what do you think about roadside assistance?

I am in favor of roadside assistance if the vehicle is broken. But for most tasks I am happy to do it myself: change tires, change batteries, etc.

I've never had much need for roadside assistance but it gives you a peace of mind. I have it thru American Motorcycle Association because it's free. It covers my bike and cars. Iv'e used it twice for the car but never for the bike.

to get into politics, but it used to be one could buy that in a mall. And because people were using it for inhalation, it was very expensive. this meant that kids had to go into the city to get it at a fair price. I went to a Grateful Dead show in Chicago in 2015 at Soldier Field, and balloons were for sale for $40 to $50. I happened to mention it to my wife's cousin, who to me is a youngin', and she goes, "That's not bad." Then she goes, I mean, for parking, what is it again? Like she played it down that she thought a $40 balloon was not bad. I've heard of inflation but that's worse than college tuition.

So you can't buy that stuff in a mall anymore, but a person can buy legalized drugs--go figure!

And I just went through the nitrogen Costco thing. It's a PITA, because you have to go back when the temp changes. But as you point out, it's free. If it's really cold, there will be a line. So you're best off getting them to overinflate, then going home, and the next day, releasing some to get the desired PSI cold. It is about as sensitive to temp changes as air is, I've found.

To say people are suckers, well now that seems to be a misapplied term these days. It was recently used by someone in a high position and it wasn't very nice. It's not a nice term. Nitrogen in tires, well that's used in Nascar and aircraft, and to say air is 78% nitrogen anyway, is really not understanding why it's used to begin with.

My experience is it does in fact change by about 1 psi per 10F just like air. But it doesn't support moisture nor do the molecules escape through the actual tire. There's this conception that the avg person does not check their tire pressure, and also if they do, they rely upon a convenience store inflator. To this demographic, it would be beneficial if their PSIs don't go down over time.

So yes, the benefits are minimal. But many people with the green caps got it for free, such as from Costco, they didn't pay for it. Assuming something about someone because their valve stem caps are green probably is a mistake.

I do think that a cost/benefit analysis will not support using roadside assistance, but again, people are generally happying having it, as this thread has shown.

actually, it was a $60 discount on the class but you needed to cancel by the end of the month or get charged $5/month. Even if we forget the first month, we'll still doing good and we'll use our AAA anyway.

I personally don't use it all that often, but in the past I have found it extremely helpful to have when I needed it.

got burned. Add another household member for free for a year. Why not? Added my wife.

Got billed 9/1/20, for a year, starting 10/1/20. Called 9/3/20 to cancel, cancel accepted. Never saw any refund, so contacted them, and they said normally we don't issue refunds, but we will.

So how many accept that they paid for a year in advance, canceled prior to the start of the period, and got nothing back? I bet the majority. And it's not the people, they're nice, it's the policy that's messed up.

Don't take free where you have to do something or it automatically bills you, is the way I will live from now on.

I know a guy that will get tires that can be returned in 30 days for any reason, and he'll return them several times. He feels he got 30 days of use for free. I guess so. Last time I was at Costco, I saw this in action. I would do that if there were a problem with what I bought. But these guys are switching to another tire saying they're not satisfied. I heard the tech say how many miles did you put on them (it doesn't matter) and the guy said, "About 2 thousand." lol

For years, whenever the time came to renew, I'd hem and haw. I'd renew and within the year, something would happen and I'd need them. Now, I just renew every year. I have PLUS because I have two motorcycles.

This year I've had some bad luck with vehicles. One motorcycle developed a flat tire about 70 miles from home. Later that year it overheated. Then, my car got a tear in the sidewall and my car has no spare. They towed it to Costco (where I bought the tires). Costco didn't have a tire and would not have one for a week. AAA towed the car back to my house. Then, when the tire came in they towed it back to Costco. Found out that their policy is that they will tow the same vehicle three times max per year.

And that's just this year.

Weird thing about Costco....the first time I ordered online to be delivered to the store, took 1 month and they never got it, and handled it themselves came in 3 days. I was irritated because at the time we're talking almost $900 and I paid in advance of course. The next two times of course they don't stock the tires necessarily, but say I went in on a Sunday afternoon, Monday evening they call to say the tires are in. So it seems doing in person is much better than online.

Due to the pandemic espcially since we're talking in the April-June timeframe, I took the car in for a rotation and they said tires shot, warranty. Fine. blah blah blah let's just say that's March and got them mounted in August, and the warranty was over 2 brands. In each case, they called the next day about 30 hours later to say tires are in....

I have been on and off AAA for years, with my insurance company (State Farm) as a backup. Whenever they offer me a deal, I will jump on and then they send me a renewal for over $200 and I let it expire.

I do prefer AAA, as they have advantages such as covering any car you are in vs just the car you are insuring. But State Farm has been fine when we use them.

I have been with AAA for 30 years. AND, I think that I have great value based on the number of tows our family members have had.

As Ihockman (above) mentioned, AAA is not coming after a "car", they are coming after a "card holder". That is why I provide AAA cards to my entire family, including two grandsons. Whatever vehicle one of us is in - whether it is owned by us or not - if it needs a tow, AAA will come get it. I even pay extra and get the "Premium" coverage so that we could get a 200 mile tow if needed (which we have used once).

We found this out the hard way, but not every car comes with a spare tire. So, if a tire fails on a car that does not have one, you are going to need a tow.

I strongly recommend AAA

John

Aside from the problem that they are clearly cheating the company, which should be enough, the even larger problem is that people like this ruin good deals for everybody.

L.L. Bean had a spectacularly generous return policy for decades, which was finally withdrawn after losses to egregious misuse got too large for them to tolerate.

I've had AAA for 33 years and have used it a few times. Three tows, 1 lockout and have gotten discounts at various places. Also used it as a passenger in someone else's vehicle, got a jump from a dead battery at 2am. AAA covers you, not just your vehicle(s).

Again seems like people look at AAA like auto insurance, not bothered if many years of no use but peace of mind...

Sure how the generous returns works exactly, because as mentioned, amazon sent me opened SharkBite valves sold as new. My buddy said you are nitpicking, but my thing is they are not 100% if someone put them on, then took them off, they're not designed for reuse. It happened on 2 separate orders. So I always make sure amazon products are new. Furnace filters were the same thing, 4 for $120, label said not to be sold individually, and the box was missing the end, had clear tape and a factory label taped on. If I got it for a discount that is different, but these products were sold as new. amazon's policy states they can sell such as new, as they have been "inspected."

I remember in the old days having a g/f who worked part time at Marshall's, she said people would routinely wear things for say an event, then return lol

I have Good Sam Road side assistance and have only used them a couple of times, but no problem. I have three vehicles covered. wouldn't be without if because of the motorhome.

Need For Roadside Assistance is a crap shoot, except......when you drive a big rig motorhome.

We use Good Sam Roadside Assistance and renewed for and extra 5 years at $139.. for a total of 6 years. It covers our RV, all cars, trailers, and included both me and my wife. We have no children, so I do not know if that would impact the price.

Auto-renew is OFF, which provides you the opportunity to be offered a deal you would never know about otherwise.

Imagine the cost of towing a 43,000 lb motorhome. I think the price is well worth it. We have used it a few times over the years for small stuff, like flat tire on automobile we were driving. Not our car, but still was covered.

Less perks with Good Sam Roadside Assistance, but don’t miss them at that price.

The moral: Ask for a deal and you may just get it. Think multi year discount. Discount for age, yearly mileage, etc. Google: “How to get a discount on your roadside assistance”

It’s crap shoot, so load the dice in your favor !!!!!

'Bout a thousand bucks just to get them to come look at it.

on who does it..

Recently had to make use of AAA tow service. My membership level gives the first 3 miles free. Repair garage I use was 2.9 miles away. Whew.