Road Service - Good Sam AAA ?

[Jerky]

Any one out there use road service such as Good Sam or AAA or Allstate etc. I don't as of yet but am considering it.

Any pro's and con's on these or others?



Thanks - Dean

 

[Underdog]

I'm certainly no expert on this but , I'll Offer what I think.

I've had AAA road service for 30+ years. Actually ,I have

AAA+ towing which,I think will give towing up to 100 miles.

I don't know what problems,if any ,might arise if a tow is

needed for both a tow vehicle and a TT or a 5th. wheel.

Cost for AAA+ is $119 per year. One service call pays for that.

No money needed,just use the card.

I think , Allstate,requires that you pay for the service or

tow and then wait to be reimbursed by Allstate. I could be

wrong on this but,I don't think so.



Good Sam, often sends me offers for road service. The

first year is about $80. After that it is about $100 per year.

In my personal opinion, Good Sam would be better than

AAA, if a person does a lot of RV'ing or is a fulltimer.

If I sell my house and move into my 5th. wheel,I will switch.

Both my homeowners and vehicle insurance are through

AAA.

 

[cpo223]

good sam's emergency road serv.

I was pulling my 5th wheel from Key West thru Miami ,when the left rear axle spring broke, causing the left rear wheel to launch forward into the left front wheel. Imagine smoke ,skidding ,&driver white knuckling. Called good Sam's emergency Road service,They sent a big flatbed, & hauled my disabled camper to a rv repair place. Soooo they worked great for me. I had to leave the rv for repair while I drove home to Tampa. This was on a late Sunday afternoon. It was a experience! Pat

 

[DavidC]

PCoakley



I had the same experience with a 26' Nomad tt. At that time I also had Good Sam's extended warranty. Good Sam rep. sent two guy's out to the interstate where I was stranded and they changed the leaf spring on the spot. No charge and minimum down time. I would highly recommend the Good Sam system,great customer service.



Dave

 

[Servis]

I pull a 30 foot Sunnybrook Travel Trailer. I have had good results with Good Sams Road service. My son used them three times a month ago for towing his wrecked car to the body shop. I receieved a letter from Good Sams Travel Club telling me I needed to take better care on my auto so I wouldn't be calling them all the time.

Other than that I would highly recommend Good Sams Travel Club.

 

[dan_gilson]

At least here in CA, AAA does not tow trailers. It is fine for the truck. My parents always carried Good Sam for the trailer. The got a brake locked on the tralier one time and Good Sam showed up with a flat bed that carried both the truck and 30' trailer. They did not even have to unhook.

 

[merryman]

nix on good?? sam

I had been with a major auto ins. co. for many years and had never used my towing coverage.



After being pestered by good sam for a long time, I finally changed over; it wasn't 6 months till I needed my car towed and guess what?? When I called in, the nice lady launched into her disqualification list of questions untill she found one to use to avoid coverage.

The fact situation was that my adult daughter's car was in the shop. We both needed things from town(55 miles away), so she drove our car to run errands for her and for us, and it quit on her. No sweat right? I have towing with good sam. About question no. 4 was who was driving. When I told her my adult daughter. She said sorry, its not covered. I paid the tow and, I am back with a real auto ins. co.







Vaughn

 

[QRTRHRS]

I dropped AAA when they said they would not tow a dually anymore even if not commercial.

 

[yogibear]

QRTRHRS, when did they do this, they towed mine twice in about 2 mo. about a yr. ago.

 

[Prairie Dog]

AAA will not tow your trailer unless you pay extra.

 

[MLee]

road service

looked at the ones that send all the adds, AAA, good SAM,AARP, went with Allstate RV road service. cheaper than the first two and a whole lot better than the last one. the thing that i liked about this one is, it covers the individual, no matter what vehicle you are in, you can call for service, pulse it covers your spouse, at no increase in cost. and will send equipment to get you no matter what you have. draw back, lock out, you pay, and they will reimbursed you.

just my penny's worth.



Marv.

 

[yogibear]

Yes they will Prairie Dog, but not in all states. I have AAA in Ks. , if I have to have my trl. towed in Co. , I have to pay and then be reimbursed from my Ks. AAA. My AAA+( plus is for trl) is 92. 00 per yr. , will tow 4 times, up to 150mi. I'm not saying AAA is best, but its the best that I have found for my needs.

 

[dewdo]

I have got to reply to this post!



I have had Good Sam for eight years and have had them tow my truck and fiver when I blew the transmission. One time it was 60 miles north of Eureka, CA on Hwy 101 in the middle of nowhere. The girl that took my call was very pleasant and had a flatbed with a fiver hitch out in 1 1/2 hours from Eureka.



The driver loaded the truck on the flatbed and the trailer was hooked to the hitch and I was towed 60 miles to a campground in Eureka where the trailer was dropped off, and then was taken to the Dodge dealer where the truck was dropped off. The driver waited until the dealership had all the information and then took me back to the campground where he helped me hook up. All I did was sign my name.



The following Spring we were coming across Deadmans Pass East of Pendleton, OR when the rebuilt transmission the Eureka dealer had installed blew up. Again the girl taking my call at Good Sam was very pleasant. She not only sent another flatbed, but called the dealerships in the Pendleton area to find a shop that could get to us. The nearest one was in Hermiston, OR. which was 55 miles further up the road. Again the fiver was dropped off at a nice campground on the river and I was taken with the truck to the dealership in Hermiston where the transmission was replaced. The tow truck driver again took me back to the campground and all I did was sign my name.



In the eight years we have been with Good Sam we have had blowouts and flats fixed several times from Key West, FL to Spokane, WA and one time outside Desert Hot Springs, CA we were stuck in sand up to the axle. Again Good Sam came to the rescue and pulled us out. All I did was sign my name.



They even sent someone out to change a flat on my pickup and camper in Alaska.



There are a couple of restrictions on their contract. One is they will not tow you if you are involved in an accident. If you have a flat tire, they require you to have a servicable spare.



I would say my wife and I have used them at least ten times in the years we have used their service. My wife is covered as well as other members of my household driving my rigs. I have never been denied service from them or questioned by them.



They also will bring you five gallons of fuel if you run your rig out and will send a locksmith in case you get locked out of your rigs.



IMHO Good Sam has been very acomodating to me and my family with never a question other than to ask me what my membership number was. I will continue with the Good Sam Emergency Road.





Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[merryman]

I am really puzzeled by the difference in the experience I had and what Dewdo reported; like two different companies. When I had the problem and called, it struck me immediately that it was a disqualification interrogation. Go figure??

Vaughn

 

[dewdo]

Each time I called Good Sam for emergency road service the questions they asked me were: 1: Are you safely off the road? 2: What is the nature of your problem? Which RV or vehicle is involved? What is your membership number?



One rule is that they will tow you to the nearest facility that can perform the repair. For the transmission repairs it was always to the nearest dealership that could get us back on the road as soon as possible even when it meant towing me more than 50 miles on the two times we had transmission problems.



I haven't had to use their service for the past 18 months, so maybe they have changed their procedures.



Dewdo in the other Washington

 

[QRTRHRS]

Originally posted by yogibear

QRTRHRS, when did they do this, they towed mine twice in about 2 mo. about a yr. ago.

Been well over a year ago, maybe two. Guess it could be a regional thing. I had AAA+ for quite some time. One day I am at a store and this guy has a broken down Ford dually, 2WD, older truck. Says he called AAA and "they don't tow duallys anymore". He is spitting nails. I call the next day and they tell me the same. I live in a different more rural county then this gentlemen did too. I tell AAA to not bother sending me a renewal.

 

[J D Moore]

I have been a AAA member for 30+ years and very happy. About 4 years ago I researched AAA's RV policy carefully and then added the 5th wheel to my membership with the RV rider. I am based in FL. That summer while passing through NE Oklahoma I experienced a flat on the trailer. I called AAA the young man who answered told me that I was NOT covered for tire changing on the RV. Furthermore when I requested suggestions regarding how to obtain help he was abrupt and un-cooperative. It was a Friday evening and I called my FL AAA office first thing Monday morning. They apologized profusely and stated that I was covered. Eventually I received a "free" additional year of RV coverage on my AAA membership. I accepted it and then canceled the RV portion and obtained Good Sam which I have yet to use.

I continue with AAA for maps, triptiks, etc. but I would not rely upon them for RV coverage in other states.

Jim

 

[LJones]

Go with Good Sam leave AAA (CSAA in this case) at home.



I have had serveral RV's, both Slide ins and conventional towable all with Dually trucks. All 4x4 and either a big-block gas or deisel.

Over the 20 years of RVing, we have had to call on them.



I have both CSAA (a distant cousin of AAA here in CA) and Good Sam to get real coverage. CSAA requires road coverage if yo have insurance with them (talk about a captured audience). I now calculate this cost into the insureance premium, drives my agent crazy. Little things they don't want you to know. Here comes the story... sorry for hte long post.



About 9 years ago we were traveling accross the central valley, it was midday and the outside air temp was 105 degrees. I am driving a GMC 3500 crew cab, 4x4, 454 big block, with a Vacationer 11' 4" slide in. Talk about heavy. When out of no where the left inner wheel goes BANG. Tore the mud flaps up and over the wheel so it was making a loud noise. Bang-Bang on each wheel rotation. I thought the engine had gone, since the truck was still sitting flat. Gotta love those training wheels. Back to the story, wife calls CSAA and gets told they don't cover dually's... don't tell me that when they gladly took my money. She then remember that we have Good Sam coverage and called, they sent out a standard wrecker with only a 2. 5 ton floor jack. The only thing it did was to punch the wheels of the jack through the asphalt. Then they call for one of the big boys to come out. The second wrecker arrived within minutes with much bigger jack, changed the tire in no time, he had air tools too which made the job quicker. Even put the bad wheel and tire back up where it belongs. Said there was no need to make a mess in the RV. Called around for a place that might have the exact replacement (via the wreckers head quaters) and told me how to get there. What great service. And have had nothing but good luck with them



Since then discovered that it was overloaded, not much but still over loaded. With the family growing, moved to a conventional towable and never looked back. Also got smart and moved to a Dodge with a diesel Should have done that when I got the GMC in 90...



In my hubble opinion you can't have a bad experence with Good Sam or atlease we havn't.



Happy Rving...

 

[Mtngoat]

My personal experience has been very good with triple AAA. . No complaints at all. I've called them twice in the past couple years, always friends cars but they were quick and and seemed eager to please.



Robin

 

[RustyJC]

Good Sam coverage is tailored to the needs of RVers. When you call, they understand what is required to move a dually and a 36' 5th wheel. That, and the testimonials of many satisfied customers, is why we went with Good Sam. The fact that they also cover the other vehicles in the household is a nice fringe benefit.



Rusty