AAA vs Other Emergency Roadside Assistance Services

[Schwartzinator]

I have roadside coverage from: AAA, State Farm and the CSR. In some form or fashion, it seems like I am tripple paying for this service. 

The CSR + State Farm appear to roughly equal AAA Classic which I have, though AAA does look to have the advantage of offering coverage for ANY vehicle I am driving. 

How many of you have used roadside coverage from either the CSR or your insurance company? 

[Anonymous]

It’s my understanding if you use it from your car insurance policy that it does count as a claim and can increase your premium. I have what came with my vehicle, but I have debated having a AAA or other subscription or whether something on one of my cards is sufficient, so I’ll be following this thread and looking forward to members experiences with different cards coverages.

I prefer not to use AAA as it’s my understanding any time speed increases are proposed, needed or not, they have someone show up to argue against it, which makes sense since they also sell car insurance. I do not know this to be a fact, but read it somewhere. Maybe someone knows more?

[Thomas_Thumb]

I've had AAA for 20 years. Used the roadside assistance 3 times. Great service. I like the free services for travel planning, maps and passport pics. My wife enjoys a 10% car insurance discount by  going through their on-line class/test every year. Their quoted car insurance rates were much lower than what I am paying thru State Farm. I'd change but, the wife refuses. We also have homeowners and an umbrella policy thru SF so I'm stuck.

[Anonymous]

That’s real good to know I know someone who has both and is unaware of that class and discount

[Anonymous]

AAA is pretty good. I have their higher tier, so they'll tow my car up to 150 miles on a service call.

My (legacy) Sprint (T-Mobile bought them and you can't get this now) plan covers the cost of a basic membership towards the premium one so it doesn't cost me much.

In the past year I've had to call them when a radiator hose burst on my Impala and I needed towed to the shop and when a brand new car battery konked out and I had to have a jump start to Pep Boys (which replaced it under warranty).

People with older cars really need AAA. Mine has almost 300,000 miles on it.

[NoMoreE46]

I keep my AAA (Premier) because we can get towed up to 500 miles if I ask to consolidate the tows.  

Don't like the possibility of my auto insurance company increasing my rate if I used their services as noted. 

No experience with the CSR.

[chiefone4u]

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@Schwartzinator wrote:

I have roadside coverage from: AAA, State Farm and the CSR. In some form or fashion, it seems like I am tripple paying for this service. 

The CSR + State Farm appear to roughly equal AAA Classic which I have, though AAA does look to have the advantage of offering coverage for ANY vehicle I am driving. 

How many of you have used roadside coverage from either the CSR or your insurance company? 

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There are AAA Clubs that are great, and some that aren't (each region has their own club, all club's honor an outside club's membership benefits).

When I lived in Northern California I had AAA (CSAA insurance and Premier membership - Northern California, Utah and Nevada) and found great benefits from it. 

Napa Autoparts offers discounts to members, most hotels/motels offer discounts... while I was a member, they offered specials and discounts on Disney theme parks, trips to Hawaii (comparative to Costco member discounts).

During my 9 year's of membership I paid $99 a year. The year's I didn't use any services I received a dividends check equal to half of my membership cost. Some years I'd use free 5 gallons of gasoline (up to three times a year) to offset/justify the cost of membership. 

Since moving to Idaho, I'm no longer a member as the cost at time of moving was $120 a year for basic membership (5 mile tow, three times a year)... Idaho is part of Washington state's club. The closest AAA towing facility to where I live is now a 2 hour drive instead of 15 minutes away I was used to. The time required to wait for help with the increased cost has caused me not to join again... honestly I haven't looked in the past two year's to see if either downfall has changed.

[Anonymous]

AAA's phone app kind of sucks though. It's buggy and it likes to pop up spam if you open it until you force kill the app.

But you can just call them and tell them where you are. And it's not like the roadside from MetroMile (one of my insurance companies previously) is much better. I called for roadside in Fort Wayne, Indiana and they sent the truck to some place on State Street in Chicago.

There's AAA "Care care plus" shops, and they're a bit pricey even with the 10% discount you get for being a member. I took the Crown Victoria there once when it wouldn't shift out of park. At least the tow was free.

The guy at the shop asked me why I never noticed you couldn't shift out of park with your foot off the brake. I said, "Because it sounds like a bad idea and I've never tried to.".