What happens when a car breaks down?

[Lilllypad11]

My friend currently needs me to collect her because she’s broken down. But what actually happens now, will the RAC get her sorted today or does it take longer than a day?

Depends where you are and what cover you have.

Some take an hour - I think they get to lone female quicker.

If you break down within a mile or so you have to have specific cover.

How will she know if they turn up?

Depends on what’s wrong, and her level of breakdown cover.
They aim to fix at the roadside (e.g. change the tyre if punctured) and if they can’t, they’ll tow to a garage or to your home - depending on your cover and your preference.
After that time is out of their hands - e.g. blown head gasket and entirely fucked engine, the car isn’t moving from the garage until scrapped or new engine!

The RAC will give an estimate of when they’ll get to her, prioritised as @Scarletttulips says, depending on circumstances. That can be lone female, or for instance if broken down on motorway hard shoulder - they’ll prioritise for safety.
My last call out was a tyre puncture (no spare) but I’d pulled into a huge motorway service station, so I was low priority and waited 3 hours.

Does she have cover with the rac and which type? Ideally she has the kind where they tow your vehicle to a garage if they can’t fix it but ideally they fix it at the roadside. If they can’t and she hasn’t got “recovery” then she may need to pay someone to shift it.

I broke down recently in a lay by off an A road. I waited with the car and the RAC got to me working 2 hours. The guy was able to fix my car on the roadside and I was on my way within an hour.

The RAC will prioritise a lone female at 11pm at night. They’ll aim to fix her car there and then. When she rings they will tell her how long they will be.

If she's calling the RAC you can't collect her and take her home! The RAC will be more than a little miffed to arrive at a call out to find no-one there.....

What's she proposing to do when you get there. If she's phoned the RAC she has to stay with the car til they arrive

It will totally depend on where she is, what's wrong with the car, and what kind of cover she has.

If it's a simple roadside fix, she'll be on her way.

If it needs to go to a garage, if she has basic cover, they'll tow the vehicle somewhere it can be looked at in the morning. She needs to stay with the vehicle during the recovery but she doesn't need to go with it if it's towed.

The tow time could be dependent on whether the vehicle needs to go on a flatbed or a tow rope. A flatbed could take longer to organise.

If she has onward travel in her cover, they'll do all this, plus either get her home or to a hotel overnight. They might agree to take her to a friend's house, as long as it isn't an unjustifiable distance.

If she doesn't, she'll need to arrange her own onward travel. It sounds like she doesn't, if she's asked you to pick her up.

How long this will all take is like asking how long a piece of string is. If she's in the Scottish Highlands or offshore, it'll be a long time, possibly over 24 hours. If she's in a fairly central location, and a patrol is free and nearby, and it's a simple issue with the vehicle, she might already be on her way as I'm typing this.

Oh, forgot to mention, if she has onward travel, they might take her to a rental company for an emergency rental where they open the branch at night. That kind of cover is expensive though so I wouldn't think it very likely.

If you have any other questions, please let me know!