How reliable can a classic car be?

Trying to determine the reliability of classic cars is the sixty five million dollar question. For a classic car hire company like us, keeping our cars reliable and on the road ready for hire is a constant challenge, one that is not dissimilar to painting the Forth Road Bridge.

The problem with classic cars is that, like people, they get old. No matter how much exercise you get or how well you eat, illness can strike at any time. It's the same with cars. Old cars need to be used and exercised and they need to be maintained properly using quality parts and fluids. But as they get older the risk of breakdown inevitably increases.

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we work hard to minimise the risk of breakdowns because they cost us money and they disappoint our customers. Our cars cover over 10 times the typical annual mileage of a classic car but our breakdown rate is less than 2% - significantly better than the average classic car.

We achieve this by operating a strict preventative and scheduled maintenance programme. Every car is subjected to a mechanical and safety inspection at the start of the season, fully serviced and then inspected and serviced every 3000 miles, 20 hires days or every 3 months, whichever is sooner. We check typical wear and tear parts like fuel pumps, starter motors, distributors, points and plugs.

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we use our own workshop to carry out routine maintenance, backed by a group of specialist garages that are familiar with classics and in particular know our fleet.

This procedure keeps breakdown rates on our cars to a minimum. But when the worst happens we ensure we have proper and professional back up. So every car is covered by the highest level of AA breakdown cover. If our cars break down anywhere in the UK, the AA will attend to diagnose or repair the car - or recover the car to a location of the customer's choosing.

Despite all that, we also ask that our customers are sensible. We can never factor out the risk of breakdown but where the car goes and how it is driven can significantly affect the outcome. Customers are free to go wherever they like but we recommend that 100-150 miles per day is a good and comfortable distance to travel in a classic car. And means they will never be too far from our base to benefit from the best help we can provide.

Running our fleet of 50 classic cars has taught us the benefits of preventative maintenance. By anticipating typical faults - which are well documented for most classic cars - most classic car owners can significantly improve the enjoyment of their cars and also reduce the cost of owning them.

For more information on Great Escape Classic Car Hire visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.

Driving a classic hire car with confidence

At Great Escape Classic Car Hire we've just spent several thousand pounds renewing our AA nationwide breakdown cover. This covers every one of our 50 classic cars for hire and every hirer. It means that wherever you go - and with our unlimited mileage package, it can be virtually anywhere - you're guaranteed of full breakdown support, whatever happens.

When you're hiring a classic car for the day or weekend we're pretty sure you want complete peace of mind After all, it's a big day - our cars are often hired for weddings, anniversaries and birthdays - so you want everything to go as smoothly as possible. So while the level of breakdown cover offered by your hire company is often easy to overlook - or you naturally assume it is in place - it remains a very important consideration when choosing a classic car hire company.

The reliability of our classic car fleet is vital to our business. So at Great Escape Classic Car Hire we spend at least 35% of all hire income on maintaining our cars. In 2011 we're even setting up our own in-house servicing department to further improve the levels of reliability. Our cars cover very high mileages for classic cars and our breakdown rate is very low. But no matter what we do and how much we spend we can never guarantee 100% reliability. That's why we invest thousands of pounds every year in providing full nationwide AA breakdown cover with our cars.

Unfortunately not every classic car hire company offers full nationwide breakdown support. While every member of the Historic & Classic Car Hirers Guild (including Great Escape) offers full breakdown cover, hidden in the small print of some companies' terms and conditions are clauses that make the customer responsible for recovering a broken down car. Some companies offer no cover at all while others only offer limited cover within a certain distance from their sites. If you venture outside a given distance from the collection site you may be liable for the recovery cost. You may also be liable for the breakdown company's call-out charge.

"Classic car hire is a real treat for those lucky enough to experience it," explains Graham Eason of Great Escape Classic Car Hire. "We want everything to go as smoothly as possible. But, along with every classic car hire company, we can't guarantee the reliability of old cars.

"That's why we provide full nationwide AA breakdown cover with every car. So if there is a problem, wherever our customer is they'll get full support. We believe it is wrong to expect the customer to be inconvenienced or financially penalised if the car breaks down.

"It is our responsibility to look after the customer."

The Great Escape Classic Car Hire AA recovery package is also supported by the company's own local recovery system. If a customer experiences a problem with a Great Escape car near to base, Great Escape is committed to attending quickly and where possible bringing an alternative car to the customer, so that they can then continue their journey.

"If we can we'll take a car out as quickly as possible to local customers," explains Graham Eason. "We then wait for the AA so that the customer doesn't have to Or we'll recover the car using our own trailers."

Great Escape is the UK's largest classic car hire company and has been named as one of the Heart of England's best tourism experiences. The company operates 50 cars from 6 UK locations. For more details visit http://www.greatescapecars.co.uk/ or call 01527 893733.