Breakdown Services

[bhanu128]

Hi guys,

A friend of mine wants to know what kind of Breakdown Services / Roadside assistance programs are avilable in sri lanka?

She is an expat and hope to do some travel outstation alone. some other basic info looking for

1. prices

2. coverage

3. reliability

be kind to provide any sort of info

[Jayathu]

Hi guys,

A friend of mine wants to know what kind of Breakdown Services / Roadside assistance programs are avilable in sri lanka?

She is an expat and hope to do some travel outstation alone. some other basic info looking for

1. prices

2. coverage

3. reliability

be kind to provide any sort of info

Good topic which will be useful to most of us.. I can think of the following at the moment..

M*gcity

S*n Ray Recovery

A*W brakdown service

J*yagiri towing service

Have not personally used any of these.. So can not comment on the pros and cons.

Called Magcity once when my alternator quit at Moratuwa around 9PM and they refused to come there at that time.. Then called A*W and they agreed to come for a price of Rs.50 per km but they were already on another job and said would take time.. So used one of my friends car to tow it to his home for the night..

Hope those who have used them will come up with more info..

[bhanu128]

Good topic which will be useful to most of us.. I can think of the following at the moment..

Hope those who have used them will come up with more info..

Thank you for the fast reply, yes those would be options but their coverage seems to be somewhat lacking ( to put it mildly ) from ur exp..

[DevakaC]

Thank you for the fast reply, yes those would be options but their coverage seems to be somewhat lacking ( to put it mildly ) from ur exp..

I think some of the Insurance companies provide road side assistance in case of breakdown and any other emergency situations. They will have a better coverage than most of the colombo based towers. Even a little help with a flat tire or a jump start could be quite a service for a lady traveling by her self in outstation areas.

Also the Automobile Association of Ceylon provides road side assistance.

http://www.aaceylon.lk/inpages/ourservices...wn_services.htm

[samishka]

...........................Called Magcity once when my alternator quit at Moratuwa around 9PM and they refused to come there at that time.. Then called A*W and they agreed to come for a price of Rs.50 per km but they were already on another job and said would take time.. So used one of my friends car to tow it to his home for the night.. .....................

A friend of mine had a similar experince (Early 2004, at around 11PM near Bishops College) when his auto 'box failed. As far as I remember he first callled 505 Motors. They refused to come, citing non-availability of staff. And later when he called another B/Down Svc they asked some 'huge' amount.

What surprised me was, the towing truck of that same B/Down Svc which refused to come, could be seen busy towing vehicles from 'No Parking Zones' to the police station, during the daytime.(Were they exhausted after serving the Police for the whole day?)

[bhanu128]

Also the Automobile Association of Ceylon provides road side assistance.

http://www.aaceylon.lk/inpages/ourservices...wn_services.htm

so AA is the only option?

just wondering if there are any AAC members in AL?

[Watchman]

so AA is the only option?

just wondering if there are any AAC members in AL?

I was reading through the AA site and it says the islandwide breakdown service is available at a 'discount' for members, which logically should mean its available to non-members at a non-discounted price. Personally I dont like the AA very much cos of thier attitude of trying to rip people off. Especially when it comes to getting an international Driving lisence. By default they just add it to the cost of the IDL, and when the fortunate few who DO realize that they dont 'have to' get the AA membership say that they dont want it, they tryto convince you that its really important for you to go overseas. Its not just well-off tourists they try to pull this on; i was most disgusted when they did it on a poor village lorry driver who was going to the middle east for a job as a driver. Seriously 5000+ is a lot of money for someone like that.

Back to the topic of breakdown services, all of the AAs 'services' are worded in a pretty vague way that makes even a under-the-tree-garage/mechanic could be their appointed garage/mechanic.. And i doubt they all have proper towing transport services as they do in colombo.

I'd think the insurance comapny would be the best bet if the vehicle is under a complehensive cover.