Hello: I just received an offer from the AMA for roadside assistance. The offer covers all of my household’s cars and motorcycles for $49.00 a year. I want to say that it covers 15 miles of towing per call. The offer seems pretty solid IMO, but I would love to hear from others. Thanks!
My recent experiences with AAA have been poor. My radiator ruptured on the way home from a hare scramble last year and I had a dirt bike in the bed. Called AAA, waited on hold for 15 minutes, finally spoke to someone who said he would work on it. Calls me back 45 minutes later and says he is still working on an ETA. Starts asking me questions and once he finds out I have a bike in the bed of the truck, he says they can't tow me. I managed to find out which tow company he was talking to, called them directly and they eventually came and got me but I had to pay the driver cash. He said the restriction was AAA's and not the tow companies. I think the tow ended up costing around $70 for about 20 miles which didn't seem bad at all. It would been much faster for me to just call a tow truck directly. I don't have AAA now. I have a towing add-on with my Progressive policy that costs less. I haven't had to use it yet
Thank you for sharing this experience with me. My dad—who has had AAA for like 20yrs—had a similar experience.
Your auto insurance should have roadside assistance, most major carriers allow 5 or 6 tows a year free with a 15-20 mile range.
I let AMA auto-renew on my CC which gets me and my wife roadside coverage on whatever. Used it for the first time when she had a tire fail, easy and painless.
I've used it many times mostly with out issue. However, the two times I had an issue were near COTA. One time they didn't get my truck for over 24 hours and i finally had to get another tow company after it. Both batteries were stolen out of it and the glovebox rummaged through. 01 F350 so I seft it unlocked so my window wouldn't get broken or the lock popped out. The other time was about the same problem but they did get it the next day. Not sure what is up with Austin area. Used it many many times other than that and it has been great.
AAA sucks. They left me stranded in the mountains I managed to self rescue. They gave me a year free, then couldn't arrange a tow for 2 hours when I broke down in town. Never again.
I joined the AMA this time last year to get the roadside assistance and just realized I don’t have coverage. What is the catch? Do I need to renew and select auto renewal to be offered the coverage?
I have roadside assistance with Geico. When I hit a deer and totaled the car they took it about 175 miles back to my house for no charge. That was helpful. I think I had about 200 miles that would have been covered.
I dropped AAA after they jerked me around for a whole day, tow truck driver called every hour with another reason why he'd be one more hour. The car was not on the road, it was in my driveway, but I wanted to get it to my mechanic before he closed. It didn't get there in time and had to wait until the next day for a 15-minute repair and I had to find a ride to work 20 miles away.
You also need specific motorcycle assistance with AAA (or used to at least). You can be a member stranded on 2 wheels and they'll tell you to piss off unless you bought the bike coverage too.
Check your cell phone plan. They might offer or you might already have it. It’s figured into our plan and it follows the phone no matter what you’re driving/riding or even who owns it. Ive been lucky enough not to use it so no idea if it’s just a bunch of snake oil.