AAA roadside assistance?

The other thread about winter drivers got me thinking. What do people think about AAA and their Roadside Assistance service?

My insurance includes towing. Though I don’t know about “extraction” say, when you’re in a ditch so deep a normal tow may not work.

Back when I was young and poor, driving an unreliable old car, the AAA towing comes in handy when I was stuck on the side of the road, frequently. But modern cars are quite reliable even when they’re “old”. I hadn’t had much mechanical breakdowns despite driving cars as old as 10 years and over 100k (hope I don’t jinx myself).

I don’t have AAA any more. But should I? What’s your experience of using their roadside assistance? Especially in winter driving?

My experience with AAA, over 15 years, was pretty good in terms of roadside assistance. In terms of insurance, big thumbs down.

Realize that AAA contracts with local towing companies so response times can vary widely, especially up north. That said, they have helped me out a lot including one occasion when we needed to tow the car over 50 miles. All done as part of our benefits.

Two big benefits to AAA:
a) if you don't know who the local tow operators are, you can call their 800 number and they'll work through a dispatch list trying to find someone
b) you're effectively insuring yourself against an unexpected tow cost (I think I'm paying $100-150/yr, which I haven't used in a couple of years, but I'd expect a single tow to easily cost at least that)
c) the trip-interruption coverage can soften the blow some if you get stuck somewhere and need to rent a room

Things to watch out for:
a) they don't cover all vehicle types, and coverage can vary by state (AAA is a national grouping of independent, regional organizations, each of which has its own rules); if you have a dually or tow trailers, read the fine print carefully
b) as noted, they dispatch trucks, they don't own any; so if you happen to get stranded in BFE, it may still be a while, especially if you want to get towed a long distance to your usual mechanic. Also, the dispatchers usually know nothing about your local area, so they may insist on information that doesn't really make sense (like the nearest cross street when you're at the end of a highway off-ramp outside of Fairmont, Minn.).
c) you need to spring for the higher-level coverages for meaningful tow distances, especially if you want your choice of destinations
d) you likewise need higher-level coverage if your plans involve getting yourself Really Stuck to the point of needing multiple wreckers
e) re: trip-interruption coverage, you definitely need to read the fine print, get the right forms from AAA, and jump through their hoops very carefully to ensure reimbursement

I have used aaa for getting jump starts as well. Once in lake placid when it was -15 for 2 days straight and my vehicle was dead. Insurance wouldn’t cover that. Also kid locked keys in the car when he was small and we were 50 miles from home


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I have AAA. I used them for roadside assistance once in the mountains although it was summer. I was @ Pinkham Notch and I had just hiked Mt Wash. My battery was dead. I called and about 20 mins later, a tow truck appeared and gave me a jump so I could drive home. He was dispatched out of N Conway. So the service is solid up in that area from my experience.
Another reason tat I like them is I can use the local office for some DMV tasks. Only basic things like returning old plates. Not sure exactly what else but there's a list on their web page. Anytime I can avoid the DMV, I'm happy!
Finally, I have two teens driving relatively older cars, so they provide some peace of mind there.

They had a 150 mile limit for towing . I had a vehicle die in Connecticut on the way back from Maine .
Other than major malfunction had good service with having a jump .

It's worth it IMHO. We pay for the package that has 100 miles worth of towing given all the back and forth we do between the flatlands and VT.

My battery dies on me when we went up to Quebec for skiing vacation and got really cold. AAA membership works with CAA, and you can even call the same 1-800 in Canada and it connects to CAA (although AAA smartphone App does not work in Canada). We got jumped and drove to Canadian Tire for a new battery, but the membership worked well for me.

Always had them always will..even new cars have problems..like bad batteries.

I use Better World Club, which is the hippie lefty alternative to AAA. (AAA actively lobbies against public transit funding and other things that I like.) BWC came through for us in a huge way the time my friend put his car in a ditch on the downhill side of Roxbury Gap on the way home from Sugarbush a few years ago, they managed to find us a tow operator willing to tow the car (which had a cracked radiator) all the way home to Somerville, with a crew-cab flatbed so we didn't have to find another way home.

Can come in handy for sure. Two things:

may be cheaper through your car insurance (i.e. roadside add-on for USAA is super cheap) and

you might already have something through credit cards, AMEX or something, worth checking.

Have had AAA for years. Wife drives 60K a year, kids in school with beater cars, weekly trips to VT in all kinds of weather. Peace of mind. AAA is always responsive, even in remote areas. Also do 90% of RMV stuff there an avoid Registry all together. Also AAA discounts through the year (hotels, etc.) more than pay for it. Complete no-brainer.

Siliconebobsquarepants said:

They had a 150 mile limit for towing . I had a vehicle die in Connecticut on the way back from Maine .
Other than major malfunction had good service with having a jump .

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You can pay an extra $20-$30 for AAA Plus which will increase the tow miles to something like 250.... We broke down near The Loaf and got it towed all the way back to Boston.

AAA even covers you if you are NOT the driver. All you need is to be is IN a car that breaks down.
Well worth every penny !!

You have to return old plates?


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ceo said:

I use Better World Club, which is the hippie lefty alternative to AAA. (AAA actively lobbies against public transit funding and other things that I like.)

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I'll check that out! I like the idea.

I used to have AAA membership on auto-renew. But when I changed credit card, it stopped. I then realize I had not used their roadside assistance for many years now. Add to that, a friend of mine lost his car key in the snow. He called his insurance to see if they could tow it back into town to a garage. Yes, it's covered! (I took him home, he later took the bus back to retrieve his car with the spare key)

For dead battery, I always carry jumper cable in the car just in case (and a battery operated pump to top up slow leaks in tires). Though the last time, the jumper cable didn't work at all because the computer was locked when the battery died. So the car was towed to the dealer to get the computer reset. Another person in the group I was with offer to reset the code for me because he had a code reader. I didn't feel comfortable enough to let him do it (fairly new car). Probably would have worked. I doubt a tow truck driver can clear the code though.

I did one time (long time ago) claim on the trip interruption. That was nice. But it only amounts to a few hundred dollars. At the time, it was money well spend as I had also used their towing service often. But these days, as I'm getting older and often plan my driving to good weather days, the odds of misshape is lower.

In terms of membership fee vs services used, it's not quite worth it. It's more down to how much is peace of mind worth, I guess. I'll give THAT some thought.

Been a AAA gold(100-mile tows) and now platinum(200 miles once then 100 miles) for total of 4 helping events(Gas,Battery,Flat,Tow) per membership card per year member for a bunch of years the then some. There is a lot you can do with that..

You can chain tows over two days to add mileage to get where you need. 100 miles each day to get where you need 100+100=200 miles tow. counts as 2 tows of course out of your 4

You can get into ANY locked car and tow ANY car. Not just your own. Just have to be present. I have helped random people I have met that are locked out of their vehicle and or stuck in the snow for a free tow out. Great winter helping hand if you have the time to wait for the AAA help

Smellytele said:

You have to return old plates?


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Yes. I am in RI (unfortunately) and the DMV is insane. These were from the late 80s and had survived two of the ex-wife's crashes. I decided to get new ones for my new car and they make you bring the old, twisted, rusted ones back before they will cancel the registration.

You can order new plates, same #, for $30 at AAA (Smithfield - 5 mins)
Takes about 3-4 weeks. Plates ship to them.
Then you return your plates and walk off w/ the new ones, again 5 mins !!!

YES it is 2 visits to AAA, but only 10-15 mins total of waiting in lines.
Sure beats the RI DMV by a mile !!!!!

We own 2 cars registered in RI, and the AAA DMV services make AAA membership well worth it.

Again, I'll avoid the DMV and go back to AAA in a few months when I have renew my license w/ a "Real ID".
10-15 mins at AAA or 1-2 hours at the DMV.

ceo said:

I use Better World Club, which is the hippie lefty alternative to AAA. (AAA actively lobbies against public transit funding and other things that I like.)

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ceo, do you use their "hotel discount"? I wonder how that works. With AAA, it's just a wave of the membership card and most chain hotel/motel have a 10% off you can get either online or in person.

I use AAA in case I need to get towed out of the north country. Coming up on 150,000 miles on a custom job Subaru, which I plan to drive until it breaks and fix it, but I definitely want it towed back home to my shop if bad news occurs.

The membership has come in handy over the years and many times redeemed my decision to join AAA. They seem to dispatch some great drivers/technician, have only had positive experiences getting my car+ass saved.

The hotel discount is probably useless unless you're paying full price "no discounts may be combined" type of thing.