Anyone used roadside assistance from their vehicle manufacturer?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve always been a member of AAA even though I haven’t had to use them in a few years. Now, it seems that most (or at least a lot) of auto makers provide some sort of roadside assistance with the purchase of a new vehicle. I don’t know if it’s transferable or not. Has anyone here used it? If so, what was your experience and what was the make of the vehicle?

When I’ve used AAA, my experience has always been excellent. They pretty much take care of everything. I’ve heard that other services just reimburse you for expenses but I don’t know if that’s true with auto maker policies.

2

Onstar is great. I had a flat tire with a carload of people on a rural road, and the onstar guy showed up within 10 minutes and changed the tire within 5 minutes. Far better than the AAA I used to have. Everything is coordinated with GPS. They know within a foot of where you are, and can run some diagnostics from remote. Really cool. Plus it’s all included in your monthly fee.

3

Yes, I have a Ford C-max that’s kind of a lemon. When it was newer, we had roadside assistance several times. It’s pretty much exactly like AAA, except we didn’t get charged for it.

(The main problem was probably a loose connection between the big battery and the rest of the electrical system, that caused a number of problems which didn’t all manifest in the same way. When it was finally addressed by the dealer, the number of “it won’t go” incidents dropped a lot.)

4

Yep, I blew out a tire on the Volvo that Rick helped me buy (thanks Rick) and the roadside service people were great.

5

I’ve used the Acura equivalent once for a dead battery. I think they outsourced it to a third party dispatcher that handled it for multiple car brands. It worked fine.

6

Looks like I’ll have to keep my AAA in any case. Both Honda and Subaru’s assistance end at 3 years or 36,000 miles.

7

When I had a Volvo issue, and AAA said they’d take hours, i called Volvo, to get no where with a lot of questions and no help at all. :mad::frowning:

8

I have a Visa Signature card and one of the benefits is a “roadside dispatch” service. Now I’ve never used it, but I did add the toll-free number to my cell phone address book. And some auto insurance providers also include that sort of thing. So there are alternatives to AAA. And frankly you are really not likely to need roadside assistance with a Honda or a Subaru car. (Or really any newer car nowadays. They are vastly more reliable than in past decades.)

9

Less likely, yes. But now less cars have a full sized spare, and a blow out on the freeway will require help. Or a accident.

10

When I had my Land Rover the one time I used their roadside assistance, they send a AAA truck.

11

Mercedes Benz roadside assistance is excellent and prompt. No charges for the tow to the dealership. Complimentary loaner until repair is complete.

12

The one time I tried to get help from AAA it was a disaster. I was on a numbered highway in northern Mass near a town called Barre (pronounced like Barry) and when I called the voice mail couldn’t understand Barre. I tried several times and finally said Boston. So they connected me to Boston and they were able to transfer me to Northern New England. I told them I was on Route 122, 13 miles north of Barre (I had just passed a distance sign when the tire went flat). Bizarrely they could not find Barre or route 122 on their maps (try googling Barre, MA to see how easy it is to find). Finally I changed the tire myself with the help of a very friendly state trooper named Driskell who told me that his parents were my age and he hoped that if they had a problem, someone would help out. Four hours later a garage in Petersham called and asked if I still needed service. I would never depend on AAA. Utter disaster. There was also no way of making a complaint. I was a member of CAA and they were appalled when I told them my story and waived the following year’s membership fee.

13

I could see how that could have been a problem once upon a time. Now, there’s a AAA app for that which sends them your coordinates.

14

My sister works in a call centre that handles roadside assistance for a number of car brands. (I am not sure of the brands, but they are definitely not OnStar. One if them might be VW.) She gets to direct roadside assistance to people all over the southern US (we are in Canada). You may have spoken to her. :slight_smile:

15

Back when I was younger and considerably less smart, I bought a new Land Rover. I actually did it twice. I traded in the first one when the warranty was expiring.

Anyway, they were just starting their roadside assistance program and it was great.
I was on a ski trip when the car had a problem. They paid for a rental and paid my hotel bill in Jackson Hole for the several days they had the car. With no hassle beyond missing a half day of skiing.

16

I’ve used AAA, too. My experience with AAA had been fine, except once, in a big airport parking lot, I think they had trouble finding us. Both roadside assistance and AAA took longer to help than ideally I’d like, but both arrived with competent, pleasant staff who solved the immediate problem, typically by jump starting or towing the car.