Report: A day with the ADAC breakdown mechanic

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You get into the car in the morning, turn the key and – nothing happens. All of a sudden, your plan for the day collapses like a house of cards and your stress levels skyrocket. There's no way you can make the first appointment, and how do you actually pick up the kids from nursery later? Good news for those who are now members of one of the many automobile clubs and can call for help. This doesn't solve the problem, but it is reassuring to know that help is on the way. But how does breakdown assistance actually work and what happens in the background to ensure that a rescuer arrives in the shortest possible time? To find out, we spend a day with ADAC road assistance driver Konstantin Schneider.

Start of the shift

The meeting point is the breakdown service center of the central region at the location in Groß-Gerau, about halfway between Darmstadt and Rüsselsheim, south of Frankfurt. There are a total of five such locations throughout Germany for the organization of roadside assistance. The ADAC roadside assistance service and the ADAC mobility partners in the federal states of Hesse, Thuringia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and the Baden part of Baden-Württemberg are managed from Groß-Gerau. Here alone, 42 dispatchers are on duty to process the flood of requests and orchestrate the road patrol drivers.

At least a dozen of the typical ADAC yellow VW Tiguan and Ford S-Max are parked in the yard. Konstantin arrives in his ADAC vehicle shortly before half past six. "We usually keep our emergency vehicle in a garage rented from the ADAC near where we live," explains the 35-year-old master mechanic. To be on the safe side, the unusual companion with the camera is also given a set of safety clothing. The dispatcher at the control center then assigns the first assignment. "Vehicle no longer starts after stopping at the filling station, suspected battery fault".

A problem description that will accompany us again and again throughout the day and, according to statistics, is also the most common reason for a call-out. In 2023, 44 percent of over 3.5 million breakdowns were caused by this fault. However, after more than four years at ADAC, Konstantin also knows that the remote diagnosis "flat battery" for a vehicle that won't start often only describes a symptom, but not the cause. This was also the case here. In the first breakdown vehicle of the day, an almost 40-year-old Jeep Cherokee, a heavily corroded cable to the starter motor turned out to be the source of the fault. Once the classic car is running again, the breakdown report is quickly printed out, then it's straight on to the next job.

The ADAC comes – always

This time the patient is not only younger, but also considerably smaller. A Fiat Cinquecento is parked in Groß-Umstadt in the Odenwald and refuses to work after a night out. "A typical case for the fall season," says Konstantin, describing the cause. "Batteries that have only just survived the summer are then suddenly hit by the significantly lower temperatures." The ADAC vehicles often have suitable replacements on board for such cases. In addition to various lights and batteries for keys and remote control, starter batteries are also part of the basic equipment in all vehicles.

These can be purchased directly on the spot, and the installation is of course carried out by the road patrol driver. Including tools, measuring and diagnostic equipment and the additional electronic equipment, the vehicle has a payload of over 600 kilograms. To ensure the safety of the road patrol drivers, there are therefore special crash tests for the ADAC vehicles. However, the small car from the 1990s lacks a suitable battery. So it has to be jump-started and then, at the request of the vehicle owner, it can be followed as an escort vehicle to the garage in the neighboring town for safety reasons.

As not all breakdown situations are so harmless, an evaluation is carried out by the so-called call takers who receive the reports before they are assigned to the road patrol drivers. In an initial assessment of the breakdown, they try to clarify, among other things, what type of breakdown it is and where the vehicle is located. Based on this information in the system, the responsible regional dispatcher then selects a suitable breakdown mechanic. Orders are assigned in a route-time-optimized manner in order to provide assistance as quickly as possible. Special emergency situations such as children or animals trapped in the car or breakdowns on the freeway or main roads are prioritized according to the higher risk potential.

Our third deployment is not an acute emergency, but a special case in two respects. Not only is the broken-down vehicle a Hyundai with only a few thousand kilometers on the clock, but the request also came from a person who is not an ADAC member. "We are there to help in breakdown situations," says Konstantin, describing the ADAC's basic philosophy. "That's why we naturally also attend cases when we are called out by people who are not members of the ADAC. If we can help quickly and easily, there are no costs involved. But of course we are happy if people then decide to become members."

Problem case bicycle

Of course, there are also situations in which the helpfulness and patience of a breakdown mechanic are put to the test. In addition to classic breakdown assistance for cars, motorcycles, motorhomes and other vehicles, ADAC members now also receive help with problems with bicycles or e-bikes. Konstantin remembers a case that falls into the "pretty cheeky" category for him. If someone finds out at home that they have a flat tire and don't know what to do, they are happy to help. But I've also been called out to a bike breakdown. "When I arrived, there were eight students who wanted to go for a bike ride. I had to check all the bikes and get them ready for the tour." That was a situation for which ADAC roadside assistance was not intended.

With around 1700 road assistance drivers and 675 mobility partners, the ADAC is well-equipped for a wide variety of challenges, but with over 22 million members and more than 10,000 reports per day, membership should not be abused. In principle, however, there are no restrictions, as Konstantin explains: "Membership is personal. So it doesn't matter which vehicle a member has a breakdown with, and even several call-outs per year are covered by the membership."

Home visit

Where you call the ADAC in the event of a breakdown is also not decisive and many journeys literally fall under the category "home visit". In addition to discharged batteries and technical defects, it is also often unsuccessful repair attempts that lead to roadside assistance being called out. A burning warning light in the cockpit has motivated the owner of an Opel Adam to troubleshoot. However, checking various fuses with the ignition switched on caused an error message from the control unit. As a result, the little Opel could no longer be started. Thanks to his readout device, Konstantin not only found the fault, but was also able to delete it. However, his advice is clear: "The warning light that keeps coming on has a cause and it doesn't help to just delete the error message. The car definitely needs to be checked in the workshop."

The last case of the day is also in the garage at home. Once again, the vehicle won't start after a long period of disuse. Once the "suspected battery fault" can be ruled out, the cause of the 20-year-old Mazda MX-5 is quickly identified – the starter motor is faulty. So that the owner can drive straight to the workshop, it's a bit of an effort shortly before closing time and the damaged Mazda is given a classic muscle-powered push. A membership is given as a thank you, because in this case too, the breakdown mechanic was called out without being a member of the club.

Dream job as a road patrol driver

Back at the ADAC base after eight hours of work, Konstantin is left with the answer to the question of what he likes about his job. It is amazingly simple and enviable at the same time: "I can't imagine a better job. Every day is different and I never know what to expect. I'm constantly interacting with people, there are always new challenges and every time I come to an assignment, I can do something good." Work could hardly be more fulfilling.

(mfz)