When your car breaks down
What is roadside assistance? It is peace of mind! Especially if you’re on the road a lot and don’t know a thing about vehicles, like changing tires or jumping a battery off. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you can get hurt and damage the vehicle. Roadside assistance gets you an experienced, knowledgeable person with the proper equipment and tools. Including putting a little bit of gas in your vehicle to get you the gas station!
Anyone that asks, “Do you really need roadside assistance?” must be a mechanic or never has broken down before. Roadside assistance may be the next best thing to sliced bread! A broke down vehicle can be aggravating, inconvenient, and scary.
The first issue you have to deal with is traffic. It seems like we’re all driving at warp speed while on cell phones, not paying attention. The second issue is not being mechanically inclined or not having the tools and any knowledge of vehicles. That is why roadside assistance is an excellent service!
What is included in roadside assistance?
Generally, roadside assistance brings a service professional to you to make minor mechanical adjustments or repairs that will get you back on the road. Some of the reasons that you may need roadside assistance would be:
- Battery jump-start: If your vehicle doesn’t start, the roadside assistance service professional will attempt to start it by jump-starting the battery. There may be an exception to some vehicles. For example, an electric car has to be serviced differently.
- Flat tires: The roadside assistance professional will remove the flat tire and install the spare tire.
- Lockout: Keys get locked inside vehicles every day! If you’ve never had that happen, you’re the rare person. The roadside assistance service professional has equipment and tools that enable them to enter most vehicles. Sometimes, they aren’t able to do this, though, and that is when they call a locksmith service.
- Fuel delivery: Just like keys getting locked in a vehicle, people run out of gas every day. Maybe you didn’t have enough to get to the gas station. Or maybe your gas gauge is working correctly. A roadside assistance service professional will bring you a couple of gallons that should be enough to get you to the gas station.
- Winching Service: When a vehicle gets stuck in the mud, a roadside assistance service professional will arrive in a wrecker with a winch and pull the vehicle out to the road.
- Towing: If the roadside assistance service professional isn’t able to get your vehicle back on the road, they will have the vehicle towed to a location you request. There is confusion between roadside assistance vs towing, and perhaps because roadside assistance does both in most cases. You can call a wrecker service to tow your vehicle, but that doesn’t mean the wrecker driver can make any adjustments or repairs. A roadside assistance service is usually a person in a wrecker that can adjust or repair, or if needed, tow your vehicle.
What is the best roadside assistance?
If you don’t already have a roadside assistance plan, it may be something to consider. However, if you have a new car, it probably came with a roadside assistance service, or you may have added an extended warranty to have the service. If you are thinking about taking out a roadside assistance plan, which one is the best? Well, that can depend on you, your possible roadside assistance needs, and your budget.
If there are multiple cars in your household, a full-service plan like AAA, Better World Club, or National General Motor Club would be the better choice. A household with several drivers and cars, Good Sam Roadside Assistance, is a reasonably priced plan that takes care of every driver in your household.
If you travel a lot by vehicle for pleasure or work, choose a plan that has a generous towing allowance and benefits like trip-interruption reimbursement. No matter which roadside assistance service you choose, read the fine print! Each company is different, so don’t assume they’re all alike.
How to get roadside assistance if you don’t have it?
Can you call AAA if you aren’t a member? To get roadside assistance, call any of the companies we mentioned above and do your own research too. Call your auto insurance carrier and ask if they have any roadside assistance service you can add to your policy. When it comes to AAA, well, it is a membership roadside assistance club, people pay a monthly or annual fee for this service. In addition to their roadside assistance, AAA offer members other benefits too.
So, can just anyone call them? Well, sure. Are you going to get top rated service if you’re not a member? You’ll friendly, professional help, but you’ll like to get a sales pitch too. Because you’re not a member, you’ll have to pay for whatever service they send to you, whereas a member will get many of those services for free. Call __PHONE__ today for help with roadside assistance!