Is Roadside assistance worth it?

[kfp673]

Hello All,

My wife has had a AAA standard policy for a long time. I dont think it covers the travel trailer as well. Is adding an RV policy through AAA or Good Sam worth it? We used to do most of our camping within 2-300 miles from home, but over the past 3 years we have started doing 1000+ mile trips each year. I think if there was a tire blow out I would likely change it myself, but anything other than that it would certainly be nice to have assistance.

Roadside assistance in general is always mixed reviews so what are your thoughts and suggestions around travel trailer coverage?

Thanks

[TheBar]

Good Sam has lists of companies experienced in towing and repairing RVs, or so they say. The one time I needed a tow the closest was 70 miles away. It would have taken dozens of calls to find them by Googling. 90 minutes later the tow truck was there. Even more important in my case was where to take it for repair. Being towed or repaired by a novice you might end up in worse condition than you started out. Remember more can go wrong than just a flat tire. You could have wheel bearing failure, locked up brakes, a broken weld, or a pothole that breaks an axle. I want someone competent towing and fixing my baby.

[TimnJo]

I had CAA RV Plus, have used it three times, twice for trailer tire blow outs where the service was good and quick.
The other time was for a broken spring on the trailer in a small Quebec town east of Riviere-du-Loup. Luckily I made it to our campsite when it was noticed as I was told that they couldn't help to tow it to a local truck/trailer service facility.
When I told that place of my predicament they sent out a crew that did it on site.
I was turned down by CAA when I tried to get a refund, not for the repair itself, just the 'remote' surcharge.
I don't have CAA coverage anymore as I get free roadside for three years with my new truck and a closer read of my RV insurance revealed they provide the same coverage as was promised by CAA's RVPlus.

[GSRoadsideAssis]

Thank you for the post fj12ryder.

I apologize for the poor experiences you've had. Please send me a private message with your membership number and the phone number you would like to be contacted at and we'll reach out to you.

Thank you,

Zach

[WTP-GC]

It's insurance, plain and simple. Either you want some sort of an expected coverage in the event of a problem or you don't. For us, we have three vehicles, 2 boats, a 5er and several utility/equipment trailers. The possibility (or rather "liklihood") of needing some sort of roadside assistance is high. So is it worth spending $100-$200 annually...IMO yes. I have over 50 tires on the road at any given moment and "large number of thousands of dollars" roaming the streets...so what's $100-$200 more?

[Grit_dog]

Depends on your level of mechanical aptitude, physical ability, age/condition of vehicles, and risk tolerance IMO.
Companies that sell those policies have huge algorithms that determine the cost of the policies based on similar factors, that ensure they make money on the policies they sell.
Do your own little analysis.
In general, my feelings (being generally well prepared to tackle little stuff on the road and generally driving very relaible well kept vehicles) are its not worth it, for me, now.
But the opposite end of the spectrum, when I was a kid, with snow plowing contracts, using and old beater truck, I made money on AAA service because I broke the truck several times a winter and it was cheap pre paid towing home.

[drsteve]

The only time I ever broke down while towing I was on the interstate in northern MI. Called 911, told them I needed a tow truck and was pulling an RV. The guy showed up, put my TV on his flatbed and hooked the trailer to his hitch, hauled me to a repair place, charged me $125 bucks. My basic towing plan that comes with the auto insurance paid $100. I was happy.

If I owned a 40' DP that required a huge, expensive wrecker, and perhaps a long and costly trip to a heavy repair facility, I'd definitely have a specialized RV road service plan.

[MPI_Mallard]

I have good sam too but i'm not impressed with their service, long waits on hold, press this and so on also unless i'm I was told wrong they choose their service company's by the lowest bidder and the last time I had them come out on a flat the poor guy wasn't equipped properly,,, this year i'm going with RV+CAA after hearing some really great remarks about them. One thing I do however that I would suggest is to be as well equipped as you can be, I always travel with a honda 3000 genny with a portercable 150psi max a compressor, 20 ton bottle jack, air tork gun,full mech. tools, torque wrench and most of all I wouldn't leave home without my TireMinder monitor set-up on all my tires, that little rig saved my bacon a few times already oh and check your insurance company and insist on road hazard coverage, you pop a tire on your fiver' the damage can be pretty expensive!!!

Red Green: If life gives you lemons, throw 'em
into a quart of vodka.

[fj12ryder]

It's a waste of money unless you need it. And sometimes it's a waste of money when you do need it. There's no guarantee that they will be able to send someone within a reasonable amount of time.

We used, or rather tried to use, Good Sam Roadside Assistance three times. The first time we waited over two hours before they said they couldn't find anyone that could change our 5th wheel tire at any time soon. We gave up and I changed the tire myself. The second time they found someone that could change a bad valve stem, and they finally showed up around 10:00 pm, after being called at 6:00 pm. Strike two. The third time they were sad to inform us that all tow services were too busy to help with our stalled, out of fuel due to faulty fuel gauge, truck. I was able to get fuel, crack the lines to bleed out the air, and got back on the road myself.

So my experiences with roadside assistance is that it's a waste of money. YMMV.

[joegray]

Have Good Sam Platinum,used it twice and very happy with the service. Traveling from B.C. to Yuma,would not be without it. Its like any insurance,not used much but sure nice to have when you need it.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

I have CAA RVplus. I would not wish to be without it.

[1320Fastback]

We have roadside assistance provided though State Farm which insures ever single thing we own. Our trailer will be towed up to 250 miles and the truck up too 100 miles. Flat tires, fan belts or any other little problem I do myself.

[BB_TX]

With a smart phone you can obviously google and find a towing company yourself without too much effort. But finding a good one that is experienced in towing RVs may be a little harder especially in a more remote area. A good ERS will already know, or should already know, who can do that.

[IAMICHABOD]

I think Roadside Assistance is a must have,as a 50+member of AAA I have had always been happy with the high level of service they provide.

I added the RV to the AAA Plus policy years ago,cheaper as a add on than other stand alone policies They have always performed to my satisfaction.

[memtb]

Probably a good thing to have.....if you have problems, where you have cell phone reception. Some of the best places to travel, have no service. ;). So, it’s good to be prepared to take care of some issues yourself!

[Captain_Happy]

I have my roadside with my insurance company, USAA. I dropped Good Sams years ago.