Has anyone here had their car break down seriously on a long road trip? How do you deal with being several days worth of road travel from home when something bad goes wrong with your car? Is there any insurance worth getting that will pay to transport your car back to your own home?
Tow back to your home town? Not likely.
EMERGENCY ROAD SERVICE is the policy coverage that you’re most likely to be talking about. Different companies address remote tows differently, but at least one of the major insurers will pay cost to transport your vehicle to the nearest facility that can do the repair.
CAR RENTAL AND TRAVEL EXPENSES is another coverage you want to look into. The most common use of this coverage is for renting a car while your regular car is being repaired due to a comprehensive or collision loss. A less well-known use is travel expenses incurred to get you home if the car is wrecked more than 50 miles from home. I’ve seen this coverage with a $400 limit, still it’s better than a kick in the teeth. Note that this coverage is not likely to be activated by a simple mechanical breakdown, you’ll need to run into something like a deer, lamp post or other car to get it going. If possible, hit a critter because stationary objects fall under “collision” and will have an adverse effect on your premium. Generally.
There might be something else available through AAA–I have noidea.
I have AAA Gold. I found out why this is so valuable on a trip last summer.
I was driving my SUV from Louisiana to Gainsville, FL. I reached the Florida Panhandle at about midnight. Shortly thereafter, I had a blowout. No problem I thought. I got out to change the tire and found out my jack was missing. I called AAA. They sent someone to help me change it. I drove some more and, what the hell, I had another blowout. I didn’t have another spare and I was in one of the smallest towns in Florida. I called AAA again. They sent a flatbed truck. When the driver got there I said “How far is Gainesville from here?”. He said, “About 93 miles”. I said, "I have AAA Gold with 100 mile free towing. That is where we are going. He loaded up the SUV on the flatbed, I climbed in and fell asleep. When I woke up, he had even took me to a tire place he new.
Total cost to me: $0
AAA and AAA Gold are some of the best insurance you can have. They have saved me and family members many times.
It wasn’t a long road trip, but I got into a car crash near Breezewood, PA, a few years ago - that was about halfway between the wedding I was returning from and my home in Virginia. Worse, it was on a Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, my sister was returning from the same wedding and going to a job fair in State College, and I managed to get a hold of her to come get me. The next morning, I picked up a rental car (my insurance fortunately had rental coverage) and drove the rest of the way home. My car was declared totalled the next day (not really a surprise - it was worth so little that a dented bumper would probably have counted as “totalled”), so I didn’t have to deal with transporting it home.
Our Plymouth Voyager blew a brake line in Missoula, Montana. Fortunately, it was about three blocks from the dealer, so after spending a morning sitting around his waiting room, we were back on the road. The best tool in my repair kit is my Visa card.
Shagnasty, I love it when insurance does what you think it’s supposed to do. Emergency road service typically will do that as well. The company I work for charges $3.50 every 6 months for that coverage. What does AAA gold charge? What other benefits do they offer?
I had a similar situation happen to me this summer. Lost my idler pulley about 100 miles (?) south of Billings, MT. and it took out the belt for the AC & water pump. Got myself towed to Billings essentially for free (reimbursed). Considering the car gets about 16mpg I have to admit the breakdown was worth it. 
Well, technically it cost you your yearly subscription fee . I too have AAA plus and for less than $100 a year you can’t beat what they give ya.
Renewed mine amonth or so ago. Was $77 I think. Off the top of my head, you get, towing up to 100 miles, jump starts and other service calls like if you lock your keys on car at no charge.
If you run out of gas all you pay for is the gas.
Basically all you pay extra for is anything that is brought to you like gas or a tire etc. Service calls are no charge beyond the yearly fee.
Oh and of course they have the travel map services etc.
And of course keys on should be keys in.
I love the trip tics we get from our continued service with AAA gold. Very nice.
Car rental places also offer some incentives …
Thought you got me on that one didn’t you? I really didn’t pay anything. My FIL buys AAA Gold for the entire family every year. I am not sure how much a plan with that many people on it costs. Every year, a couple of people in the family need a long-haul tow or has some other disaster. It pays for itself many times over every year.
When I got my 93 mile tow, I asked the driver how much it would cost if I paid for it. IIRC, it was something like $275. I asked him how AAA ever makes any money. He said that most people don’t ever use theirs. My wife and I have used ours at least 10 times and ten years. You don’t even have to be the driver or the owner of the car that breaks down. You can just be a passenger.
Those tows don’t just apply to critical breakdowns beside the road either. My FIL has has cars and trucks towed from his farm in New Hampshire to his company in Boston on the plan. I guess they didn’t think of that or they just don’t care.
In 1971 my boyfriend and I drove from northeastern Oklahoma to southern California in an old rattletrap Rambler that I’d bought from my dad. Unfortunately, the car’s water pump went kaput when we were about a hundred miles from Flagstaff, Arizona. We ended up paying $500 for the tow, the rebuilt water pump, and two nights in a fleabag motel. Losing two days from our schedule meant that we had to miss a lot of things we’d hoped to see, including the Grand Canyon.
Yeah, I have always liked that it applied to the person who had the membership and not a particular vehicle.
For the first 10 years I had it, it was always a christmas present from my parents.
I used to haul a spare alternator, fuel and water pump, along with belts, hoses, and fluids, and this cadre of parts saved my butt more than once. Now that I’m driving a not so old vehicle, the thorough twice a year check and fix routine does OK, figuring that I’m never too far from an auto parts store.
Best road emergency was in Louisville, KY when the master cylinder died-while driving. :eek: Got it back to the motel and had my buddy hold a replacement while I bench bled it prior to replacing at 11PM by flashlight.
My two memorable breakdowns both happened in the same game reserve, on two separate occasions and in two different vehicles.
First was in a Toyota Hilux. The radiator sprung a leak and I lost all the water and had to stop. In Big Five territory. Fortunately I carried spare water as a habit and I wasn’t too far from camp, so I hobbled back. In camp I hauled out the radiator, clamped the bleeding fin, and voila, back on the road.
Second time was in a 1969 Porsche 911 (why it was a Porsche is a long, long story). Two km’s from camp she folded her arms, dug in her heels, got that 1000 yard stare and stopped dead. Again, smack in the middle of Big Five country. No amount of cajoling, fiddling with wires and cleaning points would get her to budge. Had to be towed back to camp, then to the next town, then to an auto electrician, who confirmed that the electronics had gone and could only be fixed the next day. We spent the night in a lovely golf estate, picked up the car the next day, and went back into the reserve.
Two years ago my wife and I, accompanied by our two dachshunds, went from IN to NJ to visit my parents for Christmas. As I was defending my Master’s thesis late in January and still had a substantial amount of work to do, we decided to head back before New Year’s. Left on Sunday afternoon. We didn’t make it back home Sunday evening.
After dark, travelling over the Poconos mountains in PA, something very bad happened – a loud noise, then the pickup losing power and rattling along. This is about 500-600 miles from home. We made it to a gas/service station to use their phone and got a flatbed sent out to take us to a nearby shop (about 10 miles away; Blakeslee Garage in Blakeslee, PA, who provided us with excellent service). The driver was nice enough to take us to a nearby motel that allowed pets.
Next morning, we trudged the mile in the 20 degree weather (hey, at least it wasn’t snowing!) from the hotel to the shop, dogs in our arms, to find out the damage. Sometime late morning, they diagnose it as something more serious than they can handle, with a recommendation to take it to a dealer. Getting it towed home would be prohibitively expensive. The closest dealer is about 25 miles away. Fine. We get it trucked there (Wright Motor Sales in Hazleton, PA, who also did a fine job of helping us in a bad situation) and, as I saw it, we had four options:
[ol]
[li]Ask my parents to make the 150 mile trip to pick us up, wait it out at their house until the truck is fixed, then have them drive us back to the dealer.[/li][li]Get a hotel and stay in Hazleton until the truck is fixed.[/li][li]Rent a car, drive home to IN, get my wife’s car, both of us drive back to PA in separate cars, then drive back home in our respective cars.[/li][li]Rent a car, drive home to IN, wait for the truck to be fixed, then head back to PA and get the truck, then drive home together.[/li][/ol]
The first wasn’t really an option; my parents are getting on and neither is very good behind the wheel. Both have medical issues that would make a long trip difficult, to say the least. I need to get home to finish my Masters, so the second wasn’t really an option either. Depending on how serious the damage is and how quickly it can be fixed, we’d choose between the last two options. We spend most of the afternoon getting a rental car, dogs in our arms, waiting for the dealer to assess the damage.
Turns out we blew a head. Not a quick fix, made worse by the fact that it’s two days before New Year’s – a bunch of people are on vacation and the shop is booked. Option #4 it is, then. Drove the rental home that night (a rather grueling day that was), waited for the repairs to be done (about 2 weeks later), then drove the 1000 mile round trip in a day to return the rental and pick up our truck.
Lessons learned: 1. Get a AAA membership. It would have saved us quite a bit. 2. Travelling with pets is a huge hassle, tho’ it wasn’t as bad as it might have been. 3. If your car breaks down on a long distance trip, be prepared to lose at least a grand and a few days. 4. If avoidable, don’t travel long distances by car in the week between Christmas and New Year’s.
Damn, it sucked. My defense most definitely suffered due to time lost and stress incurred. However, it was good enough to pass, so I can chalk the whole thing up to one of life’s not-so-great experiences. All’s well that ends well and the like…
(hijack)
Digital Stimulus, any ideas why the head gasket blew? (Assuming “head” refers to a head gasket)
No, not the gasket – the head. There was a good chunk of metal (about 3/4 cm) missing from the area where cylinder #3 seated on the gasket. :eek: I’d never seen such a thing before. I have to say that Wright Motors fixed it well, as I’ve had no problems with the truck since then. (In case you hadn’t noticed, I believe in trumpeting good service when I find it. We sent notes of appreciation to both Blakeslee Garage and Wright Motors after our little adventure.)
I assume the breakage had to do with driving 90 mph up and down the mountains for an extended period of time, combined with about 80K miles on the odometer. Paraphrasing John Bender (from The Breakfast Club): “The world’s an imperfect place. Engines break all the time.” Another lesson learned: haste makes waste. Funny that I seem to have to re-learn that one every so often.
I have the regular AAA membership, and it’s come in handy on more than one occasion. Once I locked my key in the car. A few times I’ve had to be towed. Considering how long I’ve been a member (originally it was a gift from dad), I haven’t gotten out what I’ve been paying over the years. But it’s comforting to have that little card in my wallet just in case. The piece of mind is worth the $40 (or whatever) it costs.
Jeeeez, I thought that was the stuff of legends. :eek: I’ve heard of bits and pieces of engine block blasting through bonnets, and always thought, yeah right.
Anyway, thanks for the response, much appreciated.
(end of hijack)