Review: two-year included roadside assistance

[BigWarpGuy]

When my mini van failed (later found out it was a fused clutch), I called AAA and they towed my minivan to the apartment complex that I live in. It was two towns away from where we stopped. I have AAA Plus. I also have Allstate Motor Club.

[SuperGeek]

Originally Posted by BigWarpGuy

I have AAA Plus.

And that's key... AAA has a limit of like 5 miles for standard... when I called to ask if I could upgrade I was told I had to be a member for a year before they'd allow me to upgrade. After 5 miles they'll still tow me... for a charge per mile. 10 miles isn't a problem. 100-200 adds up fast.

I've had great experience with AAA towing... but the only AAA authorized service center here in town is run by a couple of dumb yahoos that don't give a rat's patoot about anything. "Oh that CEL? Yeah, that's a false light. It'll go off in a coupla days. Just drive it, you'll be fine."

[smartHHO]

Only problem that I have had with the smart Roadside is waiting over 45min for a damn operator. But when the operator came on, they were real nice to me. Got me hooked up with a tow company that always tows the smarts. They called me 5 min later to let me know they be there in 20 min and driver would call me when he got there. 20 min later, driver showed, I went outside, gave him my keys and he drug Red up on the truck. No tow hook or nothing. Done deal. Got a call from dealer 30 min later, since that is the ride back up to the dealer from work. They let me know that it showed up. After work, dealer sent me a courtsey van to pick me up.

So, all in all

Time waiting on phone 45 plus min: Unacceptable
Customer service Rept. A+
Towing service A+
Round Rock Service Dept. A+++

That is all I can say.

[jetfuel]

...many, many years ago, I used to have all the services mentioned, AAA, AAA plus, Platinum...whatever....and they all failed me, from customer service to actual service...but one thing I've learned is that the best road side assistance are the American people...any state any city...

jetfuel

[Agent99]

My wife started having trouble yesterday on the way home, at 5:15 PM. She had just bought a tank of gas, and her Smart started running rough and wouldn't go over 30 mph (water?). She called me, but I was 2 hours away. She said the check engine light was on, and the "wrench" light was on. I told her to find a place to pull off where it was safe, that it could do more harm to drive it further. I suggested she call the Smart roadside assistance. She called at 5:20, and got a message that the next available operator would call her back. As of tonight (the next day) at 10:50 PM, she still has not received a call back. Fortunately, after sitting there for about 30 minutes, she decided to start the car again, and it started and ran fine, so she drove home. As far as Smart roadside assistance knows, she is still sitting there by the road waiting for a call...

[sheureka]

I've also been paying AAA for years, and haven't used them for at least 10 (and that was for a jump start). So I just checked my insurance (Geico) and added Roadside Assistance for an additional $1 a month. I'm just going to let AAA expire. And I haven't had to use smart's roadside assistance (knock on wood). - sheureka

[unicycle]

Smart's' Roadside Assistance
I got the wrench light during my first month or two of driving the smart. I checked the code (thanks, ScanGauge!). It turned out to be related to the gas tank -- the thing where the cap wasn't screwed on tightly enough after a fillup. When I spoke with the roadside assistant, he said it should be fine to drive with, so I continued my trip and then took the car into the shop the next day, all without problems. I have not had any other major issues where I needed RA or a tow.

Phone waiting time: 5-10 mins?
Helpfulness: B+ (he wasn't sure what the code meant, but I was, thanks to this forum!)

AAA
In the past, I drove my Aztek into Manhattan, and because of a faulty gas gauge reader, I kept running out of gas. It happened twice on I-87. Each time, I had to call AAA, and both times, the driver arrived with a (free) gallon of gas -- enough to get me to the nearest station. The problem was that AAA, with all of its mapping service, is poorly run, so the map people aren't connected with the service people. When I explained exactly where I was ("mile marker 35.5"), the operator needed to know what town I was in. What town? I was on a friggin' highway. How could I know what town I was in. Then they have to send a state trooper to verify that you're on the highway (why?) before scheduling the AAA truck. Each time I ran out of gas, it was the same story:

Phone waiting time: 5 mins
Operator helpfulness: D
Time till trooper: 20 mins
TIme till AAA service after that: 30 mins

Then there was the time my Aztek broke down on Martha's Vineyard, an island. I had to get the car towed off island so that the tranny could be replaced, but the AAA rep had no idea that this towage would be a big deal (requiring ferry reservations or similar hassles). I ended up having to make a lot of calls myself to various agencies and to speak with a few different ppl. The car had to be towed to my hotel on day and to the ferry a few days later. They actually have a book about break-downs in different and special locations, but the first few ppl I spoke with didn't know about this. It ended up being a huge PITA, tho most of that was the fault of Pontiak rather than AAA.

[Agent99]

OK, it is Monday at 11:45, and Roadside Assistance must still assume my wife is sitting on the side of the road awaiting their call, since they have no reason to assume otherwise, and have not yet called back...