What type of road service do you have?

[snowywhite89]

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?

We have AAA premium.

We never expected them to come to dig us out of snow. DH and I both carry small shovels in our trunk to dig ourselves out of a snowbank.

 

[mamalle]

onstar for both our cars. I let my AAA lapse last summer after getting the deal thru onstar..

 

[crazelion]

I have through my car insurance right now. I am seriously thinking about getting AAA again.

 

[RangerPooh]

We have had both AAA Plus and AAA Premium (Premium is not available in all states...at least that we have lived in) and like to keep them on hand as a just in case. In my experience it all depends on where you are, the time of day that you call, and what day of the week you need the tow. We actually used them on Monday afternoon to tow our Volvo to a Volvo repair shop 80+ miles away. No questions asked.

I am always happy when I have AAA inmy wallet as it's a peace of mind. Years ago my car broke down over an hour from home and I was out in the middle of nowhere-literally! I worked for the US Forest Service and was on my way home from work. Anyways I coasted until I found a safe spot to pull off that thankfully had cellservice. It took about an hour for them to reach me from the nearest town, but I was grateful to see the trucks headlights headed my way. That was when their 100 miles coverage was appreciated, as I would have had to pay OOP for the tow if I only had the basic.

Ironically I year later my car wouldn't start while at school and they towed me home. The same driver, who remembered me Two months later I was on my my way home from work with the USFS and hit a deer with my car. The same driver picked me up. He rememebred me, my car, and my job as a fire lookout. He jokingly said that we needed to stop meeting this way

A few years later DH and I were in the process of moving from CA to WA and were headed back home to CA and our truck broke down. We got towed about 30 miles to the nearest AAA aproved service center in a community of our choice, our 100 miles covered it.

Having used AAA multiple times I wouldn't cancel it.

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have regular AAA here in NC and our service has always been VERY good. They will tow from our home if the car would not start here. We also enjoy the travel discounts from AAA. We have booked WDW trips through them and gotten travel assistance quite a few times.

 

[LadyBeBop]

When we bought my Hyundai last year, it came with 5 yr/100,000 miles warranty...including free roadside service.

That worked great when my car wouldn't turn over last month. Car was towed from my driveway to the dealership. Total cost, including towing...$0.00.

However, heartbroken that we missed a Christmas family reunion. We were taking my car to the reunion...and it was in the driveway, blocking the other car which was in the garage.

 

[Kycha]

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.

This is not necessarily true. I had a basic AAA membership for years. Unfortunately, I had to use their tow service many times. The tow truck operator can tow your vehicle anywhere you want. AAA will only cover for the first 5 miles. Any miles above and beyond were charged at a rate of $2 per mile.

This is taken from my local AAA website. It may be different for other clubs.

AAA Classic Membership - Anything but basic in benefits, this plan provides great AAA coverage at its most affordable rate with free towing up to 5 miles (nominal charge thereafter) with the added safety, security and savings of a traditional AAA package of benefits. This plan is ideal for those who drive short distances or who need little roadside assistance.

 

[Hardy]

I just signed us up (DH and myself) for a AAA plus membership. DH works 50 miles from home, so extended towing is very important. His car is getting older 10 years, 140,000 miles.....so I thought it would be a good idea. I'll use the discount as much as possible to help offset the cost (it'll get it's first workout visiting the world of harry potter on MLK day!)

I know my FIL just used his AAA for a blown tire and there was someone there in 15 minutes...so I guess the timing just depends

 

[swilshire]

We switched from AAA Plus to Premium when DS took an ancient Subaru to college. He has had tows the 196 miles to our wonderful Subaru mechanic twice now in three years.

I've always had great service from AAA. Once I was stranded by the side of the Interstate before daylight with a flat in Atlanta. The driver came and put on my donut, which he declared unable to hold air. He put it on anyway at my request and followed me the few miles to my temporary work location to make sure I made it. I borrowed a car for the weekend to go home and got my tire fixed, plus bought a wheel and a full size spare. Called AAA again on Monday and they came to install the new tire.

Another time when we had Plus we broke down just over the 100 miles away from a recommended transmission shop at home. The few extra miles were charged at a deep discount.

I have had to wait a bit more than an hour a couple of times, but typically they show up much sooner than predicted. One driver even drove my husband home about 10 miles from the repair shop when there was nobody available to pick him up.

Sheila