I have noticed reading this forum that members are sometimes paying to have their vehicles towed; one of the things a AAA menbership will pay all or part of. I think when you are driving older high mileage vehicles, and if some of the drivers of the vehicles are not mechanicaly inclined enough to do some roadside repairs the AAA can be helpful.
Share your storeis.

Last year alone.
Volvo Clutch cable broke and the AAA paid to Tow the Car to my Home.

Keys got locked inside of the car AAA paid agin; the Tow Truck driver put some inflatable Bladder between the door and frame and was able to create enought space to hook and unlock the door.

I also got a discount on my Eye Exam for Glasses.

__________________
84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

My starter crapped out on my 190D. $75 to tow it home, or $90 for AAA membership. So I signed up for AAA, and an hour and a half later called and said "Darn the luck, my car just broke down. I sure was lucky to sign up for AAA this afternoon..."

Just used them again to tow home because of tranny issues. So, already saved my money.

__________________
MKIII88Turbo

"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind."
--Aristotle--

1986 Mercedes 190D
2004 VW Golf TDI

I've used AAA twice to pick up non-running MB's that I had purchased. I've also used them once to bring me a gallon of diesel for the Smoker. [Found out fuel gauge was off]
Used them to unlock my keys from inside my F150 once, and same thing with my son's car.
That's all I can think of.....

**edit**
Forgot, when my suburban overheated the tranny pulling a travel trailer outside of Houston [and caught on fire] they towed it to Conroe to a dealership. RV place I had just purchased the trailer from came and got the trailer. [nobody ever told me not to tow in overdrive] Just built up pressure and blew out the dipstick and the fluid caught fire on the exhaust manifold below.
Then a month later outside of Dallas the tranny completely let go and they towed the Suburban and trailer. [I still have the RV plus although I haven't had an RV since Katrina]

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

i need to send my $120 in for the premium membership...

Good practical thinking!
I believe they also give you the same benefits if you are driver or are the rider of someone elses car.

__________________
84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

You mention Auto Club of America.

This is quite different than American Automobile Association.

Most of the previous posts have been related to AAA. I cannot discern from your original post which club you're interested in.

We have my in-laws renew our AAA premium membership every year as a Christmas present, which is nice. It's up to 100 miles of free towing and I ahve actually come close to that in the past. With regard to my MB diesel, when I was new to the car I mucked things up and had to call on AAA twice to bail me out.

In the first instance - after getting the car, I replaced the filters - including the prefilter and o-ring. Somehow the o-ring just didn't seal right and - not knowing that it was sucking air - I packed the fam in the car and drove about 25 miles out into the country. I started noticing some hesitation in the engine along the way. We got to our destination and I shut her down and then when it was time to go couldn't get her started again - and killed the battery trying. Got it towed home and took care of the problem there.

In the second instance - I ran it out of fuel. I know, I know - don't run your diesel out of fuel. Well, for whatever reason, I thought the fuel gauge wasn't accurate - but it was and I ran out about two miles from home at about 2 A.M. I had a hell of time with that. The AAA folks were knowledgable about diesels - and although they told the guy they sent out to bring a flatbed just in case we couldn't get it going with the one free gallon of fuel he brought - he ignored that and just showed up in a truck with some fuel. I poured in most of it in the tank and saved a little to pour in the prefilter chamber - but in the end I couldn't get it started and killed the battery - again - trying. The guy says "Well, I guess there's nothing else we can do right now - sorry" - and proceed to try to leave. I said - uhh, well, you can go get a flatbed and haul it 2 miles down the road. He didn't like it - but he did.

Needless to say, I learned my lessons. AND, I got a new battery.

It all brings up a good point though. Overall, I have had good experiences with AAA - the only bad experiences have been with the guys who actually show up. They don't make much $$$ hauling guys like me home for AAA. They would much rather respond to that wreck on the freeway (which is what really pissed that guy off on that particular night). But, regardless, I have found the membership to be very worthwhile when you really need it.

__________________
'95 E300D ("Tank") - 231,000 miles
'79 240D ("Biscuit") - 197,250 miles (Sold)
'83 240D ("Ding-Ding") - 217,000 miles (Death by deer)
______________________________________

"Back off, man. I’m a scientist” ~ Peter Venkman

He mentioned AAA in the body of his post so I just went with that, assuming the title was off......

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

When I shred the unsolicited "Snail Mail" spam they besiege me with!
Yeah,at least $90.00 bucks every 12 months!

('puttin the whammy on myself now,But I've used a Tow Truck exactly
twice since 1997...$50.00 each time.)

So I figure I've "SAVED" over $900.00.

__________________
'84 300SD sold
124.128

I admit this is my answer, too. Can't quite see spending that kind of money when my dad's got a pickup truck and a 16' equipment trailer just waiting to come to the rescue when I find such problems.

__________________


~Michael S.~
Past cars:

1986 300SDL
1987 300SDL
1982 240D
1982 300SD


Current:

1987 300SDL

My AAA membership has saved me headaches...ever since I joined my cars have not broken down.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Here is one story of my AAA usage. My wife went on a business trip for a week and forgotten to give me the keys to the Honda that was parked on the street. She left on a Monday and street cleaning on the side of where the car is parked was on Tueday morning. There was no way I could get a key from her on time even if she overnighted it. I decided to put my AAA (http://www.aaa.com) membership to work. I called them up. I can’t remember what I told them (I think I told them the situation) and they sent over a tow truck. I ask the tow truck driver that I needed to move the car directly across the street and of course told him the situation. He lifted car, drove it down the street, turned around and let it down across the street. Some 25 feet across the street from where it was originally parked.

AAA saved my car from being ticketed and towed to an impound lot as they usually do when cars are in the way of a street cleaner. Thank goodness for AAA!

__________________
1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

When your daily drivers are a 1984 BMW and a 1981 300SD you really appreciate AAA! I had the heater hose blow out on the 528 in the middle of Brooklyn going to work one day and they towed me back home. I was driving the 300SD on the NYS Thruway also heading to work when she developed a bad rod knock. AAA to the rescue again! The CPS went on the Suburban and AAA came through. The wife let the battery die on the BMW up in NY (I am in WV) and AAA came to jump start the car for her.

Heck I even used them to tow home the 300SDL when I bought it. SInceit is the same color as the 300 SD, I took the plates from the SD over to the seller's house. Stuck them on the SDL and called AAA to tow me home! Since these have all been under 100 miles, they have been free.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I also needed them when I got the 300SD stuck heading up my ice slicked driveway in New Paltz. The car made it 1/2 way up the hill, then dove for the culvert! I could not pull it out with the Suburban, so AAA to the rescue. I have to say they have always come through for us.

__________________
"I have no convictions ... I blow with the wind, and the prevailing wind happens to be from Vichy"

Current
Monika '74 450 SL
BrownHilda '79 280SL
FoxyCleopatra '99 Chevy Suburban
Scarlett 2014 Jeep Cherokee
Krystal 2004 Volvo S60
Gone
'74 Jeep CJ5
'97 Jeep ZJ Laredo
Rudolf ‘86 300SDL
Bruno '81 300SD
Fritzi '84 BMW
'92 Subaru
'96 Impala SS
'71 Buick GS conv
'67 GTO conv
'63 Corvair conv
'57 Nomad

AAA has paid for itself a few times in jump starts. Never needed a tow yet.

A night ride home from the movies about 40 miles from home and that erratic fuel gauge {and the car was still new to me} led to no fuel by the side of I-91. No cell phone but we had passed a rest area about a mile back. They had a pay phone and I had quarters. An hour later we had 2 gallons of D2 in the tank courtesy of AAA. Not a big money job but peace of mind for my family is priceless.
I don't use it much, in fact the account is in my wife and daughters names since I figure I can always get home somehow.

__________________
1981 240D 143k 4 spd manual -SOLD

2004 VW Jetta TDI 5 speed 300k -still driven daily