Road Side Service

[widdershins]

We used AAA for towing our coach last year.. went smooth no problem. I'm sure somewhere in the docs is a "if we have a service provider in the area" caveat.. probably very small print.

I carry spare tire, jack and tools to do a tire swap. Plugs and compressor if it's fixable...

[Gdacosta2049]

Originally Posted by JimEasTexas

Have AAA RV Premium membership, have class C Four Winds 32 feet.

Right rear outside tire lost air this week while traveling, called AAA in the end no service providers could help possibly one but the cost to me $73.00. No one came.

Was able to limp to a Discount Tire valve extension lose. Aired up on my way.

First time to use AAA RV Premium disappointed concerned about future if need roadside assistance.

Any recommendations?

File a complaint with AAA, had same issue with them several months back while traveling on I95 in South Carolina, my tow vehicle ended up with a flat tire. Called them waited an hour and no truck, ended up changing the tire myself.

Filed complaint with customer service and got one year refund and I have RV plus and been a member for over 15 years. First time I ever had issues with them.

[Gdacosta2049]

In some states AAA has its own trucks and depending on the area they will have contractors doing the service calls.

[JimEasTexas]

Did file a compliant both by phone and electronically.

I have a spare mounted on a rim, 16 ton hydraulic jack, 24 volt impact wrench, and compressor (not Viair). Will anticipate changing flat myself!

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by PreCambrian

We were on Highway 101 about 45 minutes south of Eureka, in the mountains. Called State Farm Roadside assistance, no one could make it to the next day. Called AAA (even though we didn't pay the extra for an RV). They recommended several different places (where we would pay out of pocket). One of them was basically two blocks away. No one would come. We called another company which basically must be some type of dispatcher who searches around for a fee. They wanted $750. State Farm said that they would pay it. This $750 company didn't show up for three hours, I kept calling and then they said no one would be available until the next day. I believe that the few services in the area are just shopping around until they can get the most dollars possible.

This is why I recommend your Insurance company for Roadside assistance. They don't do Roadside for profit as a added service to their policy holders. It is claim, but you can get so many claims per year or quarter, I forgot. They were willing to pay for anyone that could do the service better than what they could offer.

The only thing I would suggest for you consider and something I just learned this week is that the Garmin RV 890 has a feature where you search for RV Services. There is one categories specifically for Tires. I just did a search and found 50 Tire service centers within 43 miles. Granted I am in a metropolitan area, but short of the Goodyear Commercial Tire Centers, Southern Tire Mart, I have never heard of any of the others. I am sure that if Progressive could only find what State Farm found, they would accept someone that I found as long as the price was reasonable.

[JimEasTexas]

Very good info, thanks.

[Tinman2111]

I too needed AAA to provide a tow on Interstate 15 in Southern Utah. The nice trooper and UDOT employee helping me basically said they have found AAA to be useless. I called the RV line, the agent was nice, tried to help, but after two hours stranded, called me to say they had "no local providers available". I solicited a favor and had a "police tow" called. I spoke to the driver (and owner of the big rig towing service) and he told me he tried to contract with AAA, but their reimbursement rate was too low and he would end up losing money on the tows. He said there are only two that have agreed to tow RV 's for AAA in the St George area and the "two drivers" qualified are usually doing something else. I paid cash and AAA did quickly reimburse me. But what I learned is it is NOT just AAA, it is all the contracted services. Their reimbursement rates are just too low for the companies to make a living. In speaking to UDOT, they had several available that they call, and not one of them is contracted with AAA. AAA really needs to adjust reimbursement rates (up) and they would likely get many more options for RV towing.

[JimEasTexas]

Reality, disappointing, feel like you're on your own.

[Kcass]

We had a blowout an hour outside of Nashville this summer. We had a heck of a time finding someone to come out. We found the best thing to do is call the closest truck stop. They had list of mobile mechanics & tire service. We waited about 30 min & they changed 2 tires on the spot and kept shop open for us to go & replace the rest. Price was probably cheaper than home.

[Lt Keefer]

Interesting thread. Lots of different outcomes experienced by folks. The last time I had a tire fail on an RV, I learned a valuable lesson. I didn't have roadside assistance so I limped to the next exit and pulled into a filling station. I asked the guy behind the counter for the location of the nearest tire shop. He said there was a Wal Mart and Tractor Supply at the next exit. I drove to the Tractor Supply, bought the biggest bottle jack and longest breaker bar they had in stock. Went back to the coach and while the wife made lunch I changed the tire with the spare from the back of the class c. When we got home, we got Good Sam roadside assistance. Haven't needed them once in the last 10 years, but I still carry that bottle jack and breaker bar.

[JimEasTexas]

I am with you will prepare accordingly to be ready to change tire. Almost feels like we live in a third world country relative to availability of services.

[JimEasTexas]

Kcass,

Good advice.

[Carole H.]

AAA promises it's members services they cannot provide. They do not pay their providers well enough to maintain good, competent providers. I own a wrecker service and cannot run my trucks on what they are willing to pay. I recommend not paying their membership and adding towing on your insurance. That way you can call whoever you want and get reimbursed for services provided.

[JimEasTexas]

Reality confirmed! Thanks.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by Carole H.

AAA promises it's members services they cannot provide. They do not pay their providers well enough to maintain good, competent providers. I own a wrecker service and cannot run my trucks on what they are willing to pay. I recommend not paying their membership and adding towing on your insurance. That way you can call whoever you want and get reimbursed for services provided.

AAA doesn’t promise anything. A simple phone call and AAA will tell you they don’t have total nationwide coverage.

This has been discussed a number of times and is accessible by searching the forum.

Insurance roadside can be far worse

[16ACE27]

How about that. AAA RV is NOT a nationwide service. From their website:

Members requesting roadside assistance outside of FL, GA, TN, ND, NE, WI, MI, MN/IA and IL/IN will be serviced by an affiliate AAA Club based on that club's servicing guidelines. For service outside this territory, please submit receipts for qualified service acquired for reimbursement. A claim form is located on AAA.com under Contact Us.

[widdershins]

Originally Posted by 16ACE27

How about that. AAA RV is NOT a nationwide service. From their website:

Entirely depends on which AAA you sign up with. For whatever reason AAA is broken up into regional AAA orgs (probably due to different state laws). For example, my membership is with "AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah".

I found similar wording in my plan docs

"To the extent that a Member with RV coverage (a) requests RV services from outside of such Member's home club's territory state(s) and (b) such RV services are not available in that area through AAA, the Member may submit for reimbursement to the extent that such services are covered by the Member's Membership. Any reimbursements will be calculated at then-current commercial rate for the territory of service."

[JimEasTexas]

Good feedback, my membership is AAA of Texas and needed service in Texas.

Good info for out of state travel.

[dkoldman]

Originally Posted by JimEasTexas

Good feedback, my membership is AAA of Texas and needed service in Texas.

Good info for out of state travel.

This whole thread is good info to learn. I have never had AAA in my life and I get stuff from them all the time, before buying an RV, it is something that I never truly felt that I needed.

Buying an RV challenged my comfort though, but Ford and WBGO provided plans, I guess to help newbies? When Coach Net expired, the renewal was not too bad, but Good Sams was a lot better. Then I learned it was included with my already paid Insurance. So in a way I did have Triple RV Coverage just not Triple A. Progressive allows you to remove the Roadside coverage and save some chump change. So I did side by side with Good Sams because I am Good Sams member. At the end of the day Good Sams has some limits as to how far they would tow etc.

My Insurance company was cheaper and simpler. Here is how they simplify the roadside coverage areas

We’ll tow you to the nearest repair facility if your motorhome or travel trailer is disabled within 100 feet of a road or highway. Our roadside assistance covers fuel delivery, mechanical breakdowns, flat tires, and dead battery replacement.

I will have to dig to find out, but I believe there is some pre established miles ( maybe 25?) that you may choose any dealer of your choice. Beyond that they will tow wherever they show as nearest dealer that will do the work required, does not matter where you are.

FWIW. My RV is still covered with Ford. They have a Motorhome Assistance Center 800-444-3311, I called them every so often to make sure they are still there and verify the end date of my coverage because at one point they were off by a year. Date of when I bought versus Mfg delivery date.

[K. Meckes]

Originally Posted by PreCambrian

I had a similar experience. I was going to include it in a post about our first RV trip but I will substitute this reply for that. On our second day out we had a flat on the inside driver's side dual. The good thing about the flat was that I found out that I have a TPMS on the Ford E350. It popped up immediately that I had low pressure. We were on Highway 101 about 45 minutes south of Eureka, in the mountains. Called State Farm Roadside assistance, no one could make it to the next day. Called AAA (even though we didn't pay the extra for an RV). They recommended several different places (where we would pay out of pocket). One of them was basically two blocks away. No one would come. We called another company which basically must be some type of dispatcher who searches around for a fee. They wanted $750. State Farm said that they would pay it. This $750 company didn't show up for three hours, I kept calling and then they said no one would be available until the next day. I believe that the few services in the area are just shopping around until they can get the most dollars possible.

I didn't have a jack or a lug nut wrench (I couldn't get it to budge with my breaker bar and socket) so we stayed overnight at an RV park that luckily was nearby. I got up very early, filled the flat dual with my VIAIR RV compressor (the auto shutoff feature was definitely worth the price), and creeped along at 40 mph until the pressure would drop to 40 psig. I then would stop, fill it up, and continue. I did this four times to go 30 miles to Fortuna where the Les Schwab Tire Center fixed my flat for free (it was a nail or screw which I could see while I was filling up the tire). The Les Schwab Tire Center used a Harbor Freight 12 ton pneumatic over hydraulic bottle jack to lift the RV. I bought one a little ways down the road along with an "X" style lug wrench to give me plenty of leverage on the lug nut in the dished part of the wheel. The pneumatic over hydraulic jack keeps you from having to lift the vehicle while you reach under it. I use my VIAIR for the pneumatic part. It lifts slower than at the Schwab Tire Center but it works. I might have to drive up on a leveling block in order to fit the jack under the jack point if I have a flat in the front.

I noticed that the Schwab Tire Center had service trucks so I asked them if they would have come up to fix my flat. Yes they would have at $139/hr. Since they were about 30 minutes away it probably would have been one hour travel and maybe 1.5 hours to fix the flat (I also carry a spare). Next time if the roadside service doesn't come I will call a tire center. If that doesn't work then I will change my own tire.

I asked the Schwab Tire Center why they fixed the flat for free. They said that they wanted my business in the future. I will go out of my way to buy my next set of tires at a Schwab (I won't drive all the way to Fortuna).

I have AAA plus RV. We were camping when we were woken up early one morning with strong smell of rotten eggs. Our house batteries must have been off gasing. Called AAA to bring me 2 house batteries. They had a local place call me and they just refused to come out, which according to AAA they are allowed to do. Instead of packing up and driving home I offered one of the guys that was getting off from work and felt bad for the way we were treated $100.00 to bring us 2 batteries. I hate AAA.