Journal nizo's Journal: AAA Auto service; anyone used them before? 11
As the craptastic car I have heads into its twilight years, I am contemplating signing up for the AAA Auto service (specifically, the one that will come tow my car up to 100 miles for free if it breaks down). I can also apparently get discounts on repairs with a membership as well. I only wish I had noticed this before I got my last inspection, because apparently I can get discounts on those too. Anyone used their services before?
Sure have! (Score:2)
I've had good luck with them. They are a non-profit organization, over 100 years old an very reputable. You get a certain number of free tows a year, and you an use them for anyone's car, not just yours. You get lots of discounts, not just on repairs but on all kinds of other trip-related things like food, hotels and attractions. They were the first to do trip planning for you, with little printed out personalized map books of your route. This was pre-Internet, nowadays you can get that service for free, bu
Re: (Score:2)
Just be careful that you're getting the real deal. There's a few "A A A Auto Service" companies out that have nothing to do with the AAA Motor Club. http://www.aaa.com/ [aaa.com] should automatically guess which regional club you're supposed to be in.
More worth it with a crappy car` (Score:2)
AAA (Score:2)
One of the best investments my wife and I make is renewing our AAA membership every year. Definitely worthwhile.
I have the equivalent in my country (Score:1)
Do you live out in the boonies? (Score:1)
I guess you live and/or work considerably farther than the 10 or 20 miles they give you on the standard plan, to the nearest garage? Even the std. plan is kinda steep, $55 or $65 IIRC. Like the pricey Costco memberships, you may be able to share one.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, I hesitate to visit either of my parents because I don't want to get stuck in the middle of bumfuck NM (and lemme tell ya, that isn't hard in this state). I wouldn't be further than a 100 miles from some kind of town though, so this plan intrigues me....
AAA Plus now even covers Bicycles in Oregon (Score:2)
Yep- you heard me right. In Oregon, AAA Plus service now includes towing your bicycle.....
My AAA experiences (Score:2)
I've had AAA twice; once when I was a student, and again more recently courtesy of my wife.
The first experience (as a student) with them made it all worth it. I got my car stuck in the sand on the side of the road in Death Valley. Lovely. Had to hitch a ride 50 miles to the nearest town, call a tow truck, and have him drive me all the way back out there, just to pull my car 10 feet back onto the road. He was pissed, but I was thrilled at my parents' insistence that I join AAA before my road trip out we
AAA has been great (Score:2)
My wife and I have had AAA for a few years, and we love it. I have used it for a dead battery, a tow when my transmission died, and a flat tire with lug nuts so tight I couldn't get them off. My wife also used it when her car started to overheat. It has been well worth it. We recently went to Disney and stayed off site. Because we were AAA members we were able to get "diamond" parking right up front at every park. I can't say enough nice things about AAA.
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It seems like a global constant that tire replacement places ALWAYS do the lug nuts up far too tight.
One time I needed to get the front wheels off my car to replace a couple of the ball joints (a right bastard of a job anyway, on the car I had). To get enough leverage, I ended up needing to put a 4 foot scaffolding pole on the end of a socket wrench to undo the lug nuts. And stand on the scaffolding pole (OK, so at the time I was 17 and weighed perhaps 120 lbs, if that). One of the studs sheared, too. That