Horrible AAA roadside assistance experience!

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Originally Posted by Blkstanger
Im not sure who you should blame. AAA hands over their calls to local tow companies that they have agreements with. If the tow company is located many miles away it could be on them.



Sorry if their service fails because due to someone that fails to give service they wear the pie!
 
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Originally Posted by SLO_Town
Originally Posted by Blkstanger
Im not sure who you should blame. AAA hands over their calls to local tow companies that they have agreements with. If the tow company is located many miles away it could be on them.

Tow company was just 2 or 3 miles away, based right there in King City. I hear you, but I hold AAA responsible. They are the ones I pay every year.

Scott


Right you are. If the local tow companies don't want to affiliate with AAA and AAA can't provide the service they shouldn't take the money.

Seems like it's harder to pay for a service ahead of time and cash it in when needed vs just waving a hundo in the air to summon an angel with a flatbed.
 
AAA will refund a private towing service, I have done that before.

It was standard CAA so I still had to pay a little bit because it was like 500km away, but it wasn't even my CAA membership.
Originally Posted by eljefino
Seems like it's harder to pay for a service ahead of time and cash it in when needed vs just waving a hundo in the air to summon an angel with a flatbed.
I have it mainly to not have to deal with crooked towing companies, they are quite predatory in Toronto. Last time I hired a private firm to move a car out of my driveway, they bent my fence pole and put scratches in my driveway.

Didn't stop the driver from giving me his personal number if I ever needed a tow!
lol.gif
 
I normally keep a few things in the cars that can hopefully get me home. Do a search on what other items your car is prone to fail and buy some of the low cost easy to get items.

In my Volvo's fuel pump relay is a common item that I carry on all cars. The 960 has 2 spare coils and tools to replace them in parking lot.

Find a local towing company that you like and you can be reimburse later on.
 
Originally Posted by eljefino
Originally Posted by SLO_Town
Originally Posted by Blkstanger
Im not sure who you should blame. AAA hands over their calls to local tow companies that they have agreements with. If the tow company is located many miles away it could be on them.

Tow company was just 2 or 3 miles away, based right there in King City. I hear you, but I hold AAA responsible. They are the ones I pay every year.

Scott


Right you are. If the local tow companies don't want to affiliate with AAA and AAA can't provide the service they shouldn't take the money.


A few years ago, I had a good conversation with a tow driver after a fuel pump crapped out.

Whereas there used to be multiple AAA tow contractors, the one he worked for had taken over coverage for most of the area.

He said that most tow companies had decided to get out of being AAA contractors due to the terms they provide, and the demands they make. Not worth it.

Despite that, this company was very good, and even made an extra trip to bring me back home to retrieve a spare key after I goofed and locked myself out of the car trying to diagnose the problem. I guess it also saved them from a claim because a slim jim would have only worked by damaging the door trim, but he was able to fully comprehend the situation, not force anything, and take the most agreeable course of action.
 
I fired AAA decades ago. I have state farm and for like 50 cents/month you get road service. Used it twice it great. I can't belive people still use AAA. Oh wait you get free trip planning and free paper maps.

Originally Posted by SLO_Town
Originally Posted by PimTac
If any consolation it's a good thing you were in a safe area and not a dread zone. That would be very scary.

I am suggesting we put a GPS tracking app on my wife's phone. She drives 4K miles per month for her job, and most times she checks in with me at predetermined checkpoints while on her travels. She a great wife, faithful and all, but she's not crazy about the tracking app. It's the principal. Can't blame her.
Scott

I use the iphone tracking app. My wife appreciates that I can track her for safety. And yes she can track me. Great security. And we are both 72 lol.
 
Originally Posted by dishdude
I think AAA is one of the few ways to get an honest tow.


I think they kinda have the best price. I've used them a few times. I think a tow without AAA will probably cost you a couple times more than whatever the the annual cost of a membership is. That's why lots of tow companies don't want to contract with them, but if they've got nothing else going on, it's still better than nothing. I also get their 100 miles of free towing. I've used it a couple of times just to tow a car to my indy instead of being stuck with whatever mechanic is local. I remember getting towed once about 104 miles years ago, had to pay an extra $20 for those 4 miles as they charged $5 a mile. No idea what they charge now. Ride was kinda frosty. It was kinda near the end of the day and I think the guy wasn't looking forward to driving back 104 miles to wherever he came from.
 
They contract the tows to private companies. If the company thats on rollcall that day is busy with a fatal,multiple tows or had to take a tow many miles away it could easily take that long.
 
Originally Posted by SLO_Town
Originally Posted by Blkstanger
Im not sure who you should blame. AAA hands over their calls to local tow companies that they have agreements with. If the tow company is located many miles away it could be on them.

Tow company was just 2 or 3 miles away, based right there in King City. I hear you, but I hold AAA responsible. They are the ones I pay every year.

Scott

I hear you! Someone dropped the ball and then it rolled away. I quit AAA a few years back. Nice car BTW.
 
If you don't like their roadside service, wait until you use them for an accident claim!

WRT roadside service, 3-4 years ago a front wheel bearing seized on my motorcycle, around 5:15am.
I forgot I had AAA, parked in a bail bonds parking lot, used Google to find nearest tow, phoned them up, got tow < 1/2 hr.
The guy negotiated a good price with his boss (I heard half the conversation).
He asked me if I went through AAA or not; he hadn't had a call all night, was welding the gate at the yard
when I phoned, and was almost off shift. Said it seemed AAA wasn't sending business their way anymore.

Back when my cars broke down more frequently AAA tow was always a 2.5 hour wait.
 
Originally Posted by edwardh1
what did 6 coils cost for that car?

Six Delphi coils and six NGK plugs cost about $300 delivered from Pelican. Not bad IMO. Thankfully I do all my own work. The time I spent on the repair was less than the wait for the tow! I'm sure a dealer would have charged $1500 for the same job.

Scott
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
But the cost of AAA is worth it just for the DMV stuff. No more spending a whole day at the DMV. AAA has you out in 15 minutes.

I agree with this, I haven't had to go to a DMV office in years. Also too, I like paper maps for long distance highway trips.

Everything considered, I can see both sides of this situation. But I think all of you would have to agree, waiting 4 1/2 hours for a tow is not the best way to spend your time.

Lastly, thanks for the comments about the car. It's a nice machine in every respect. I treat it well and maintain it to a very high standard and it has been flawless to date, 67k miles.

Merry Christmas to all,

Scott
 
I've had to wait that long. Staffing, shift changes, priority based on safe waiting area and flat bed are all factors. Oh well. Complain to AAA they will most likely compensate you with a free upgrade or something. If I'm safe and it's free I let it slide and do some reading. People are too impatient these days.
Delphi better? Typical BMW excuses. Remember when Bremi were bad and were replaced with Bosch? Delphi is just a name now. They sold off the manufacturing when the bailout happened.
 
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AAA sent me a skinhead one night when my fuel pump died. Swastica tat and all, no shirt on. We were flying down the back roads going 60-70 in the rollback. The meth must have been doing it's job. I'm white so we got along ok.
 
Originally Posted by Chris142
But the cost of AAA is worth it just for the DMV stuff. No more spending a whole day at the DMV. AAA has you out in 15 minutes.

I spend 15 minutes once every 5 years getting picture for license. All other things done at local Notary and Messenger service.

I am glad others like AAA puts money in the economy.
 
Originally Posted by Al
I have state farm and for like 50 cents/month you get road service.


^^^ This
Emergency road service is a really cheap add on your car insurance and more than pays for itself if used only once in a decade.
Had a few cars towed home on State Farm's dime over the years.
 
Originally Posted by fdcg27
Originally Posted by Al
I have state farm and for like 50 cents/month you get road service.


^^^ This
Emergency road service is a really cheap add on your car insurance and more than pays for itself if used only once in a decade.
Had a few cars towed home on State Farm's dime over the years.





Yep. I used it once when our Ford croaked in minus zero weather at 2am at work. In my case I called a tow company to take it to my home 25 miles away and the next day to the Ford dealer. I was reimbursed by State Farm. It was handled very well.
 
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