I don't know about their politics but I've had AAA for years, and it
invariably pays for itself. I think it's $50/yr for the Plus
membership. At least for me, living in New England, I almost always get my
money's worth. If you get your car stuck in a snowbank, just give them a
call and they will extricate you, no charge. If your battery is dead,
they'll come out and give it a jump, no charge. And I've had the MG towed
more than once. For instance, my car died on the highway some 60 miles
from my house, so they towed it back to my regular mechanic, and that
enabled me to get home. However, it wasn't an issue that he could deal
with (he doesn't usually do LBCs if he can avoid them), so they towed it
out to the coast, nearly another 100 miles, to a British car specialist
(Brit Bits, actually), no charge, since the first mechanic couldn't deal
with it. And I have 3 cars (one old Ford pickup, one Saab convertible, and
my B), and my membership covers all three. Just the thing with the MG
towing would have set me back a few hundred bucks if I didn't have AAA.
There is a point, and I only reached it once, where they'll reach a limit
on what they'll rescue you for. I used to have a car that was terrible in
snow and one particular winter I had to get pulled out of snowbanks about 5
or more times (bad winter + lousy car), after which they said that was
enough for the year - the next time would be a charge - but that's the only
time in nearly 20 years of membership that I've had that problem.
- Tab
At 03:56 PM 7/17/03, David Breneman wrote:
>Chuck Renner SEZ -
> >
> > And AAA Plus will tow any vehicle 100 miles.
>
>I know this may seem tangential to this conversation, but I decided
>way back in the late 70s to steer clear of AAA when they became
>politicised. They came out firmly in favor of the 55 MPH "national"
>speed limit and lobbied for it. How a *driver's* organization could
>be in favor of such an anti-driver law always puzzled me, and I figured
>there must be some back-room wheeling and dealing going on between
>them and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (an organization
>that lobbies for new and more effective ways to raise the premiums of
>*safe* drivers) regarding AAA's insurance program.
>
>If they provide good towing insurance, that's fine, and a lot of
>water has gone under the bridge in the last 25 years; but their
>actions left a really bad taste in my mouth that all that water
>hasn't dissipated.
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