My car

I learned another important difference between the US and UK last week: Roadside assistance, in the UK, is exactly that.

When my car refused to turn over one morning, I called the RAC (Royal Auto Club), because roadside assistance was included in my ridiculously expensive insurance.  They asked me where the car was and when I told them it was in front of my house, they explained I had to be at least a quarter-mile away to receive assistance.

They were happy to send someone anyway, but it would cost £92 (US $140)!  My insurance company said it was £49 to add "at home" service, so I signed up for that -- only to be told it would not be effective for 48 hours!

Meanwhile, I had put the top down before the battery died, but now could not get it back up.  The manual indicated it was ridiculously easy to do it yourself, but I couldn't figure it out, and had to wait until Jess got home that evening to get it closed.  Thankfully, it didn't rain that day, and nobody tried to steal it.

Of course, I needed the car to get to a meeting about 2 hours away, but short of flagging someone down in the street and hoping they had jumper cables, I decided to stay home and call into those meetings.  (I did check the local car rental, but they didn't have any automatics that day -- I knew I should have learned to drive a stick.)

This morning, I called the RAC and, although they still had no record that I had "at home" coverage, they took my word for it and sent someone out.  Not only did he jumpstart the battery, he also tested it, found it wasn't holding a charge, and had a replacement battery available for about the same price I would have paid at a local garage.  That was pretty impressive.

So now, for my cheap 10-year-old car has cost me £200 in road tax, £220 on an MoT (safety test), £80 on the exhaust system, and £80 on a battery, not to mention £210 on a warranty which doesn't cover batteries or exhaust, and £900 on insurance that only includes roadside assistance -- and that was just the first month.  Convenience comes at a very high price, indeed.

P.S. Did I mention it costs US $75 to fill the tank?