AAA (and others) automobile club questions opinions

How many of you have AAA OR some thing like it? Have you been satisfied, any problems? I have it and between a tow, maps, disounts it well worth it. Peace of mind if the wife breaks down. Years ago they did not due well in rural areas and the tow companies always complain they do not pay enough. Today there is similar things for campers motorcycles etc. Yes there are old stories about calling them Monday and they say they will get to you Friday!!!

We have Good Sam Roadside Assistance because we traveled in a 1988 motorhome. I had heard stories of some companies sending out a tow truck that had no idea how to handle anything larger than a VW bug so we tried Sam. Had transmission trouble in our car 800 miles from home, they were excellent. Had transmission trouble in the motorhome about 400 miles from home, they went beyond required service. A friend has the same and the engine quit in his pickup on the way to a tractor show, Good Sam sent a tow truck that was qualified and knew what to do with a truck/trailer combo. I know there are other companies but I will stick with them because of my past experience. And I do not plan to let it run out. That is when I will need it most.

they may be better today, back in the 80's tow companies around here would not accept AAA due to unpaid tow bills, instead the customer paid, they got a recipt, then AAA reimbursed them, [ maybe] they had other services which seemed to be fine so i never was sure what was up with the tow bills, especially as back tow pricing was regulated by the state corporation commission, today's icc. i never joined a auto club as i always had or worked for places which had trucks trailers ect and we did our own dead vehicle recovery, i can usualy fix my stuff as i own only older trucks by choise, no computer, those just sit there and run , but i can see where somebody who isnt in that position would benefit from being in a auto club too

we got AAA when my daughter started driving,,she had to use it once,,they were great,,,,,we are soooo glad we got it

I've always been a DIY'er, so never saw the need to join - until now. With old age and chemo treatments, I can't change a flat tire now and neither can my wife so we just joined AAA a couple weeks ago. Years ago you could pretty much count on someone stopping to help you, but people don't seem to do that anymore. When you get old, you just got to do what you think will work for you.

I had AAA for about 10 years I dropped them on service issues, seem they'd gotten real used to getting money and not doing much, when they had to do stuff they squealed like stuck pigs. Nothing like being stuck somewhere waiting 15 minutes on the pay phone (okay this was a long time ago) only to be told since you're out of you "home" state you had to call a different 800 number then hanging up. What really torqued me off is I was in Fulton Kentucky the pay phone I was at was literally across the street from Tennessee (my state of residence).I suppose if the car was across the street the vendor would of refused to to perform the service because the parking lot across the street would be in AAA Mid-South territory and an AAA Mid-South vendor would have to do it. They also got pretty pi$$y with me when the jump start didn't get me home and they had to tow it, by that time I was in South Fulton Tennessee and to tow it home or to the dealer in Martin Tennessee was technically beyond the range of my AAA service (yet it was the next and nearest repair facility unless we wanted to cross the border and go beck into Kentucky) but since the tow truck they called was from Martin he didn't much care as he was going back to his shed anyway. I know have towing and such on my Auto Insurance and IIRC it cost me $10/year. Yes I don't get maps and trip ticks but you know what I have maps and can get turn by turn on my I phone.

I did have an issue once with the road service through the insurance company in trying to get service, again a long hold time for a service call. The insurance company has those satisfaction surveys and they didn't do to well on that one. Seems the call canter for that service is a vendor to the insurance company and the insurance company expressed my, and their displeasure, haven't had a problem since.

I have BP but have not had to use it yet. Good for the wife though as she travels a lot to the Drs. office.

My experience is that it's just not worth it for $100 a year. They will only tow you to their nearest repair facility, not where you want. My auto insurance covers that plus a rental car. I'm also a fanatic about maintaining my vehicles so I don't worry. If you're 1000 miles from home on a vacation trip and break down, best thing to have is a good credit card and cell phone. AAA won't save you much particularly if you've been paying for it for several years -- then you're losing money. You'll still need a rental car to get home and have to travel back to pick up your vehicle from the repair shop anyhow. AAA is pain in the a$$ to cancel.

We have had AAA since 1990, a very good operation. Never have had any complaints.

When I was in the military, I held membership in the Carolina Motor Club for years, with excellent results.

I once tried to become a member of the AAA in Nebraska and was turned down because I was a member of the military. The gal made it plain that because I was a member of the military, I was considered a second class citizen and below their standards for membership. I haven't had anything to do with AAA since.

Have had AAA for years, had good luck with them Wife let it drop some years ago and got something else, that was a mistake, it got dropped. Was without for a while. Wife wanted to take a trip to see son, told here would only go if got it back again, Have the hundred mile version. And car insurance does not have towing avaible and if did would not honnor it.

Today they have up to 200 mile towing and where you want (i.e. the buick dealership) Some of these insurance policy towing you have to pay it then get refunded!!!

I have it for the past eight years and has been worth the bucks ! They come with a roll back and took me right to my driveway no problem.

If you breakdown you are to call AAA and they send a tow truck and you pay nothing but if you take it upon yourself to call one you pay towing service and turn bill into AAA and they reimburse you.

We have the AAA platinum plan and they will pay tow up to 200 miles. The only thing they won't do is tow my pickup with 24 foot deck over trailer with tractor but will pay tow if pulling camper trailer.

I have AAA and if I am going to take a vacation trip I don't take my car. I rent a car( unlimited miles) and if it breaks down they bring me another car and I don't have to worry about coming back to get my car after repairs are done. On a two week trip you could put 3,000 miles on a car and I would rather put those miles on rental car instead of mine and the piece of mind I don't have to worry about breakdowns.

I have read the GM's roadside service club is very good. Had AAA years ago - just more expensive than I want to spend these days.

Our fleet of cars has so many miles on them these days, if there is a long trip out of town, like for a family vacation, we rent a minivan. A little pricey, but when I hand the keys back to the rental counter - they are stuck with the payments - not me.... LOL!

We've had a gift AAA membership for the last 25 or so years. Don't use it much but they've been there when we needed them. We have used the tour books as well and they have helped for areas we aren't familiar with.

We did the rent for trip thing and for the cost vrs. miles could not beat it!!!

We have AAA now as we are getting older now. Might just need it some day. Had an old trap quit one time up in Tn. The cop came along and drove me to U-Haul and I rented a pick up and a car trailer and dragged the old trap home and turned the truck and trailer back in at U-Haul here in Fl. Fixed the old trap myself and drove the thing a few more years. I think I saved a lot of money.

I have a few things to say about stopping to help people, Dick....
For many years, I had been the type to always stop and try to help out when I could. Most of the time, folks were appreciative. Most tried to offer me money, which I ALWAYS refused. Flat tires, out of fuel, and minor mechanical failures like broken belts. Some of the time, I got the distrustful looks like I was trying to take advantage of the situation. Other times, especially with older folks, I would get the "rather do it myself" treatment even when it was obvious that the person needed help. These days, I rarely stop to help because I got tired of being seen as some axe murderer that was looking for a victim. If only they knew. I was (at the time) a fully certified ASE master auto and heavy duty truck technician with many hours of factory training from both Ford and GM. The same guy that they would now have to pat over $100 per hour for working on their car.

I do understand that there are some unscrupulous people that will attempt to rob or take advantage of folks in a breakdown situation, but that it not true of most that will stop to help. These days, I may or may not stop to help, but the very minute that I feel unwelcome, I just get back in my car and leave.

I contracted to aaa for 12 years all in said and done when I ended my affiliation I was broke and had a wore out tow truck...

The service you receive on a break down is solely dependent on the contractor, they are actually real people with a life. My kids were getting into the 7 year old range I liked to go camping and sports were interring into there life so I did not renew my contract.

AAA went thru all the other local tow company's thru the years no one will contract to them locally now and I don't blame them. There are other origination's that pay much better. I was after the AAA customer base "Yankee's with money that relocated to live out retirement playing golf".. I got some good customers from it that became good friends for life but the locals were were a PITA...

My rep Lew Beman a real good old boy looked after me well what ever it took to keep me happy he did it. For the next 12 years even tho I was not under contract Lew told me to accept AAA he would see I got paid. I kept taking AAA from my customers and filled in when the other AAA contractors were busy are wanted a week end off life was good.

I turned in my tickets every 6 mo the last batch I turned in I was told I was not a contractor I said send the tickets to Lew he would handle it... They told me Lew retired and the good old boy system retired with him...

I still tote a AAA card and pay for my kids to have one. AAA does not work well around here but it did in the towns they went to collage in. When there was a problem I had AAA tow it to my shop FREE I did not have to lose a haft a day going to get it. Either way it going to cost me to provide a life time warranty with free towing for the small cost of AAA its worth it to me and I own a tow truck...

I have had AAA tow my tow truck, it slung the belts off in Raleigh NC I had them tow me to a steak house called the wife to bring me some belts and tools.... I went in and ate me a steak when I walked out to my truck she showed up with the tools and belts...
Not all break downs are a total disaster...

I look at it this way I hope I never need to call anyone again when My Ox is is a ditch if I do I will take my chances with AAA at least I have someone to complain to if it goes bad....

we have USAA towing which is quite reasonable $9/car/6 months but around here they don't have many local service guys and it takes quite a while to get a tow truck or lock out or whatever. Daughter is in more urban area and has had better luck when she has need a battery jump. down side it only covers the cars on your policy were AAA covers whatever you happen to be driving.

they will pay for receipts from other tow companies no questions asked. A bit more of a pain if you don't have cash on you.

we had AAA when we took our trip out west. Just in hotel discounts we saved the price of the basic membership (about $57) plus ($70ish?) so whether you need it or not just in discounts it could pay for itself.