I tried to search, but this didn’t load anything in Seamonkey anyway - so I’m just asking: Is it still worth it for AAA when there’s services like Autovantage that seem to offer the same thing for cheaper. I mostly drive new cars, so they aren’t breaking down. I don’t often remember to ask for AAA discounts, so that’s not a huge thing for me. They charge extra in my AAA club for booking travel so I don’t use them for that (what a scam, people living in surrounding areas get that for free with AAA)…
I mostly use it to get myself or others winched out of our driveway in the winter when people (including myself) seem to occasionally get stuck. Or to get someone’s car opened up if they lock the keys in it. Also, I live out in the sticks in the southern tier of NY, so AAA takes at least 45 min, and had taken 2-3hrs to show up, so if it took them 3 hours to show up, I’d generally be OK with that. I wouldn’t love it, but AAA isn’t much better, so again, saving money.
Anyway, Autovantage sounds like it might be too good to be true, however they’ve been sold via BJs locally, and I find good and bad reviews online for both AAA and Autovantage in similar numbers, so . . . it’s hard to draw conclusions. I’m tempted to maybe get both for one year to see if something comes up and Autovantage works, and if not I can fall back to AAA or Subaru roadside assistance…
Does your auto insurer offer road service? Mine does and charges just $5/year. I don’t think they will service your friend’s car, just vehicles on your policy. Your insurer might have the details on line.
I am not familiar with Autovantage but AAA has done well by me. A few tows for family members, maps and some discounts. From what I can figure all the auto clubs contract with the local tow services and no matter which group you have, the same tow truck may come out.
I have the AARP roadside assistance. 100 mile free tow plus the regular stuff. Daughters fuel pump cracked, and called for a 30 mile tow to my mechanic. They brought a flatbed, most impressive. American express offers free roadside with the card, but it is only good for a 10 mile tow. I usually let it lapse then we get an offer for family coverage for $85
My gf likes her AAA. Me, I just keep a cell phone programmed with three or four of the local towing companies telephone numbers. If I’m going on a long trip – seldom these days – I’ll look up tow truck services along the route and program those numbers into my cell phone.
I guess this is like what happens if you always bring an umbrella, it never rains. I’ve never had to make a call to a tow truck company. Not for my me anyway. But it still has come in handy, I’ve called for other people stranded and needing a tow or a jump.
In the past, I used AAA mostly for the TourBooks, not the road service, although of course that’s not necessary now that we have TripAdvisor and similar web sites available.
However, I still keep it for the discounts now. One or two hotel rooms and one or two purchases at a Reebok/Rockport outlet store per year more than cover my yearly fee (which is $58 for me, not $130).
I have had the Amoco motor club for years and have no problems with it. I’ve been told though that going with the AARP one is a better deal and uses the same service. I had and sold AAA years ago. My problem with them is that with three calls for a similar problem and they drummed you out of the corp. Most people buy the membership for the auto insurance though.
My argument for a motor club has always been that if you are running all around the state like I was, or out of state many times like I was, knowing who to call and getting the service was the important part, not getting a free service call. You have one number to call no matter where you are. If that’s not important to you, you can get the towing package on your insurance for around $10 a year for me anyway. I have both and saved me $75-100 several times.
I also have the Acura Roadside Assistance that comes with the car and On Star for my Pontiac. Never used either one for roadside problems. They were useless finding me a tire on Saturday afternoon. They offered to put the spare on but that wasn’t going to work for a 400 mile trip and I can do that myself.
I have towing on my auto insurance for $10 a year and the only number I need anywhere in the country is on my insurance card. I would never call them to change a tire though. I can change it a lot qoicker than waiting for them.
Maybe it depends on the insurance company but we didn’t have such a good experience using the towing coverage from our insurer when the family minivan was only able to run for about 20sec at a time and it took some arguing before they agreed to cover the tow from our home address to the repair shop. We signed back up with AAA soon after that.
I’ll probably sign up with AAA at some point but have roadside assistance coverage from Subaru for a couple more years.
I worked at a service station in the mid eighties that had a AAA contract. AAA contracts with independent towing agencies that will accept their rate, at that time it was about $15 plus mileage. It’s just enough money to fill in the gaps/keep you occupied and a bonus during a snow storm.
If you select a different road side assistance insurer, you might see the same guy after a three hour wait. It just depends on the available service in your area.
I used my auto insurer’s roadside assistance twice. The truck arrived within a half hour of the calls. I live in a large metropolitan area, and that probably has a lot to do with it. The free tow only applies within a limited mileage, though, and that is why I recommended that you check the small print on the web site.
I have never used the extended plan. The basic plan is good insurance on the road. If you trade cars frequently, most cars now have several years of road side assistance included. So you don’t need any plan.
I had AMOCO motor club in the past and now have AAA. I had AMOCO back in the 1960s and early 1970s when I was a graduate student. There was an AMOCO station near campus where I traded and I got to know the proprietor well. I didn’t have any place to work on a car and didn’t have the time as well. If I had a problem, I would just call the station. They would make a service call and I’d necessary tow the car to the station. The proprietor would fill out the paper work for the AMOCO club.
I realized the value of AAA membership when I had a blowout on the left front tire on a busy interstate. I called AAA and was told it would be a about 45 minutes. The driver showed up in 10 minutes. He had a pneumatic jack and impact wrench. He put on his emergency lights to slow the traffic and had me on the way in 5 minutes. Since it was suppertime, I did give the serviceman a good tip. My wife goes to AAA for tour books and travel information.
I have a cell phone with a good local tow company in the contacts list. It is a smart phone that allows me to search for the nearest towing company and the nearest service facility (or one the tow driver recommends - or not). If I don’t have cell service, I can’t call AAA anyway, so I walk.
I used to pay for a rider on my auto insurance but not in many years. I haven’t used a tow service enough in 40 years of driving to pay for any memberships in AAA.
The normal stuff that catches drivers out, dead battery (I carry jumpers in each car) or running out of gas (never done it) is an easy call to my wife or a buddy. The heavy stuff that a road-side fix can’t help, takes a tow truck. They take credit cards, no big deal.
I have road-side assistance through my insurance company. Includes towing, battery jump, flat…and a few others.
The problem with AAA is availability. My son’s car had a flat…and the spare was flat. Called the closest and available company. They came over and repaired the tire. I had to pay extra for the repair…but the other service was covered under my insurance.
If I had AAA - the closest AAA garage is 20 something miles away. The next closest AAA garage is over 30. We’d have to wait for the AAA to travel the 20 something miles in heavy traffic…that’s IF he wasn’t on another call.
If you live and only travel in a city…then AAA is fine. But break-down in rural area…you may not be so lucky.