What good is AAA?

[bcgreen]

I understand for roadside service, but I wanted them to flatbed my car for service and they refused because I haven't started the car in 2 years.

[Jims5543]

How did they know that? You tell them too much?

I have a British car, I think it has had more miles on the back of a flatbed than on its own wheels.

I ran out of tows with AAA and was facing charges I used them so much.

[red-beard]

My big save was getting my F250 stuck in the mud on a jobsite

[rwest]

I’ve had it for more years than I can remember and only had to be towed once and I was fairly close to home. With all I spent, I could pay for a lot of towing.

I’m figuring that having the card insures I don’t get gouged if I’m out in the middle of nowhere and need help. I do take long trips in the 911 every few years.

[bcgreen]

Originally Posted by Jims5543

How did they know that? You tell them too much?

I have a British car, I think it has had more miles on the back of a flatbed than on its own wheels.

I ran out of tows with AAA and was facing charges I used them so much.

They asked me when it was last run and I told them. I didn't know, otherwise I would have told them differently.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by bcgreen

They asked me when it was last run and I told them. I didn't know, otherwise I would have told them differently.

That sucks! I have never been asked any real questions outside what make and model and where am I.

I had no idea there were limitations concerning the status of the auto. Good to know.

[Seahawk]

AAA is is great. I've only used it three times (F-150, daughters bad alternator and driving a buddies 911) over the years but each was important and got the cars back from distance.

I would not expect them to tow an inoperable car that has been sitting.

When I travel a lot the discount for hotels alone pays for the service many times over.

[Noah930]

Who was it who refused the tow? The dispatcher?

Just double check (not with the same dispatcher) what the rules are. Each state/regional AAA club is independent of another state/regional club, so rules may vary. Don't take any of our words for it. I've never known AAA to balk at towing a car, even if it hadn't been run in years. Maybe the dispatcher who denied your request was erroneous in interpretation of the rules? Or maybe other dispatchers just look the other way and let stuff slide?

[KFC911]

If yer car breaks down on the side of the road, they have this12 step program...

[Dantilla]

I paid for my wife to have AAA for a couple years, until I realized that if any of my friends get stranded, they call me, as I have a flatbed trailer with ramps.

[Seahawk]

I got serious about AAA when my kids were in college; days away in one case, four hours in another and my wife was commuting to DC everyday.

In the case of the F150 issue I had, the tow truck was there in 15 minutes, drove me to the rental car place and I made my meeting.

The truck was taken 100 miles to my local dealer.

[wdfifteen]

We have AAA for the company to cover employee problems, otherwise it would have been up to me. At midnight on a Thursday I just wanted to say, "Call AAA, you have the card they gave you, right?"

[RWebb]

most insurance co.s will give you towing insurance for $5 to $10

AAA also used to have nice paper maps

and... the TripTick or whatever the thing was called

[Scott Douglas]

I remember once we had to have our daughter's car towed home from San Diego. We knew it was just under the 100 mile limit since it was from our son's house down there. My son told the tow truck driver how to get to our house. They took a longer route and wanted to charge us for the overage. We went back and forth but after we talked to the driver's supervisor they realized we had driven the route enough times to know the mileage. They relented and no charges were paid.
My card says I've been a member for over 50 years.

[asphaltgambler]

I know the tow truck / driver's side of this. They contract with independent tow companies, agree to a discount from what the company would normally charge in exchange for more volume, good advertising. Problem is as with everything car service/ sales related is everyone is paid by commission only. So when a driver accepts the call, all sorts of shanagens like " I can't find the car- I'm driving around and dont see them" or " Yeah I'm going to take you home this way, safer, there's too much traffic, etc" all to pad the final bill.

[Nostril Cheese]

AAA WAS great.... premium service. 100 mile tows covered. Discounts everywhere.

Been a while since I used the tow service, but I guess things had changed in CA.. I bought a non-op title car with tags from 2018. Just wanted it towed to my mothers house (5 miles) because of two bad coil packs.

Called AAA and the tow driver completely lost his s*** when he saw the tags. I mean started screaming at me. I had a talk with his boss later.. but apparently its illegal to tow a car with expired tags there. Was really surprised at how I was treated.

Back in the day, they were beyond professional...

[Scott Douglas]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

AAA WAS great.... premium service. 100 mile tows covered. Discounts everywhere.

Been a while since I used the tow service, but I guess things had changed in CA.. I bought a non-op title car with tags from 2018. Just wanted it towed to my mothers house (5 miles) because of two bad coil packs.

Called AAA and the tow driver completely lost his s*** when he saw the tags. I mean started screaming at me. I had a talk with his boss later.. but apparently its illegal to tow a car with expired tags there. Was really surprised at how I was treated.

Back in the day, they were beyond professional...

The way I understand it here in CA, you're not supposed to roll a wheel on the pavement without it being registered. I think they could have put it on a flat bed and been OK.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

but apparently its illegal to tow a car with expired tags there.

Threadjack here, but I don't understand that. I mean, I know it's not allowed to tow a vehicle with expired tags. That's buried somewhere in the depths of the vehicle code. But that's on the owner of the vehicle (to pay back registration fees and penalties). It's not an infraction by the tow company. What happens when a meter maid tickets a car and impounds it for expired tags?

There's a Statement of Fact form, or something like that, in California in which you attest that the car hasn't been operated on public roadways or even transported on public roadways, in order to avoid having to pay back fees/penalties. I get the operation on public roadways. But even transported on public roads is not allowed? That's ridiculous and a total overreach of the government, IMO. What about new cars that haven't been sold/registered by a dealer? What about dedicated race cars? It's the tow truck that's operating on the roadway, not the vehicle with the non-current tags.

[RWebb]

https://pemco.com/blog/paper-maps-still-relevant-for-fall-color-road-trips

[bcgreen]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Who was it who refused the tow? The dispatcher?

Just double check (not with the same dispatcher) what the rules are. Each state/regional AAA club is independent of another state/regional club, so rules may vary. Don't take any of our words for it. I've never known AAA to balk at towing a car, even if it hadn't been run in years. Maybe the dispatcher who denied your request was erroneous in interpretation of the rules? Or maybe other dispatchers just look the other way and let stuff slide?

The dispatcher. He asked me when I last started the car and I told him, he asked me to hold on. Apparently had ask someone. Came back and said they wouldn't pick the car up.