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Roadside assistance


Lonerock

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My wife and I  were coming back from a trip to Hells Canyon when our Itasca had a flat. My aaa said they wouldn't come out unless I  upgraded to Plus RV which I  did. I did further research and found my new policy wouldn't  cover forest service or BLM roads, which is where we do most of our camping.

Now I'm  trying to find a better roadside assistance company. I have Progressive Ins and could add roadside to my policy or perhaps Good Sam (but seen a lot of complaints). I know there are some really expensive companies but I'm  on SS so trying to keep the cost down.

Any recommendations for roadside assistance coverage that would include forest service and BLM roads?

Thanks, Robert

 

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, Lonerock said:

My wife and I  were coming back from a trip to Hells Canyon when our Itasca had a flat. My aaa said they wouldn't come out unless I  upgraded to Plus RV which I  did. I did further research and found my new policy wouldn't  cover forest service or BLM roads, which is where we do most of our camping.

Now I'm  trying to find a better roadside assistance company. I have Progressine Ins and could add roadside to my policy or perhaps Good Sam (but seen a lot of complaints). I know there are some really expensive companies but I'm  on SS so trying to keep the cost down.

Any recommendations for roadside assistance coverage that would include forest service and BLM roads?

Thanks, Robert

Do you not carry a spare? A spare, plugs, and 12v inflator have saved me more times than I can count. 

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I was traveling along the Columbia river when my front tire exploded. Got to a very narrow shoulder, too dangerous to try and change a tire.  I've  survived a war and 3 marriages along with a lifetime of adventures by not being completely stupid so I  called aaa.The tow truck was able to block traffic while driver changed tire. Yes, I  do carry a spare,jumper cables, compressor and a jumper battery. In this situation my cell phone was my best friend.

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Lonerock

I am so sad this is happening to you.

I have encountered several bad towing situations myself with my 1988 toyhome....

Call the insurance for a tow and be left beside the road as a toyhome has dual wheels and the towing companies want more money for towing our rigs...

Long story short I have State Farm Full Coverage Policy for less than 500 per year.  The stated value of my rig is 10k (including contents)...

My agent told me to pay out of pocket and She would write me a check... 

So going through tripple a my insurance and having five towing companies look at my toyhome and speaking personally with the assholes who where driving the trucks.

I called several professional tow companies and spent 700 dollars in towing fees that day...\

When I got home and presented the bills to my State Farm agent...

I received a check for every penny I spent....

 

 

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Hmmmm,  had a fuel pump go in Hell;s canyon,  no cell phone service!   Sheriff told me he had no idea where they would get a tow truck.  Good Samaritan saved the day by banging on tank while I started the Toy.

I carry ERS ryder on my car and truck as I do not need an 800 # to call or free maps and trip tics.  On my Toy I have the ERS ryder and Coach net. I consider Coach net the premium service and If I have a problem with my Toy I do not want to screw around with amateurs. 

Edited by jjrbus
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So is emergency roadside service through insurance companies effective? Why carry both ers and coach net? You mentioned Good Sam. Did you have roadside service with them and why didn't  you go with them? In checking Coach net their current rate is $249 which is beyond my means. Good Sam is currently $114. The biggest problem for me is finding someone who will cover forest service roads and it's  hard at times to dig through all the bs that services claim and find what they'll  actually do.

Right now I'm leaning toward Good Sam but any feedback about them or other services much appreciated.

 

Edited by Lonerock
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While jjrbus help was received from Good Samaritan I believe it was an actual good Samaritan. Otherwise, watch out for the Good Sam pitch about towing you to a qualifying rv mechanic regardless of the distance. What they don't say is that they will only tow as far as the nearest qualifier which may only be five miles away. It turned out there was a more expensive policy that would tow up to 200 miles or something. Too late for me. I had to pay for a 161 mile tow when my clutch failed. I am guessing the sucker policy I bought is more lucrative so that's the one they push. Very deceptive of them not to explain or offer the top tier policy. I would strongly advise against Good Sam. Maybe their top tier rv policy is ok but I do not trust them. I now have AAA RV Plus which will tow up to 200 miles. Most of my trips are less than 200 miles. While I haven't had occasion to test on a big tow, they have followed through with quick service on a couple of shorter tows.

Edited by Allan
Missed a detail.
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Hmm,  $249 year?   I'm paying I believe $99 year.  $249 is way more than I would pay and would only use the State Farm ERS ryder if I had to pay that much. 

I could be wrong on this,  I believe that no towing company will go off paved roads.

AAA does not guarantee the availability of repair facilities within the towing area.

Vehicles intentionally driven into areas that are dangerous or inadvisable for regular passenger car travel (beaches, fields, construction sites, unpaved roads, etc.) will not be rendered service. 

The ERS ryder on my State Farm policy is about $10 year. There is no 800 # to call,  I have to find my own tow truck and repair facility.  I have to pay for service out of my pocket and be reimbursed.  I carry both because the ryder is dirt cheap and I have double coverage. 

Yes a good Samaritan,   not Good Samaritan company. 

Before sending your money Google "Good Sam towing complaints"  or any company you decide to sign up with.   So you go in with eyes wide open.  I would also look at other RV forums where you will get more input.  

 

Edited by jjrbus
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My main issue is still finding someone who will answer calls on forest service or BLM roads since this is where I  spend a lot of my time, either in my jeep on day trips or my Itasca on camping trips. I did originally sign up for AAA Plus RV until I  found out they wouldn't  go to FS or BLM roads. I realize that Good Sam has a lot of negative reviews but so far they're  about the only ones I've  found who will go to us roads. I also checked Better World Club which has decent reviews but again they don't  cover fs or BLM roads. I might get Good Sam but keep my aaa basic for other situations with my jeep and Tundra. I think dealing with an insurance company add on (I  have Progressive) wouldn't  cover my needs. 

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First no towing company owns any equipment.  I am not sure about right now but Good Sam did not even have call centers and subbed out to other companys.  All towing is subbed out to towing companys.    So if a towing company says they  will tow you from parks.  But there is no towing company in the area that will go into parks then you are on your own.

Good Sam Roadside Assistance would cover you for roadside assistance and towing on any improved road - such as Interstate highways, state, county, local, or improved forest service roads. In addition, GSRA covers you anywhere on your personally owned property.

Your and my opinion and the tow company and GS opinion of what an improved forest service road is may all be different.  I am biased as I have seen too many GS members have all kinds of ridiculous issues and would not take it for free.

I called Coach net and talked to Carrie, if you call her you can get basic towing for $129 1st year and then $109 a year after that.  

877 801-0333   choose option 2 and then extension 5 for Carrie.  You can of course choose any level of service you want.   I also asked about forest service roads and she stated that as long as it is a maintained road they will service you.   No service will be perfect or be trouble free and make everyone happy,  but Coach net is about as good as it gets,  my opinion of course and worth what you are paying for it. 

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Our Dolphin blew its headgasket on the Grapevine last weekend and we limped it a good ways further before it finally gave in. We were on the side of the Freeway for almost 24 hours before we could get someone to come out at a reasonable price. AAA wouldn't because we didnt have RV thing. Geico wouldnt because its too old for them to do roadside assistance. (Which must be an RV thing because they cover my wife's 1981 300TD) We ended up calling pepboys because they will tow to one of their locations and add it to the repair bill. It was the cheapest way. Ended up being $250 for a 45 mile tow. Plus free storage at pepboys while they worked on it. 

During the ordeal we were calling all the companies in the area getting quotes for towing and storage to buy us time to figure out how to get it home and fixed. They were saying 100-180 an hour and 50-80$ a day for storage. One quoted 500$ for the 45 mile tow. 

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Thanks jjrbus -

That rate sounds fantastic, much better than $249. I called Carrie and left a voice mail for her to call me. At that rate I would definitely sign up if it looks okay.  I have heard a lot of positive things about Coach Net , far better than GS. I'll  let you know how it turns out.

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The $249 is the online price for their full package with all the bells and whistles.  I am only interested in basic towing and do not understand why they do not show that option on their website? 

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Jjrbus

Was referred to another agent at Coach Net and they said the basic rate was $249 and renewal after that was $169 for roadside assistance.. She thought the $129  might have been some older renewal rate but they only have one membership level at $249 for the first year.

Looks like I'm  back to Good Sam. I called them and they will cover service on forest service or BLM roads if they're  maintained dirt or gravel so long as it's  simply not tracks. There's  only one tow service within about a 50 mile radius of where I  live and spend much of my time on forest service land and fortunately I  know the owner and he's  gone out to forest service roads so that helps.

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The continuing  saga of roadside assistance. I called the guy I  know who owns the only towing service in 50 miles and he said he doesn't  contract services with Good Sam so I  called GS and gave them my location and they verified he was the only tow service available for areas I  normally travel to in my jeep and camp in my Itasca. They said that even though he's  not under contract they would cover cost to hire him since there was no one else in a reasonable distance.

I called Progressive to check my roadside coverage details and after several minutes conversation with a low IQ AI trying to get a live agent I finally found one (the fourth person) who could give me credible information. He contacted Aegro that progressive contracts to do their towing services and they said they would provide towing services on forest service gravel or dirt roads but in the case winching is needed it would have to be a hard pack surface.

So there !!  I guess I'll  go with my current roadside assistance coverage through Progressive for my Itasca unless I  find something better in the future.

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If you are only traveling a short distance from home and know the local towing guy, the ERS ryder could be ideal. 

For my car and truck that almost never go more than 100 miles from home I only use the State Farm ERS ryder.   I can find a tow truck or a locksmith or whatever I need and know where I want my vehicle towed and do not need help with that.    The only drawback is I pay upfront and get reimbursed by State Farm.

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I've  been pretty lucky over the years as far as avoiding  the need for roadside assistance. I've  hiked and backpacked thousands of miles in fairly remote areas, mostly  in the Sierras and Cascades,plus worked as a wildlife biologist under contract with the FS and BLM in remote areas and when I've  returned to my car and turned the key it's  always started , thus avoiding a walk of up to 20 miles to get help (before the days of cell phones). I've  always carried a good spare tire and changed my flats. Now that I'm  much older I give more though to those possible emergencies than I  did before. I still go to some remote areas in my Jeep and Itasca but carry a cell phone and now give roadside assistance services more thought. Here's  hoping that none of us has to put those services to the test.

 

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The issue I have with towing service is unless you are out of gas, locked out or have a flat tire they always want to tow.  I do not want to be taken to an unknown shop and be at their mercy.   

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3 hours ago, jjrbus said:

The issue I have with towing service is unless you are out of gas, locked out or have a flat tire they always want to tow.  I do not want to be taken to an unknown shop and be at their mercy.   

Unless you have a catastrophic engine issue you always have the option to tow to say an auto parts store parking lot and do the repairs yourself. Just be sure you have the capability to make the fix! Luckily I've never made it to an issue I wasn't able to fix myself on the road. We always have a full size spare, a patch kit with 12v compressor, a variety of spare hoses and clamps, duct tape, and enough oil/ water or coolant to top off if you were to for some reason lose all that was in the engine. 

I remember changing out a failed radiator in a Wyoming walmart parking lot during a storm, that wasn't fun but I did it. I also remember my first trip I took in the Escaper when it lost the front main crank seal and was spewing oil out of it like a fresh oil well. I ended up buying probably 10 quarts of cheap gas station oil and continuously topping it off as I limped back to a place I could make the repairs. 

Luckily I've never had to see my campers on a tow truck! 

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I certainly have had a few issues on the road, that some would call for a tow. But I fixed them.  It is great to be self sufficient.  I do not carry a bunch of spare parts.  Duct tape, wire,  a small selection of tools and jack.  I keep my vehicles up so have never had an issue.    I did want to call for a tow in Hells Canyon that time,  but no cell phone service and then the Sheriff said he had no idea where he could get a tow truck from! 

It never clicked to tow to an auto parts stores,  super idea.   Thanks for pointing that out.

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You broke down in Hell and there was no cell phone or tow truck. But you weren't phased a bit. You fixed the problem and got out of Hell. Talk about being resourceful , most people wouldn't have had a prayer and have to spend all eternity there. 

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5 hours ago, Greg&Jean said:

You broke down in Hell and there was no cell phone or tow truck. But you weren't phased a bit. You fixed the problem and got out of Hell. Talk about being resourceful , most people wouldn't have had a prayer and have to spend all eternity there. 

It was not intelligence, knowledge, skill or resourcefulness.   A Samaritan stopped and had an idea what was wrong or I might still be there! 

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What was the problem? Glad you made it out. Thank God for Samaritans! 

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On 7/3/2019 at 6:57 PM, Lonerock said:

The continuing  saga of roadside assistance. I called the guy I  know who owns the only towing service in 50 miles and he said he doesn't  contract services with Good Sam so I  called GS and gave them my location and they verified he was the only tow service available for areas I  normally travel to in my jeep and camp in my Itasca. They said that even though he's  not under contract they would cover cost to hire him since there was no one else in a reasonable distance.

I called Progressive to check my roadside coverage details and after several minutes conversation with a low IQ AI trying to get a live agent I finally found one (the fourth person) who could give me credible information. He contacted Aegro that progressive contracts to do their towing services and they said they would provide towing services on forest service gravel or dirt roads but in the case winching is needed it would have to be a hard pack surface.

So there !!  I guess I'll  go with my current roadside assistance coverage through Progressive for my Itasca unless I  find something better in the future.

You did the research for me Lonerock, I just added Progressive's roadside assistance to my policy. Thank you sir.

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  • 2 years later...
On 7/3/2019 at 6:19 AM, Odyssey 4x4 said:

Do you not carry a spare? A spare, plugs, and 12v inflator have saved me more times than I can count. 

It is important to carry a spare so that it can be used in an emergency. I always keep spare with me whenever i go out and if i don't have done then i call a locksmith to make one key for me.

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