire/accommodation/etc. form an accident as well and charge it back to your insurance company (or yourself, depending on your insurance cover). With mine they arranged pick up from Big Red back to Birdsville for inspection to ascertain if accident or mechanical failure for who to send the bill. Once they determined mechanical failure away they went.

Interestingly, it is the same company that handles BMW motorbikes roadside assist. They policies actually read the same throughout. With the BMW cover, which is free for the two years the warranty covers, you could continue the cover for $109 per year up to the vehicle being 10 years old. My Discovery warranty runs out in January, hopefully the same happens here.