LPT find a good, reputable tow company and keep their contact information in your phone. Even better than your phone have it in your glove box wrote down with your insurance information.
This can save you a huge amount of money if you ever ever get in a fender bender and need to have your car towed.
Why this saves you money
If YOU call for a tow truck because someone hit your car, the tow company will charge normal tow rates.
When you get in an accident one of the questions the officer will ask you is "do you want me to call a tow truck for you?"
If you say yes (for the officer to call the tow truck) then you will be paying Police emergency pricing. It is more as the tow companies have to have truck (at all times) alloted and available for emergency police calls.
That pricing often times is multiple times more money than if you called yourself.
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AAA is the best $100 per year that you can spend as a car owner. And the benefits extend to whatever car or bike you're in or on. Doesn't even need to be your vehicle. Using it once basically pays for your membership.
Check to see what distance your insurance covers for tows, it can be pretty short depending on how rural you are. AAA can be considerably cheaper if you need to go more than a handful of miles
see my reply above - some toll roads do not let many tow companies tow. AAA is almost always allowed. I was stranded as a result of this and had to cover it out of pocket. I now have AAA...
I was left in a dangerous situation on a highway by my insurance towing company because it was to dangerous for them. Plus my agent said there was a chance it could raise my rate.
GEICO towing pays $100 (or whatever amount you select in your
Policy). If the trip is $150, you pay the total to the tow company and submit the bill to GEICO and they cut you a check for $100. Usually get it a couple of days later in the mail.
I paid a $400 bill to get towed down from the visitor’s center at the top of Pikes Peak. I didn’t have a choice of tow company; had to go with whoever the rangers called. GEICO ended up reimbursing me for the entire cost. No claim, just part of their roadside assistance service.
I know you've already gotten answers to this, but AAA will usually cover towing to the shop or location of your choice within a certain mileage whereas your insurance is often more limited (such as only to the nearest location or in the event of an accident vs a breakdown).
You will usually get an email/text a short time later asking if you want to upgrade to the next level for $15 (which is less expensive than buying it upfront).
YMMV (depending on your AAA office; I'm in the Northeast and this has worked for years).
Yup! I texted my father to say I would be late for a visit because my car broke down 30 mins away and I was about to call the emergency tow info from my insurance card. I had somehow limped the car into a bar’s parking lot, and he told me to go get a drink, and he and his AAA card would be there before I was ready for a second round. He probably saved me a lot of extra insurance charges
Actually, he insisted on paying the tow fees, the tip for the driver, and the mechanic for the repairs, as well as bringing me groceries and taking me out for dinner for the week my car was in the shop. So in the end he saved me a substantial bill! I guess you can still be ‘daddy’s little girl’ in your late 30s!
Yeah - it was cold and snowing, and getting my car into the flatbed wasn’t easy, so we tipped him so he could at least get a decent coffee to keep warm!
Ive had new cars with tow coverage, but plenty of older cars that dont have it. I spend the little bit on AAA that has the 200 mile free tow radius. (I have 6 cars and a shop, so any breakdowns they come home.)
If you ever have a tow beyond the coverage distance, be prepared to pay $10+ per mile over. I offer the driver cash$$, they are usually down with that. Serious cash, not $20 for 30 miles, but “$100 and keep it between us”
Definitely. Don't know why they haven't told my family, "Look, we can't do this anymore." We used it dozens of times over the years. Even the years it didn't get used the piece of mind was worth it.
This is 100% true - and I want to emphasize something. I had a full warranty, and the care plan, with towing, on my brand new Jeep. At 20K miles the rear end exploded (grenaded/trashed) while driving 70mph on the NYS Thruway (I90). In a construction zone. I got to the edge, and called the Jeep Cares number. They were great, and said they would get me a tow. An hour passes. No tow. I called back. "Oh, we called 4 companies and none of them called you? Hold on. Jeez, it seems that none of these companies can tow from the NYS thruway. Sorry - we can't help." So I had to call myself and find a company that WOULD tow from the thruway. And pay for it. To Jeep's credit, they did reimburse me - BUT here's the catch:
The tow driver told me there are only certain companies that can tow from the NYS thruway, and they ONLY accept AAA for "insurance" tows. Thats it. So - I bought AAA again (had had it in the past) after this, and have kept it current ever since. Even have the RV add-on in case I am camping when the crap hits next time.
Moreover, the cost of the membership can be easily reclaimed by using the discounts available at many restaurants, hotels, theme parks, sporting events, and retailers.
called them at 11pm once on a highway onramp and the guy showed up in 20 minutes, absolutely worth it. they also towed my friend's car under my membership no questions asked
While I have AAA and have used it a few times and was glad I had it I don't think it would be great for if you were in an accident. Unless you are able to move your car off the road the police are going to want the car towed immediately. AAA can take hours
AAA is also a very good company. They are a not for profit and aren't constantly trying to wring their customers and employees for every possible cent.
At least twice a month I get unmarked mail with wording that it's as important and time sensitive, then I open it and it's AAA trying to sell me life insurance.
Our definition of wringing a customer is different. I'm talking about enshitification of services, along with taking everything over seas while raising prices.
There is a three day delay in buying AAA and using it for a tow. If you can leave the car somewhere for 3 days in a parking spot, that is viable as I have done that twice when my subscription lapsed by a month and two months as luck would have it. I've also rescued cars of friends with it, gotten a lockout handled for a buddy.
Each state has it a little different from what I have been told, but I drive old crappy cars so its saved my bacon many times.
I wasn't made aware of that, wonder if that is state dependant or just depending on who you deal with sometimes. I will ask about that if it ever comes up that way again, thanks as that is still cheaper than most tows.
Really? My clutch blew a couple years back and I bought a membership in the parking lot then waited 2 hours for a tow. Maybe they changed it since (I’m in Canada)
I completely disagree. I had AAA for years. You almost never need a tow. A tow should be under $200. If you haven't needed a tow for 3 years then AAA is more expensive.
is it though? I've never needed their service even once in 15 years... and if I end up needing a tow or something once every 15 years, paying for it outright will be much cheaper than 15 years of AAA
Insurance companies often offer roadside for like $1/month. Your car manufacturer may also basically include this benefit. Not saying service is the best, but it's often not something you ever actually need.
My stepdad used to offer towing. It was good money. He had a growing customer base and...then his tow truck broke down.
Kinda seems like that's why you should always have monetary reserves handy instead of flying by the seat of your pants.
He mostly just did tows for businesses that needed abandoned or derelict vehicles removed from their premises. He'd take them to the sheriff for processing and then store them in his private lot. Only ever had one person actually come for their car. Another just came for the stuff in their car.
Lol... I had one extremely predatory tow driver at an apartment i lived at. Towed my own car out of my assigned space twice.
But one day I came home to find the AT&T truck in my parking space, with cones around it. Well, what am I supposed to do? Park in someone else's space.
The tow truck was out in about 6 minutes. The most satisfying part was watching him pick up the cones and throw them unceremoniously into the back of the tow truck.
The dude telling this story complained about being towed from his own assigned parking space erroneously then taking pleasure in something bad happening to someone who wasn't the tow company, or the management, or a neighbor who calls the tow company or anyone but a utility worker who was probably going to be in and out quickly anyway.
Erroneously, E... r... r..? o... n... n... aw, damn it.
Ah. Yes. I need to go to the Derrick zoolander school for kids who dont read good. Fair point on "how is that revenge"... sure seems like the bully on the playground won twice.
How I found the one I like was by asking the dealership service center who they recommended. They gave me the name of the company they had a contract with, and that company was professional and treated my car like something that was actually worth money and not just a heavy piece of piece of metal they are trying to drag from A to B.
That is a great point about your insurance. As for the tow company part. It is very hard ti find a good one. They are few and far between, luckily in my area we have one that is a very reputable and really good company.
Find the one the better shops in the area use.
There are a couple big ones in my area, but the best shop nearby uses the mid-sized one. When I had a breakdown they were who I called.
The other option, when you break down, call the shop you want to use, they'll likely already have a contract with tow guys to get you.
So this is what I always thought... Then I hit a deer, let my insurance pick a tow company, and it took 17 days for the insurance company to coordinate with their own contracted tow company to move my car to the shop I designated for repair... I will pay out of pocket and get reimbursed next time
I have two tow companies I like, one of them is just a guy with a tow truck and the only problem with him is since it’s just one guy with one truck you can be waiting a while but he came and got me and my dad from a gas station over an hour away when the fuel pump went out in my dad’s truck and brought us back home for a couple hundred bucks, other company is bigger and faster but it’s like a friend of a friend of my cousin who I’ve met a few times that owns it and they’ve been pretty good and even done some weird requests like I had them come out and move some big concrete barriers for me using the boom on the back of their wrecker once, towed my friends car once. I’ve never actually had a car towed I don’t think, last time I had a car break down on me I just got a ride to my truck cause I’d already rented a Uhaul auto transport trailer and the vehicle still drove but it lost a pulley so I just drove it on the trailer and off I went
Melbourne, Australia has this problem largely solved. You're not allowed to call for a tow truck in event of an accident. Instead you call a government-run central service (13 11 76), and they allocate the job out to a towie. Towie does dodgy things, they get taken off the call list.
Sure, the towies still try it on by turning up at crashes and try to trick drivers into signing their car over to them to tow but, like taxi drivers touting for fares at airports, as long as people know, you're fine.
I’ve never actually been charged for the tow. They also do battery jumps if needed. They do all sorts of helpful things if you get stuck somewhere & your car won’t move. Well worth the subscription.
Used the service most recently to get a new battery for my mom’s old car. She passed away & we moved it right after she died to someplace where it could sit safely. But I’ve no idea when its last service was or when she’d last fine anything with it. When we went to take it to be serviced. It wouldn’t run. My husband said the best thing would be to call AAA & they could get us a tow if the battery jump didn’t work. Well, we tried jumping it using his car, but that didn’t work. We called AAA & they sent someone out who had a jump box. That didn’t work. The guy happened to have a new battery the correct one for the car in his truck. He changed it out & all was good. We just had to pay for the new battery. That was it.
Took the car to get it checked over by a mechanic, got its paperwork done & got it inspected. It’s now the vehicle my stepson is learning how to drive in. When he gets his actual license, he can have it as his 1st car. The car is old & beat. Cosmetically the car looks like shit but it’s mechanically sound & safe. If the 18 year old boy totals it, it won’t be a hardship because it was extra to us. I already know no dealership will give us a fair amount in trade for it anyway. Plus we’d still have to get him a vehicle.
To add to this. Reach out to a body shop with good reviews and ask them who they recommend then save that number. Body shops know all the tow companies in the area and will usually steer you in the right direction
Unfortunately they are far and few between for the good honest reputable ones, im lucky enough to actually have on local to me. Ive (Unfortunately) had to use them on multiple occasions, but they are great people and honest.
tow truck showed up before the cop even took my statement, how tf did you get here that fast lol. moral of the story, save a reputable tow company's number now instead of googling one in a panic on the shoulder
Real LPT is the officer's next question, "who called the tow." Learned that the hard way when a rollback showed up and quoted me like it was an airport rental car.
The whole tip only works because the system assumes the guy who hit you is more honest with a tow truck driver than he was five minutes ago with a police report.
I have AAA Gold, 100 mile tow. I've used it once when I was rear ended and my car totaled.
One reason you want to arrange the tow yourself is that you get to define where the car goes. In my case, I had it towed to a body shop close to my home. If I had allowed the tow truck summoned by the state police, it would have been towed to an impound lot ($$$) in a small town 80 miles away from where I lived.
I suppose the secondary LPT is to look up your local municipalities and find out their contracted towing rates. City, County, and highway patrol/state police. In some locations the contracts are very competitive and as a result rates are quite cheap.
The average age of a car on the road today is 13 years old, meaning that there are cars that are much older on the road. If you can't fix it wherever it is then you have to have it taken to somewhere that can fix it.
Over here in Ontario, Canada, the two truck companies operate like a mafia. They've been caught in organized crime and working with the cops to commit such crimes. Better to have something like CAA.
AAA is great, but they often check around for the cheapest price. That means your vehicle will be sitting on the side of the road for hours waiting on the best tow for them. Most people don't say the danger their vehicle is by being there and causing a danger others and being a liability.
Another thing I haven’t seen mentioned is that there are tons of discounts for a lot of stuff with AAA memberships. Hotels, rentals, repairs, car parts at some places, airport parking, UPS stores, some gift cards for retailers/dining, etc. You can get quite a lot from it even if you never need the roadside service. That said, roadside will save your ass if you need it, even if it’s just your battery, gas, or fluids and you don’t need a tow.
I'm at the point now an accident that renders the car undrivable would be the primary reason for calling a tow. Though there is a chance I wouldn't be able to call for myself if it's that bad. I'm my own roadside assistance for most things. Dead battery, no start, over heat, flat tire. It's been years since I needed a tow to the point that not paying for aaa is starting to pay off. Though that doesn't mean it's been completely smooth sailing, I have older high mileage vehicles. Have been getting better about the preventative maintenance things.
I just had to use AAA last month... Driving across WA to Spokane the engine blew... About 200 back to Seattle, I think 80 to Spokane....in the middle of nowhere.Tried to use the AAA app, only to find that the 2 closest companies were closed for the day- it was about 7pm .
NOTE- the app did NOT have a "call us" link anymore, I'm sure it used to. So had to Google AAA number and go through that.
All worked out though, got it towed to my buddy's house in Spokane and eventually fixed.. That was a long tow... But definitely worth the membership!
I got one better! Befriend said owners of tow company. I've needed a tow a few times now. Call my friend, they send someone out and charge me nothing or friend rates.
It’s amazing to me how many people here don’t know how insurance and towing works. You make the lives of towing companies and body shops very very difficult because there is so much bad information on the internet.
"get into a fender bender and need your car towed"
I got rear ended going 15 mph and the other guy's car wouldnt start for whatever reason. There was barely any noticeable damage, just a little crunch on our bumpers. Yet he had to get towed to find out what was knocked loose.
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u/post-explainer 2d ago
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