What type of road service do you have?

[eliza61]

I have AAA premium. it runs me $140 annually for myself, dh and a student membership for #1 son.
After the big snow storm on the 26th, I called them because of course the next day I got stuck in a snow drift.

anyway was told by AAA that I had to be "free and clear" of any snow and that they don't help people stuck in snow.

now I'm thinking of changing, anyone else out there with road service and use another company?

 

[mjkacmom]

TBH, I've always had AAA, and I would never expect them to dig my vehicle out of the snow. Their service is to tow or start cars because of mechanical failure. What would prevent everyone with AAA from calling after a storm, stating their car won't start, and have the trucks come, dig out the car, and have it now start.

 

[dfchelbay]

We have AAA as well. We also have Good Sam. We have that for our RV, I'm not sure of their auto only coverage. Maybe check them out. I've seen on this board that people get coverage through their auto insurance carrier. I've read State Farm, Nationwide and Allstate I think.

 

[RitaE]

Right now nothing. I canceled AAA after last year - 2 breakdowns and they were worthless both times. Once, it took them over a day to get out here and get my son's car when the alternator or something went bad and we needed to get it to the repair shop.

The other time, my DH broke down in the middle of an intersection and they gave him some sort of ridiculous time estimate like around 3 HOURS to get a tow truck to him. When he explained that the Police weren't going to be willing to let his car sit in the middle of an intersection for 3 HOURS, they couldn't give a crap. He called the local tow tuck company and they had somebody there in about 20 minutes, gave us their card and said they are on call 24 hours. Can you tell by my capital letters how pissed off that incident made us?

So right now we all just carry that number with us. The only reason I really carried it was for hotel discounts (rare that I can't match them now) and it made me feel like a good parent to have teen drivers with a AAA card. But Emergency Service does us no good at all if they aren't willing to actually help in an "Emergency." I feel much safer with the tow truck guy who picks up the phone and says "I'll be right there."

 

[msmayor]

Not sure that any roadside service helps you if you are stuck in a snow drift. Getting clear requires a shovel and some manual labor, not a tow truck or any technical mechanical assistance.

 

[eliza61]

TBH, I've always had AAA, and I would never expect them to dig my vehicle out of the snow. Their service is to tow or start cars because of mechanical failure. What would prevent everyone with AAA from calling after a storm, stating their car won't start, and have the trucks come, dig out the car, and have it now start.

Sorry I didn't explain myself well.

I didn't want them to dig my car out. I was driving monday, on the way to visit a relative who was having surgery that day (or was schedule too) and I slid off the road then got stuck in a snow drift from the plows.

 

[eliza61]

Not sure that any roadside service helps you if you are stuck in a snow drift. Getting clear requires a shovel and some manual labor, not a tow truck or any technical mechanical assistance.

So if I skid off the road in the rain and get stuck in the mud, how do they pull me out? Is there a difference?

 

[Gigi22]

In addition to your regular emergency equipment, you should put a scraper, shovel, a container of windshield cleaner for winter/antifreeze, and a bag of cat litter -- the litter is for traction if you get stuck on ice -- in your vehicle in the winter. You should also make sure your cell phone is charged.

When it becomes really, really cold in the winter, CAA (the Canadian equivalent of AAA) will not come to give you a boost if your vehicle is in your own driveway. They give priority to boosting vehicles that are by the side of the road, in parking lots, and so on.

 

[msmayor]

So if I skid off the road in the rain and get stuck in the mud, how do they pull me out? Is there a difference?

Yes there is.

An individual cannot clear a mud hole the way you can dig out of a snow bank. The only way to get a car out is to use a truck to pull it out...and most likely the truck won't touch the job unless you sign a damage waiver for anything that happens to the car as a result of getting it out of the mud.

 

[eliza61]

Thanks guys.
If this is pretty much standard I think I'll just drop down the the cheapest road service I can find. Very rarely do I use them for lock keys, jumps so basically if all they'll cover is simply tows no need for me to pay a high fee for a premium package that's not suited.

Appreciate the info.

 

[msmayor]

Thanks guys.
If this is pretty much standard I think I'll just drop down the the cheapest road service I can find. Very rarely do I use them for lock keys, jumps so basically if all they'll cover is simply tows no need for me to pay a high fee for a premium package that's not suited.

Appreciate the info.

Just be aware that the cheapest level of service may not cover the type of tow you may need.

The most basic AAA membership only tows the vehicle to either (a) the responding tow operator's garage or up to 3 miles from the location of the vehicle. I'd say chances are more often than not that a car is going to break down further than 3 miles from your own mechanic, and you'll be stuck either (a) paying for a secondary tow yourself from the responding garage's location, or (b) stuck having the responding garage fix your car.

Most folks want their car service by their own mechanic, at least I do. My Plus membership paid off in spades just two months ago when my car broke down 32 miles from home. That would have been a $250 tow out of pocket; instead, a signature got me on my way.

 

[bettymae1121]

Just be aware that the cheapest level of service may not cover the type of tow you may need.

The most basic AAA membership only tows the vehicle to either (a) the responding tow operator's garage or up to 3 miles from the location of the vehicle. I'd say chances are more often than not that a car is going to break down further than 3 miles from your own mechanic, and you'll be stuck either (a) paying for a secondary tow yourself from the responding garage's location, or (b) stuck having the responding garage fix your car.

Most folks want their car service by their own mechanic, at least I do. My Plus membership paid off in spades just two months ago when my car broke down 32 miles from home. That would have been a $250 tow out of pocket; instead, a signature got me on my way.

Ditto. It never fails that one of our cars will break down 20+ miles away from home (DH does all our auto repair work so we always just have them tow the vehical home). I've saved more just in towing fees over the years than I've paid for in membership dues for the Plus coverage. Add in the savings on hotel and other discounts and we're way ahead of the game.

 

[QVCshopper]

If you have USAA insurance, they have a very cheap roadside assistance. We were going to sign up for AAA, but then my DH found this. Literally a few dollars added onto your insurance. You have to be related somehow to the military to have USAA.

 

[eliza61]

Just be aware that the cheapest level of service may not cover the type of tow you may need.

The most basic AAA membership only tows the vehicle to either (a) the responding tow operator's garage or up to 3 miles from the location of the vehicle. I'd say chances are more often than not that a car is going to break down further than 3 miles from your own mechanic, and you'll be stuck either (a) paying for a secondary tow yourself from the responding garage's location, or (b) stuck having the responding garage fix your car.

Most folks want their car service by their own mechanic, at least I do. My Plus membership paid off in spades just two months ago when my car broke down 32 miles from home. That would have been a $250 tow out of pocket; instead, a signature got me on my way.

Gotcha!
Hubby is a retired mechanic so, he does the servicing on all the cars so we really just have it to get it off the road say if it broke down on a highway. So it's usually cheaper to bring hubby to the car! LOL.

It's actually more of an issue for my son's car. It's a 12 year old nissan with rear wheel drive without any traction control and gets stuck more than it konks out. Of course he'lll use this as an argument as to why he really, really needs a new car.


Thanks again.

 

[msmayor]

If you have USAA insurance, they have a very cheap roadside assistance. We were going to sign up for AAA, but then my DH found this. Literally a few dollars added onto your insurance. You have to be related somehow to the military to have USAA.

According to their website though, they only tow to the 'nearest' service station. For some (myself included) that still involves an additional cost to get the car where it needs to be.

As with any type of service, folks should always read what the terms are before purchasing and find the service that matches your need. It may not be the cheapest and in the long run, may cost you more if you don't know exactly what is covered.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I have it through Verizon Wireless-the service is 2.99 a month.
We have used it once with no problem, I think the tow is 5 miles and then a not too ridiculous per mile rate after that.

It's worth the extra few bucks a month.

 

[jsmith]

According to their website though, they only tow to the 'nearest' service station. For some (myself included) that still involves an additional cost to get the car where it needs to be.

We have had USAA roadside for years and years-they have always had the vechile taken where i wanted it taken no questions asked. They have also provided in drive way jumpstarts-and responded quiet promptly once when my son locked his keys in a running vechile.

 

[mcorbo]

The other time, my DH broke down in the middle of an intersection and they gave him some sort of ridiculous time estimate like around 3 HOURS to get a tow truck to him. When he explained that the Police weren't going to be willing to let his car sit in the middle of an intersection for 3 HOURS, they couldn't give a crap. He called the local tow tuck company and they had somebody there in about 20 minutes, gave us their card and said they are on call 24 hours. Can you tell by my capital letters how pissed off that incident made us?

Same thing happened to my daughter, AAA could not get there soon enough for the police to get the car off the highway, so they called a local towing company. AAA reimbursed us for the towing expense after I submitted the bill to them.

 

[budbeerlady]

Same thing happened to my daughter, AAA could not get there soon enough for the police to get the car off the highway, so they called a local towing company. AAA reimbursed us for the towing expense after I submitted the bill to them.

AAA is great if you use it to reimburse or if you are in no rush. My car was dying when I got to work, they towed it the 45 miles home with no fee. However it did take them 3 hours to do it. But on the plus side it was no $ out of my pocket.

So after talking with my boss he confirmed with his AAA he calls his own tow company and then submits it back to AAA. So that is what I will do for now on.

 

[AvaLovesMickey]

We have Geico and it comes with road service. Not sure who it is with because we have not used it. I thought about getting AAA due to the discount but don't know if it is worth it.