Is AAA worth $100 per year? (1 Viewer)

[Jobber]

I signed with AAA almost two years ago when I had a dead car in a parking lot I couldn’t start. Signed up in my phone and that day they towed it right to my mechanic. Had it ever since.

About two weeks ago my family and I were driving from Phoenix to Vegas in a rental. I ran over some debris on the highway and one of the rear tires was completely flat in about 5 seconds. Called AAA once again and they had this thing up on a truck in about 40 minutes. She gave our family a loft (5 of us) to a town 40 minutes down the road (toward Vegas). Unloads the car (minivan) in the parking lot of Discount Tire and we were on the road about an hour later.

I am a customer for life.

 

[belljr]

Still haveit. Daughter is away at college and had a blow out recently. Was worth it for me to have peace of mind until I could get her car to get the donut replacement

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I signed with AAA almost two years ago when I had a dead car in a parking lot I couldn’t start. Signed up in my phone and that day they towed it right to my mechanic. Had it ever since.

About two weeks ago my family and I were driving from Phoenix to Vegas in a rental. I ran over some debris on the highway and one of the rear tires was completely flat in about 5 seconds. Called AAA once again and they had this thing up on a truck in about 40 minutes. She gave our family a loft (5 of us) to a town 40 minutes down the road (toward Vegas). Unloads the car (minivan) in the parking lot of Discount Tire and we were on the road about an hour later.

I am a customer for life.

40 minutes?!?!?!

I would have had that spare on there in 4 minutes flat. The dad from A Christmas Story has nothing on me.

 

[Jobber]

I signed with AAA almost two years ago when I had a dead car in a parking lot I couldn’t start. Signed up in my phone and that day they towed it right to my mechanic. Had it ever since.

About two weeks ago my family and I were driving from Phoenix to Vegas in a rental. I ran over some debris on the highway and one of the rear tires was completely flat in about 5 seconds. Called AAA once again and they had this thing up on a truck in about 40 minutes. She gave our family a loft (5 of us) to a town 40 minutes down the road (toward Vegas). Unloads the car (minivan) in the parking lot of Discount Tire and we were on the road about an hour later.

I am a customer for life.

40 minutes?!?!?!

I would have had that spare on there in 4 minutes flat. The dad from A Christmas Story has nothing on me.

Yeah I did check for a spare. Nada. Not even a donut.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Had it forever. Avoiding the dmv and the occasional road side assistance is totally worth it. My daughter’s battery died the other day. They come, run diagnostics, make sure it’s just the battery and they have a replacement on the truck. Same price as auto zone or whatever. Installed. Done. Tipped him 20. Never left my house other than to show photo id. I’ve done the battery replacement twice in the last few years. The other one was for my car.

 

[Craig_MiamiFL]

Yes

Quicker and easier than having roadside assistance through car insurance carrier itself IMO. Had them test/change battery a couple weeks ago. All was done within 30 minutes of requesting assistance through app. Didn't have to leave my driveway. Battery prices same as I've seen elsewhere and come with 3 year warranty I believe

 

[NutterButter]

Just got free passport photos using mine. How much that save us?

 

[Drunken knight]

We’ve had them for a while (and have the plan with extended service radius).

My wife used to be a nail magnetic and would frequently have tire issues when she was driving back and forth from Breckenridge to Denver.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Just got free passport photos using mine. How much that save us?

$20

 

[Uruk-Hai]

If I live until I'm 105 years old (narrator: he won't) and never had to use AAA again, it's already paid for itself.

 

[Navin Johnson]

From my understanding AAA pays the tow tuck drivers less than you would pay out of pocket and the service could potentially be slower if the tow trucks have other business.

All true.

Without them, you get to negotiate with the tow truck company from the side of the road. I have done this before, and will not do it again.

i don’t use AAA, I have proper insurance, but same idea.

Which is cheaper than paying 100 dollars a year if your vehicles are not beaters.

Your insurance company will drop you if you are using it enough to make it unprofitable for them. Same as homeowners. We got broken into, made a claim, and were dropped right after the pay out.

 

[Osaurus]

I’ve had AAA for 20+ years. Always great when calamity occurs. Worth every imo. Their other services aren’t bad either.

 

[shuke]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

 

[Osaurus]

I think they go for you

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

 

[gianmarco]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

So how does it work? Explain like I'm 5?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

So how does it work? Explain like I'm 5?

Make appointment. Go in to aaa office. Handle all registration, license plate, pink slip, insurance requirements etc

With the advent of the inner tubes some of this is redundant now

 

[Drunken knight]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

So how does it work? Explain like I'm 5?

Make appointment. Go in to aaa office. Handle all registration, license plate, pink slip, insurance requirements etc

With the advent of the inner tubes some of this is redundant now

So…. Assist with buying/selling transfer?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

So how does it work? Explain like I'm 5?

Make appointment. Go in to aaa office. Handle all registration, license plate, pink slip, insurance requirements etc

With the advent of the inner tubes some of this is redundant now

So…. Assist with buying/selling transfer?

Yep

 

[beer 30]

Opportunistic bump, just had to use it yesterday on my daughters car. She got a flat Saturday night, parked it and we went to get it yesterday. My wife holds the AAA card so we drug her with us, called when we got to the car, dude called right back, was 10 minutes away, loaded up and told us he would fill out the card for the drop box if we wanted. Told him we'd just meet him there which turned out to be a good idea since they didn't have a drop box. Whole thing was wrapped up in about 2 hours. Tow truck driver was super chill, even suggested a couple of spots that were open that could have taken care of the tire but she bought them through Discount Tire who will patch it for free so she opted to take it there.

Wife said she paid $89 for AAA last year. Tow would have been over $300 easy. No question its a good investment and if you have kids away from home, it's an easy Christmas gift to give and have peace of mind.

 

[bagger]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

So how does it work? Explain like I'm 5?

Make appointment. Go in to aaa office. Handle all registration, license plate, pink slip, insurance requirements etc

With the advent of the inner tubes some of this is redundant now

In general there are other places that do this too that are a godsend. Have done some title stuff that I would have thought to have to go to dmv for and some random small place handled it all in 5 minutes just walked in without an appointment. Would have never even thought of it unless a friend didn’t tell me that was available.

 

[SWC]

i know you brohans all make a lot more than me but the first time you need to get your car towed it is worth it and then some take that to the bank

 

[Gally]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

So how does it work? Explain like I'm 5?

Make appointment. Go in to aaa office. Handle all registration, license plate, pink slip, insurance requirements etc

With the advent of the inner tubes some of this is redundant now

So…. Assist with buying/selling transfer?

Yep

Oh and you can go in and get free maps too. I mean that right there is definitely worth the $100. Take that to the bank brohans.

 

[Drunken knight]

Avoiding the dmv

How does AAA allow you to avoid the DMV?

They can handle everything other than the DL test. Usually.

So how does it work? Explain like I'm 5?

Make appointment. Go in to aaa office. Handle all registration, license plate, pink slip, insurance requirements etc

With the advent of the inner tubes some of this is redundant now

So…. Assist with buying/selling transfer?

Yep

Oh and you can go in and get free maps too. I mean that right there is definitely worth the $100. Take that to the bank brohans.

I remember doing that pre-gps days for our trips to europe.

 

[Wingnut]

I just renewed for me and my wife for $70 out the door.

I let it lapse in November, and of course in December I locked the keys to my work car (along with my cell phone) in said car (car was running, too) at 1am in a strip mall parking lot. There happened to be a cop sitting in the parking lot, so he called a lock out service (aka tow truck) for me. Almost 2 hours later he shows up and charges me $125.

I'll never let my membership expire again.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Daughter called me from work. Flat tire. It raining. She’s about 15-20 minutes away. Could I change it. Sure. But AAA will be there in the same 15-20 minutes and handle it for me. Totally worth it.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Guy refused to give my daughter his Venmo for a tip. Good peeps

 

[DA RAIDERS]

The entire process was handled in 42 minutes. And my daughter was in a weird area and cell service is non existent so I had to call for her which added probably 10 minutes

 

[BassNBrew]

$100???

My renewal bill is $68 for me (primary) and $31 for Mrs Keerock (associate). This is the "Classic Membership". Am I overpaying?

Let it expire. They'll offer you that for 50% off with a month or two.

 

[urbanhack]

Keep reading this and thinking it's AARP.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Sometimes the world works as it should. We went to the awesome tire place we use. Tire dude looked at it, said it wasn’t repairable. He measured the tread, and said come back at 2:30 we’ll swap it out with a new one. it’s covered. You’re good.

 

[Dr_Zaius]

I still have AAA because I have had good experiences over the years, but I had a nightmare experience a few years back. Driving across state I stupidly hit a curb 1/2 mile from the hotel and pinched the tire. This maybe 11PM and pouring rain, so was lucky the car was able to limp to the parking lot before it lost all of the air. I called AAA and they kept saying they were sending someone that night, but by 2AM I gave up and tried to get some sleep next to my phone. Woke up at 6AM and bothered them again, explaining I had to drive another 500 miles that day yet and really needed somebody to come so I could get the car to the local tire place and change out the ruined tire. After 3 more phone calls a driver finally showed up from 70 miles away around 10AM. While he was getting the spare on (which he confirmed my attempts to get the old tire off with just the hand spanner were fruitless because it was on so tight), he complained that the garages in that area are constantly no-showing so he ends up getting called and dealing with pissed off customers who've been waiting for hours.

Hopefully they've gotten their act together in that region since then, because the service in that one case was completely unacceptable.

 

[Keerock]

I still have AAA because I have had good experiences over the years, but I had a nightmare experience a few years back. Driving across state I stupidly hit a curb 1/2 mile from the hotel and pinched the tire. This maybe 11PM and pouring rain, so was lucky the car was able to limp to the parking lot before it lost all of the air. I called AAA and they kept saying they were sending someone that night, but by 2AM I gave up and tried to get some sleep next to my phone. Woke up at 6AM and bothered them again, explaining I had to drive another 500 miles that day yet and really needed somebody to come so I could get the car to the local tire place and change out the ruined tire. After 3 more phone calls a driver finally showed up from 70 miles away around 10AM. While he was getting the spare on (which he confirmed my attempts to get the old tire off with just the hand spanner were fruitless because it was on so tight), he complained that the garages in that area are constantly no-showing so he ends up getting called and dealing with pissed off customers who've been waiting for hours.

Hopefully they've gotten their act together in that region since then, because the service in that one case was completely unacceptable.

That's probably less about AAA and more about the local tow companies

 

[Dr_Zaius]

That's probably less about AAA and more about the local tow companies

Most likely. My biggest issue with AAA itself was that they kept promising the driver was on his way and it seemed when he didn't come they would take no action until I called again. If as it sounds it was a known issue with those particular outfits they should have at least been keeping closer track or been less rosy with their projections. If the AAA rep tells me they'll be there in 45 minutes and it ends up taking 11 hours and a half dozen phone calls on my part, that's at least partly on them.

 

[Keerock]

That's probably less about AAA and more about the local tow companies

Most likely. My biggest issue with AAA itself was that they kept promising the driver was on his way and it seemed when he didn't come they would take no action until I called again. If as it sounds it was a known issue with those particular outfits they should have at least been keeping closer track or been less rosy with their projections. If the AAA rep tells me they'll be there in 45 minutes and it ends up taking 11 hours and a half dozen phone calls on my part, that's at least partly on them.

Yeah... they should be following up with you (and the tow company) until the job is done... I agree.

 

[Terminalxylem]

Main benefit though and where it paid for itself for a decade was when my car battery broke in Montreal. AAA works with a Canadian version of same and getting a new battery and install in the parking lot of Olympic Stadium took an hour and I can't remember it costing me that much at all in fees for being in Canada.

Eh-eh-eh?

 

[Runkle]

Main benefit though and where it paid for itself for a decade was when my car battery broke in Montreal. AAA works with a Canadian version of same and getting a new battery and install in the parking lot of Olympic Stadium took an hour and I can't remember it costing me that much at all in fees for being in Canada.

Eh-eh-eh?

They make you solve a math problem before they tow the car

 

[Uruk-Hai]

That's probably less about AAA and more about the local tow companies

Most likely. My biggest issue with AAA itself was that they kept promising the driver was on his way and it seemed when he didn't come they would take no action until I called again. If as it sounds it was a known issue with those particular outfits they should have at least been keeping closer track or been less rosy with their projections. If the AAA rep tells me they'll be there in 45 minutes and it ends up taking 11 hours and a half dozen phone calls on my part, that's at least partly on them.

That process is different than my experiences with them.

1. I call AAA. Tell them what's happened. They tell me someone will be contacting me shortly and I don't talk to them again during the event.
2. I get a call from the tow company and they/I work out the logistics.

That's odd to me that they were "GCing" this in your case. I don't blame you for being pissed.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

That's probably less about AAA and more about the local tow companies

Most likely. My biggest issue with AAA itself was that they kept promising the driver was on his way and it seemed when he didn't come they would take no action until I called again. If as it sounds it was a known issue with those particular outfits they should have at least been keeping closer track or been less rosy with their projections. If the AAA rep tells me they'll be there in 45 minutes and it ends up taking 11 hours and a half dozen phone calls on my part, that's at least partly on them.

That process is different than my experiences with them.

1. I call AAA. Tell them what's happened. They tell me someone will be contacting me shortly and I don't talk to them again during the event.
2. I get a call from the tow company and they/I work out the logistics.

That's odd to me that they were "GCing" this in your case. I don't blame you for being pissed.

Today was call AAA. AAA tells me I will get a text from garage. Quotes me 1 hour. 1 minute later I get a text from garage. Quotes me within 30 minutes. 1 minute after that a call from the driver saying he was 10-15 minutes out. Texts from driver updating eta/arrival/c9mpletion. 42 minutes total.

 

[Harry Frogfish]

Kevin from The Office...not a perfect fit but there are some "likenesses" here.

I should've said likeness. Save time.

 

[Mitchie]

It's actually an interesting business model because the wealthier people are subsidizing the less wealthy. They're selling a form of insurance but the cost is the same regardless of the value of your car or how much you drive. When i was younger i had some crappy cars and would use it all the time, now i have a nicer car, drive less and have probably used it once in the last 5 years. But it's still worth the money just for the convenience/peace of mind.

 

[JAA]

I’ve had AAA for years and appreciate the peace of mind. I have 4 almost 5 drivers in my house and I know if there’s an issue they can call (now online).

I’ve had 2 times recently I needed to use it. One with my kids car and they handled it great. Other time I tore the alternator off is bracket on my vanilla ice mobile (hey look at me!)

 

[brun]

Don't have it and couldn't comment on its $$ value.
But, I believe you can still walk into a local office and get hardcopy maps & trip tiks. The thought makes me smile.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Invaluable for the peace of mind, travel from Hobe Sound to South Miami sometimes, anything could go wrong at any time and so much construction everywhere you cannot avoid flat tires due to spikes and nails that pop up on the road.

If you lease a new car and turn it back in every 2-3 years then I might not pay for AAA but we tend to purchase our cars with a few miles on them already, AAA gives me confidence that I don't have to always pay top sticker price for a new car or just take a lease out and always have a car payment.

We typically get about 8-10 years out of our vehicles before we part with them

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Whelp…my dumb *** hit a curb and tore the side wall of a tire. I’m in the middle of no where on the 395. Well somewhere, Lone pine, ca. $400 bucks for a local tow. Called triple an and it was a 30 minute wait and the tow will be free.

Can’t wait to see what the tire costs me on a Sunday in big pine

Good times

 

[dickey moe]

Whelp…my dumb *** hit a curb and tore the side wall of a tire. I’m in the middle of no where on the 395. Well somewhere, Lone pine, ca. $400 bucks for a local tow. Called triple an and it was a 30 minute wait and the tow will be free.

Can’t wait to see what the tire costs me on a Sunday in big pine

Good times

You headed north or south? Mammoth?

 

[DA RAIDERS]

Whelp…my dumb *** hit a curb and tore the side wall of a tire. I’m in the middle of no where on the 395. Well somewhere, Lone pine, ca. $400 bucks for a local tow. Called triple an and it was a 30 minute wait and the tow will be free.

Can’t wait to see what the tire costs me on a Sunday in big pine

Good times

You headed north or south? Mammoth?

North. Mammoth. Everything went as smoothly as possible