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Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / General Car Topics / July 2005How does towing work?
If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there? Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will the tow truck also take me back home? The tow-truck drivers know which shops stay open late. Nowadays, it takes a fully-equipped professional to *optimize* a vehicle's performance. It does NOT take a pro, to do basic inspections that will AVOID a show-stopping "breakdown." I think most folks over in the auto groups would agree with me that, if you religiously follow the manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables, you will never have a "breakdown". The most profitable organizations, are the most careful about maintenance. Maintenance *is* the frugal path. > The tow-truck drivers know which shops stay open late. > Nowadays, it takes a fully-equipped professional > to *optimize* a vehicle's performance. Bullshit with most faults. > It does NOT take a pro, to do basic inspections > that will AVOID a show-stopping "breakdown." They cant be completely avoided. > I think most folks over in the auto groups would agree with me that, > if you religiously follow the manufacturer's stated maintenance > timetables, you will never have a "breakdown". Mindless pig ignorant drivel. > The most profitable organizations, are the most careful about maintenance. More mindless pig ignorant drivel. > Maintenance *is* the frugal path. Depends on whether you over do that completely, stupid. > The tow-truck drivers know which shops stay open late. > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Maintenance *is* the frugal path. I totally disagree with your statement "if you religiously follow the manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables, you will never have a "breakdown"." While you will lessen your chance of a breakdown, you will *never eliminate* your breakdowns due to a faulty part. I think that any mechanic (excluding shadetree) will agree with my statement. I repair multi-million dollar pieces of equipment for a living, and while our parent company says that we do too much preventative maintenance, we go with the manufacturers recommended schedules (actually sometimes we go beyond) for the PM's. We still have breakdowns almost every day. During production, when the machinery is down, we are talking thousands of dollars per minute that we are down. Downtime, or the lack of, is *very* important to us at work. > We still have breakdowns almost every day. maybe the machines are being used beyond their design parameters. or maybe the repairs and maintenance aren't being done very well! >> We still have breakdowns almost every day. > > maybe the machines are being used beyond their design parameters. Actually, we don't use our machinery to it's capabilities, so I guess that idea is ruled out... > or maybe the repairs and maintenance aren't being done very well! Funny, we have other plants in our industry from all over the country call and ask us questions on our maintenance program and ask for advice. We have had people fly in and "join us" for a training crash course. Maybe when I said breakdowns almost everyday, I should have stated that most of them are minor and many of those minor repairs can be made with the equipment running. We do have major breakdowns from time to time, and those could take 3 shifts working around the clock 3 to 4 days to finish the repairs as long as we have the parts that are needed or have them available to be Fed Ex'ed in. >> We still have breakdowns almost every day. > > maybe the machines are being used beyond their design parameters. > > or maybe the repairs and maintenance aren't being done very well! Or maybe it was a dumb statement to make in the first place. >>> We still have breakdowns almost every day. >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Or maybe it was a dumb statement to make in the first place. Bobby... are you ALWAYS negative? >>>> We still have breakdowns almost every day. >>> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > >Bobby... are you ALWAYS negative? Of course not - I'm always positive you'll come up with an a.shole statement no matter what I write - Oh, and the same goes for your horse. >> The tow-truck drivers know which shops stay open late. >> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >While you will lessen your chance of a breakdown, you will *never eliminate* >your breakdowns due to a faulty part. Totally agree. I had a 4runner that was well maintained and it broke down on the road when the starter failed without any warning. Therefore best to say "almost never" breakdown. > The tow-truck drivers know which shops stay open late. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > you religiously follow the manufacturer's stated maintenance > timetables, you will never have a "breakdown". Impossible and here is an example. I keep my vehicles well maintained. I was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday afternoon when the engine simply stopped. Fortunately I was in the far left lane so I was able to coast off the road without cutting thru traffic. I had the car towed in to the garage. It started and ran OK. The computer did not have any stored codes. They eventually found a failing crankshaft position sensor. > The most profitable organizations, are the most careful about > maintenance. > > Maintenance *is* the frugal path. > Impossible and here is an example. I keep my vehicles well maintained. I > was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The computer did not have any stored codes. They eventually found a > failing crankshaft position sensor. A Jeep? :) >>Impossible and here is an example. I keep my vehicles well maintained. I >>was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > A Jeep? :) Dodge Intrepid. > I > was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > The computer did not have any stored codes. They eventually found a > failing crankshaft position sensor. the engine would not re-start out on the side of the Interstate, but would after cooling down? MIght have been a thermal effect which may recur some sad day. I am not one who automatically presumes dishonesty on the part of service vendors. But I also will not automatically presume that a successful "repair", is a the same as a "cure". There's an old saying that "a conclusion is where you were standing when you got tired of thinking". For example, did they subject the position sensor to a battery of tests, *in a test jig outside the engine* You're happy because they fixed the complaint within a reasonable budget. THat's a very normal & rational thing. We should not mistake their actions for a complete diagnostic work-up. A real diagnostic work-up for evaluating a vehicle isn't easy to find.... it takes LOT of expensive equipment, and a learning curve for the mechanics. Money, and more money, which could only be recovered by charging for... no repair work. Bev, over in another thread, already displayed a VERY typical consumer reaction to such an offer: "I don't want to pay for information about the mechanical condition of my property". She is really in the center of the Bell curve. How many people get their homes inspected outside of a trying-to-sell situation? How many people keep even the simplest track of MPG or of (eg) battery specific gravity, or condition of crankcase oil? THese things are quite cheap to do. Go into any auto-parts store and look at the tremendous number and variety of after-market products which cater to activities which enhance the COSMETICS of a vehicle. They get the shelf space because they have a high profit margin (ie, the chemicals involved are not spectactular, but they've been marked up spectactularly); and because they move well. People get pleasure in burnishing the appearance of their vehicles. I don't see many people blueprinting their engines, or the auxiliaries. It used to be that the AAA of Massachusetts owned and operated an actual Diagnostic Center. You paid a few hundred dollars for a top-to-bottom evaluation of your vehicle, by Master Mechanics using the best instrumentation... no repairs, you paid for RELIABLE INFORMATION. I don't know if it still exists. >>I >>was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > thinking". For example, did they subject the position sensor to a > battery of tests, *in a test jig outside the engine* You do know that is completely ridiculous. The failure that the car had could have been caused by a number of components. It is totally impractical to remove all of those components and perform some sort of exhaustive analysis on them. And more importantly it is outrageous to perform periodic testing on such components because it typically does not produce a reduction in failures. Instead the mechanic performed a reasonable and customary repair. He plugged his analyzer in and went for a ride until the computer produced a service code. The service code was for a specific sensor. He replaced the ~ $40.00 part and the car has worked fine since. What else exactly needed to be determined? The Space Shuttle level inspection/maintenance process you advocate just doesn't make sense for a passenger automobile. And even with the extreme level maintenence the shuttle does have problems. > You're happy because they fixed the complaint within a reasonable > budget. THat's a very normal & rational thing. We should not mistake [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > best instrumentation... no repairs, you paid for RELIABLE INFORMATION. > I don't know if it still exists. > alanh_27@yahoo.com wrote >>> I was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday >>> afternoon when the engine simply stopped. Fortunately I was in the far left >>> lane so I was able to coast off the road without cutting >>> thru traffic. I had the car towed in to the garage. It started and >>> ran OK. The computer did not have any stored codes. They >>> eventually found a failing crankshaft position sensor. >> the engine would not re-start out on the side of the Interstate, >> but would after cooling down? MIght have been a thermal effect >> which may recur some sad day. >> I am not one who automatically presumes dishonesty on the part of service >> vendors. But I also will not automatically presume that a successful >> "repair", is a the same as a "cure". There's an old saying that "a conclusion >> is where you were standing when you got tired of thinking". For example, did >> they subject the position sensor to a battery of tests, *in a test jig >> outside the engine* > You do know that is completely ridiculous. We'll see... > The failure that the car had could have been caused by a number of components. Correct, but he is talking about anticipating the failure, before it happens. > It is totally impractical to remove all of those components and perform some > sort of exhaustive analysis on them. He doesnt appear to be saying that is done, just that the test system is outside the car. In other words it checks those components while they are still in the car. Thats possible with those sensors. > And more importantly it is outrageous to perform periodic testing on such > components because it typically does not produce a reduction in failures. Really depends on the percentage of sensors that go bad other than instantly. In other words whether its possible to detect some going bad before they fail completely. > Instead the mechanic performed a reasonable and customary repair. He plugged > his analyzer in and went for a ride until the computer > produced a service code. The service code was for a specific sensor. > He replaced the ~ $40.00 part and the car has worked fine since. And that appears to be what Alan is talking about. > What else exactly needed to be determined? What has failed. > The Space Shuttle level inspection/maintenance process you advocate just > doesn't make sense for a passenger automobile. He appears to just be advocating the use of the analyser to pick up imminent failures before they make the car undrivable. His claim that its possible to completely eliminate all failures is clearly just plain wrong. > And even with the extreme level maintenence the shuttle does have problems. For different reasons tho. >> You're happy because they fixed the complaint within a reasonable >> budget. THat's a very normal & rational thing. We should not mistake [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] >> the best instrumentation... no repairs, you paid for RELIABLE >> INFORMATION. I don't know if it still exists. >I think most folks over in the auto groups would agree with me that, if >you religiously follow the manufacturer's stated maintenance >timetables, you will never have a "breakdown". Only people who know nothing about auto maintenance would agree with that. Any piece of machinery will eventually break down, regardless of how it is maintained. That's because any part manufactured is designed for a certain life time of use and will fail sooner or later. And a car manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables do not address replacement of most parts that can fail in a car. Show me an auto manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables for alternators, ignition switches, coil packs, ECUs, fuel pumps, water pumps... Most if not all manufacturer's maintenance timetables do not even have a timetable for thermostat replacement--a part that fails quite often in most cars (but fortunately usually fails opened). > alanh_27@yahoo.com wrote >> I think most folks over in the auto groups would agree with >> me that, if you religiously follow the manufacturer's stated >> maintenance timetables, you will never have a "breakdown". > Only people who know nothing about auto maintenance would agree with that. Indeed. > Any piece of machinery will eventually break > down, regardless of how it is maintained. That may be way outside normal use tho some of them. > That's because any part manufactured is designed > for a certain life time of use and will fail sooner or later. Wrong. Some machinery isnt designed for a certain life time of use at all. One obvious example is simple stationary diesel engines. > And a car manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables do not > address replacement of most parts that can fail in a car. Show > me an auto manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables for alternators, > ignition switches, coil packs, ECUs, fuel pumps, water pumps... Correct. And its never going to be possible to eliminate early failures with those components by replacement even if they did. > Most if not all manufacturer's maintenance timetables do not > even have a timetable for thermostat replacement--a part that > fails quite often in most cars (but fortunately usually fails opened). He can claim that that isnt the sort of breakdown that needs towing tho. > If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them > tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so > I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it > towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there? > Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will > the tow truck also take me back home? Most repair facilities have a night box where you can drop the key. You can then call them or go back in the morning. If you a wary of this simply leave the car o the property and get there when they open. The AAA obligation ends when the towing ends but the driver should do one of he following: Drop you off somewhere in the way back to their garage (Of course he might be going in the opposite direction) or in a safe location. If you do not have a cell he should use his or use his radio to call the garage to get you a taxi,  SignatureTo reply via e-mail please delete 1 c from paccbell >If my car breaks down at night, and I have it >towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there? As someone else pointed out, some of the shops stay open late, but still, if you get towed at 2am, it's unlikely that anybody's going to be open. If that happens, then yes, the tow-truck driver will tow your car to the repair shop (or for that matter, to any location) of your choice and leave it there. You can leave a note on the windshield, but you should also call the shop as soon as they open in the morning and let them know what's going on. Note also that with standard AAA membership, the amount of towing you get for free is limited to a few miles. If you ask the two-truck driver to tow farther than that, you'll pay by the mile at rates set by the driver (i.e., not by the AAA). Note also that some tow-truck drivers will try to rip you off and charge you for things that are supposed to come for free with AAA membership. For example, they may charge you a "hook-up fee" or "lift fee". Perhaps they legitimately think that these are legitimate charges, but I think it's more likely that they're looking to make a quick buck. It's best not to argue with the driver about this. Just pay the fee, and then contact the AAA and ask them to reimburse you, which they will if the fee wasn't legitimate. >And will the tow truck also take me back home? That's not included in the AAA service. The driver may agree to take you home, but he's free to charge you whatever he wants to do it. You can usually ask him to call you a cab, though. If you're in a remote location, it might be wise to ask him to stay with you until the cab arrives. You should consider the distance from your house and the remoteness of the location when deciding to where to ask the driver to tow your car. > Note also that with standard AAA membership, the amount of towing you > get for free is limited to a few miles. You get four 7-mile tows. Plunk for the next level up, which gets you four 100-mile tows. Hell, if you're only 7 miles from home you can probably push it yourself :-) > If you ask the two-truck > driver to tow farther than that, you'll pay by the mile at rates set > by the driver (i.e., not by the AAA). I once asked a guy what he charged. $7/mile. That afternoon I upped my membership. > >And will the tow truck also take me back home? > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > remoteness of the location when deciding to where to ask the driver to > tow your car. If your home is within 7 miles he'll tow you there if that's what you want. I once wanted the guy to just tow me up to the top of the hill, I could make it from there, but he said no, it had to be a real place, so he towed me to his station and we pushed it from there. Yeah, on the freeway again! SignatureCheers, Bev ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Why is it so hot and what am I doing in this handbasket? >> Note also that with standard AAA membership, the amount of towing you >> get for free is limited to a few miles. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > push > it yourself :-) With AAA - Texas, you get four, three mile tows per member, per year on the standard membership. I called and checked with Sprint PCS, with whom I have roadside assistance with, and they are the same as AAA-Texas. I will soon be calling and cancelling Sprint ($96 per year) and getting AAA (Plus) with four 100 mile tows per member per year plus the other perks for $116.50 per year. I had a car die on Sunday and AAA towed it to my mechanic. My mech has off-hour forms and you can call in a problem. Why not ask AAA that question, since it is with them you have the contract? mike hunt > If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them > tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so > I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it > towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there? > Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will > the tow truck also take me back home? > If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them > tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so > I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it > towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there? > Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will > the tow truck also take me back home? AAA will only tow a few miles and then it costs you per mile. It's a lot cheaper to buy x-dollars worth of towing insurance as part of your regular auto insurance policy than AAA, IMO. It might be a good idea to give some thought beforehand, where you might want your car towed if it were to break down anywhere along your regular commute. Don >>If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them >>tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Don In California AAA has two types of membership, One gives you up to 5 miles of tow up to 4 times a year. The other gives up to 100 miles four times a year SignatureTo reply via e-mail please delete 1 c from paccbell > In California AAA has two types of membership, One gives you up to 5 > miles of tow up to 4 times a year. The other gives up to 100 miles four > times a year What, they changed it? ... Nope, 7 miles according to the website. And they have three levels of membership. SignatureCheers, Bev ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I don't need instructions, I have a hammer." -- T.W. Wier >> In California AAA has two types of membership, One gives you up to 5 >>miles of tow up to 4 times a year. The other gives up to 100 miles four >>times a year > > What, they changed it? ... Nope, 7 miles according to the website. And they > have three levels of membership. From their web site: http://www.csaa.com/yourcar/ersguidelines/0,1037,1004050200,00.html Towing When a disabled vehicle cannot be started or driven safely, it will be towed to either the independent contract service station answering the ERS call, anywhere of your choosing within five miles of where you're stranded, or anywhere that is en route to, or within five miles of, the contract station. Additional towing may be available at your expense. If you are a AAA Plus® Member, towing is provided up to 100 miles per disablement from the point of disablement at no charge (up to 4 times per year). SignatureTo reply via e-mail please delete 1 c from paccbell > >> In California AAA has two types of membership, One gives you up to 5 > >>miles of tow up to 4 times a year. The other gives up to 100 miles four [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > disablement from the point of disablement at no charge (up to 4 times > per year). From a different website (http://www.aaa-calif.com/mem/auto/ers.asp) ---------begin--------- Towing Benefits * AAA Premier? ? Receive one 200-mile tow per membership year, and the remaining calls up to 100 miles per membership year * AAA Plus? ? Receive 4 calls per membership year, up to 100 miles each * Standard ? Receive 4 calls per membership year, up to 7 miles each When a vehicle cannot be started or safely driven, the vehicle can be towed to the independent contract station providing the service (no matter how far away) at no charge to the member. A member must be present when the vehicle is delivered to a closed repair facility. Towing beyond the benefits described above is at the member's expense and may be subject to a delay. ------------end------------ Confusion increases.... SignatureCheers, Bev ---------------------------------------------- Linux: The penguin is mightier than the sword > From a different website (http://www.aaa-calif.com/mem/auto/ers.asp) > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > Confusion increases.... I am happy to report that we are both correct. I posted the CSAA web site which handles northern California. You have the site for the totally separate Auto Club of Southern California. SignatureTo reply via e-mail please delete 1 c from paccbell > > From a different website (http://www.aaa-calif.com/mem/auto/ers.asp) > > [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > site which handles northern California. You have the site for the > totally separate Auto Club of Southern California. Isn't it interesting that they're all different and all apparently charge different fees. SignatureCheers, Bev ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The way England treats her prisoners, she doesn't deserve to have any." --Oscar Wilde >> From a different website (http://www.aaa-calif.com/mem/auto/ers.asp) >> [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >site which handles northern California. You have the site for the >totally separate Auto Club of Southern California. So... what happens if you live in Southern California and need a tow in San Jose? Follow Bev's advice and park it in the slow lane and let someone punt you the last two miles? > <sfgeorge@paccbell.net> wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > in San Jose? Follow Bev's advice and park it in the slow lane and let > someone punt you the last two miles? I doubt if the tow-jockey cares where you bought your membership -- otherwise you'd play hell getting a tow in an expensive area if you'd bought your membership in a cheap area. SignatureCheers, Bev --------------------------------------------------------------------- "If the Eskimos have a thousand different words for "snow," does this mean the French have a thousand different words for "surrender?" > I doubt if the tow-jockey cares where you bought your membership -- otherwise > you'd play hell getting a tow in an expensive area if you'd bought your > membership in a cheap area. Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy insurance for this in the first place. At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year, and that would be in a bad year. Given that it costs about $125 for a tow, I'm not sure how it's a catastrophe to have to pay for it yourself. More to the point, unless the insurance company is negotiating special rates with tow truck companies (which, I admit, is possible), they are paying the same rates as you and yet making money despite all their overhead. Therefore, on average you should expect to pay less if you simply pay the costs yourself on the rare occasion that it's necessary. To put it another way, the purpose of insurance is not to get free stuff: it never works that way, because the insurance company makes a profit, and you must therefore wind up paying more *on* *average*. The purpose of insurance is instead to protect you from large expenses that could damage your financial stability or at least throw you off. I just don't see how having to pay $125 typically less than once a year can threaten to throw anyone off all that much. All in all, if I had to choose between the two, I'd much rather have insurance for the repairs themselves. You can bet that after you spend that $125 to be towed to a shop, the repair bill is going to come to a lot more than $125 most of the time. Seems to me that's the type of unexpected expense to protect yourself from. Not that I'm aware of a company that offers this type of insurance, but it does seem more desirable. - Logan >> I doubt if the tow-jockey cares where you bought your membership -- >> otherwise [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy > insurance for this in the first place. Because there is a single point of contact. If you were 75 miles from home and your car stopped on the Interstate who would you call? AAA has negotiated contracts and service level agreements with providers and they know exactly who to call. > At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year, and > that would be in a bad year. Given that it costs about $125 for a > tow, I'm not sure how it's a catastrophe to have to pay for it yourself. It isn't financial. If I compared the difference (from memory) it is probably a wash. > More to the point, unless the insurance company is negotiating special > rates with tow truck companies (which, I admit, is possible), they are > paying the same rates as you and yet making money despite all their > overhead. Therefore, on average you should expect to pay less if you > simply pay the costs yourself on the rare occasion that it's necessary. The service providers work on an negotiated rate schedule which you aren't going to get. > To put it another way, the purpose of insurance is not to get free > stuff: it never works that way, because the insurance company makes [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > - Logan >Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy >insurance for this in the first place. >At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. How many people here have ever had to be towed? >>Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy >>insurance for this in the first place. >>At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year > > Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. > How many people here have ever had to be towed? Once in my lifetime. Situation was, I was stopped in traffic (as in, not moving at all). I had cars beside me and a guard rail on the other side. A ford taurus came up fast behind me and didn't stop until it was parked in my back seat. In several decades and millions of miles (literally), I've never had to be towed due to mechanical failure, though. -Dave > >Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy > >insurance for this in the first place. > >At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year > > Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. > How many people here have ever had to be towed? When you have vintage cars ... often. -- "The web has got me caught. I'd rather have the blues than what I've got." <via Nat King Cole> > Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. > How many people here have ever had to be towed? When you drive cars into the ground, it happens more often than you'd think. :-) Let's see -- green car twice, yellow car twice, first white car once, not yet for second white car. First white car got broadsided by a red-light runner so it was being hauled away by the city, green car had a power steering pump failure and another part (can't remember which one) failue, yellow car had a bad alternator and a bad water pump. The green car died with 276,000 miles, the yellow I sold at 250,000, the white was totaled in an accident. SignatureC >> Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. >> How many people here have ever had to be towed? > >When you drive cars into the ground, it happens more often than you'd >think. :-) Let's see -- green car twice, yellow car twice, first white >car once, not yet for second white car. But wouldn't ya think at some point the towing coverage would be cancelled by the insurance company, or AAA would cancel the membership? Hard to imagine they'd go on paying regular towing bills forever without taking some sorta action... >But wouldn't ya think at some point the towing coverage would be >cancelled by the insurance company, or AAA would cancel the >membership? Hard to imagine they'd go on paying regular towing bills >forever without taking some sorta action... Most AAA memberships limit the number of tows per year, so it isn't exactly "forever" -- there's a built in limit on the amount that one membership can cost the auto club. Too few people hit that limit for the AAA to worry about it. > cjorp@yahoo.com <cjorp@yahoo.com> wrote >>> Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. >>> How many people here have ever had to be towed? >> When you drive cars into the ground, it happens more often >> than you'd think. :-) Let's see -- green car twice, yellow car >> twice, first white car once, not yet for second white car. > But wouldn't ya think at some point the towing coverage would > be cancelled by the insurance company, or AAA would cancel > the membership? Hard to imagine they'd go on paying regular > towing bills forever without taking some sorta action... They mostly just have a limit to the number of calls per year etc. >>> Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. >>> How many people here have ever had to be towed? [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >membership? Hard to imagine they'd go on paying regular towing bills >forever without taking some sorta action... They do - AAA provides a specified number of service calls per year - you pay after that. In California, it's four calls per card per year - in any given year, my wife and I between us can call for up to eight tows. >>Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy >>insurance for this in the first place. >>At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year > Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. > How many people here have ever had to be towed? Three times that I can recall. In high school, I had an Olds Cutlass that my parents gave me. It was serviceable, but built in 1980, pretty much the low point of all time for GM. The car had a rotor (in the distributor, that is) had a nasty habit of cracking in two if it got slightly too hot. Pushing the car too hard could cause it to get slightly too hot, where "pushing too hard" meant cruising along the freeway at the same speed as regular traffic. One time I was driving about 50 mph, and the engine just died. Since I was on a busy section of freeway (and did not yet know that was the problem), there was no real way to get the car out of there. Second time, same Olds Cutlass. Had had the engine rebuilt a few years before. Apparently the rebuilder wasn't that hot[1]. One day (on my way to show up for my first day of work at a new job, naturally), the crankshaft just broke in two while I was driving down the highway. (Actually, I had it towed twice: once to the service station, and once from there to the car dealer that got it when I traded it in on something more reliable.) Third time was totally my fault. I knew it was time to replace the timing belt on my Toyota, but I kept putting it off. I really was planning on doing it, but I didn't get around to it until after having to have it towed. Whoops. So, all in all, one of them should have been avoided, and one of them could have been avoided if I'd known more about who not to take the car to, which I didn't. - Logan [1] The day after we took it down to them to have them start work, I was talking to a classmate whose family owned a lawnmower repair business. I told him where we'd chosen to take the car, and he said something like, "You took it to where? You're going to regret that." And he was right. I don't know why I didn't think to ask him where to take it, since he did basically grow up working on small engines... > Logan Shaw <lshaw-usenet@austin.rr.com> wrote >> Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile >> to buy insurance for this in the first place. >> At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year > Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable > worst-case. How many people here have ever had to be towed? Yeah, its pretty rare with other than accidents. I havent, tho on one occasion the distributor failed, fortunately close enough so I could walk to the place that sold a new one of the bit that rotates and I could walk back and replace it myself. And that is over 50+ years now. >>> At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >enough so I could walk to the place that sold a new one of >the bit that rotates and I could walk back and replace it myself. Well, ain't this depressing. A response from Rod in which he failed to call me stupid or witless or even pathetic. Makes me feel like I'm just not living up to my potential. Sigh. > >Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy > >insurance for this in the first place. > >At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year > > Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. > How many people here have ever had to be towed? Me. Lifetime, maybe a dozen times. Most memorable: a bearing in the differential broke, allowing the axle to pull out, which broke the brake lines. Rolling down Angeles Crest in a 60 Ford station wagon with no brakes. Fortunately we got to the little bar/restaurant with the sandy parking lot, which slowed us down considerably before we hit the bank. That was the last stopping-place on our side of the road, although we could have crossed over to the other side and scraped up against the bank until we stopped or were hit by another car. What's your story? SignatureCheers, Bev xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "Some people are alive only because it is illegal to kill them." -- Lionel >>Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy >>insurance for this in the first place. >>At the worst, I can imagine needing a tow perhaps twice a year > >Yikes, maybe twice a lifetime would be a more reasonable worst-case. >How many people here have ever had to be towed? I've used my AAA road service calls two or three times per year, on average - If I didn't PLAN to use it, I probably would not continue to pay for it. By "planning" to use it, I don't mean a predetermined schedule of use, but rather making sure that I receive the level of service I'm paying for. I'm not averse to allowing the autoclub contracted drivers change a flat in the rain, snow, or heat, nor am I willing to spend several hours trying to diagnose a problem at the side of the road if the car quits running. My time is worth the investment - your mileage may vary. >I've used my AAA road service calls two or three times per year, on >average - If I didn't PLAN to use it, I probably would not continue to [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >several hours trying to diagnose a problem at the side of the road if >the car quits running. Sounds like you make damn sure your car breaks down or gets a flat tire at least 2-3 times a year. Nah, that can't be right... >>I've used my AAA road service calls two or three times per year, on >>average - If I didn't PLAN to use it, I probably would not continue to [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >Sounds like you make damn sure your car breaks down or gets a flat >tire at least 2-3 times a year. Nah, that can't be right... No, I make damn sure that if it breaks down I use the services I've paid for. > > I doubt if the tow-jockey cares where you bought your membership -- otherwise > > you'd play hell getting a tow in an expensive area if you'd bought your [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > that would be in a bad year. Given that it costs about $125 for a > tow, I'm not sure how it's a catastrophe to have to pay for it yourself. How far do you get for $125? AT $7/mile, that's 18 miles. Our kids live 50 miles away. I go skiing 86 miles away. My mom lives 11 miles away. Never can tell, we might even go somewhere else. The idea of making a simple phone call and having some pre-vetted tow truck show up to haul the truck back home so we can fix it ourselves seems not all that dumb. You like the idea of Billy-Bob towing you to his station and telling you that you need your engine replaced? Save the $75/year! > All in all, if I had to choose between the two, I'd much rather have > insurance for the repairs themselves. You can bet that after you > spend that $125 to be towed to a shop, the repair bill is going to > come to a lot more than $125 most of the time. Unless you do it yourself, which is why you want it towed home rather than to Billy-Bob's shop. > Seems to me that's > the type of unexpected expense to protect yourself from. Not that > I'm aware of a company that offers this type of insurance, but it > does seem more desirable. I guess new cars come with stuff like that, but since I wouldn't dream of buying a new car I guess I'll never find out. SignatureCheers, Bev xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "Some people are alive only because it is illegal to kill them." -- Lionel >> I doubt if the tow-jockey cares where you bought your membership -- >> otherwise [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Call me crazy, but I don't quite get why it's worthwhile to buy > insurance for this in the first place. The ability to have a single number to call for help when the car breaks down in that remote town. The insurance of the towing fees is something that comes bundled with the package. If there was a cheaper version that insured only the availability of the tow and not the cost of the tow, I'd go for it. (But I'd want such "insurance" to cover the payment to the tow truck operator and have it on a "bill me later" basis because Murphy's law section 6, paragraph 3 guarantees that your bank's fraud department will also shut off all your credit cards at the same time the car breaks down in that remote town.) > (But I'd want such > "insurance" to cover the payment to the tow truck operator and have it on a > "bill me later" basis because Murphy's law section 6, paragraph 3 guarantees > that your bank's fraud department will also shut off all your credit cards > at the same time the car breaks down in that remote town.) Sort of on that subject, my parents always told me to make sure and carry cash with me when I travel. Apparently they learned this the hard way when they were on the road halfway between Dallas and Lubbock (which is a 7 or 8 hour drive) and ran out of money for gas or something, and my grandfather had to drive 200 miles (each way) just to hand them $5 or whatever. He was NOT amused at having to do this and made it clear to both of them how he felt about it. I ran into something similar years ago. I was on a 200 mile road trip, and I was low on gas in the middle. I stopped in the nearest town, drove to the ATM, and the ATM was broken. I didn't have a credit card, and I hadn't thought about bringing cash. I didn't have enough gas to make it to a town with a working ATM. Finally, I found a gas station that, after some pleading on my part, agreed to accept a personal check even though it was against company policy, and as a result I made it home. Naturally, carrying cash isn't a totally bulletproof idea either. You could get robbed at a rest stop or something. But if you carry enough to fill your gas tank once or twice, that can get you out of a lot of situations. It might not be enough to pay for certain things, but it might be enough to convince someone you're serious about paying (for a tow or a repair) even if it isn't enough to pay them in full. By the way, I agree that having one number to call when you're in some strange town probably is a convenience worth something. - Logan >If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them >tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so >I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it >towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there? >Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will >the tow truck also take me back home? In general: They "just leave the car there. " An exception might be if the tow operator also was employed at the repair shop, in that case they might put the car in the garage. Feel free to leave a note, it is YOUR responsibility to contact the operator of the repair facility to arrange for service. The tow truck driver may or may not take you home. That's between you and he and is not covered under your AAA coverage. Raymond Sirois KU2S SysOp: The Lost Chord BBS 607-733-5745 telnet://thelostchord.dns2go.com:6023 |
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