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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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 Posted: Wed May 10, 2023 9:50 pm Post subject: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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I'm a full time RVer and have a 64 baja bug I flat tow behind a motorhome with a tow bar. So I'm all over the place. Not just 5-10 miles from a house in a city like most people. I am usually off grid, out in the desert in winter and national forests in the summer (not too far from paved roads in either case). Sometimes in an RV park for a few months a year.
I fix a ton of stuff myself and carry a ton of tools and spare parts in the car, but that won't help me much if the engine blows up or something when I'm more than a few miles walk back to the motorhome.
I'm eyeing the $100/yr AAA plan that includes up to 100 miles of towing in any direction I choose from the breakdown point. That sounds pretty darn good for me. I don't ever plan to venture beyond 100 miles from the RV with the ol' bug, especially with the old 40HP it has + big tires. What I'm saying is it's slow as sin in 4th gear, especially on hills or in wind. Top speed I have seen has been 55 on a pretty flat road without without much wind. (Speedometer shows 10.5% too slow, so it shows 50mph at 55mph actual speed)
I know that tow trucks won't go off road, but if they can dump the car at the beginning of the turnoff back to camp, at least I can walk back to camp and fetch the motorhome with the tow bar. But as mentioned, I also use RV parks now and then.
My biggest worry when going more than a few miles away is a major breakdown. Most I have ever done was 25 miles, but I also had other RV friends nearby at the time who could have come to my rescue. I don't right now.
I'm planning to return to an RV park in Utah in June that's in a tiny town (with the bare minimums needed to live like food, tools/hardware, auto parts), with the nearest bigger city (that isn't across mountains) being 75 miles away. AAA would be great if I had a major breakdown to/from there. They'd have to hire a tow truck to drag me 75 miles from a bigger city to a tiny town in the middle of nowhere.
I suspect that normal hiring of a tow truck myself would be WAY more than $100 that a year of AAA costs for that kind of a tow. AAA might get pissy and drop me after that, but I'd still get my money's worth out of that one tow, I suppose.
Not sure I even care to go up there, there isn't much there that I can't just buy online and have shipped, but I could if I wanted or needed to. And it's nice to have so I don't have to stress about a possible break down, every time I go more than 5 miles away from the motorhome.
I'd be more likely to wander around to light hiking trails within 50 or so radius of the RV park. Just something to get out and do this summer without driving my big old 8.5mpg diesel motorhome. Being able to let my dog hop in the bug and go out for a day to the woods is all I want, without worrying about how I'm gonna get back of the engine or transmission/clutch decide to totally die on me suddenly. |
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7023
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Wed May 10, 2023 10:53 pm Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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In my opinion, if you seriously fret that much about breaking down whenever you go more than five miles away from your RV then maybe it's time to reconsider your choice of towed vehicle. The best choices here would be to either make the baja more reliable or replace it with something else that is.
AAA may not be able to get you a tow in anything resembling a reasonable time if you're out in the sticks, and that's assuming you can get cell phone service out there.
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 12:12 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| mukluk wrote: |
In my opinion, if you seriously fret that much about breaking down whenever you go more than five miles away from your RV then maybe it's time to reconsider your choice of towed vehicle. The best choices here would be to either make the baja more reliable or replace it with something else that is.
AAA may not be able to get you a tow in anything resembling a reasonable time if you're out in the sticks, and that's assuming you can get cell phone service out there. |
It's curious how many people here reply with nothing good to say about the topic at hand, but rather to trash the poster for having an old VW. It's quite tiring, frankly. I got similar treatment when I was discussing buying something too. Maybe this forum is just too toxic for my liking. Not at all what I'd expect.
It's downright rude, telling others to get rid of their car and buy something else because you don't like that they have legitimate concerns for towing recovery on longer drives
Anyway, it's reliable currently but you just never know. It's a 60 year old engine (case) largely built on 90 year old technology in design. But it's 12v with an alternator, so it has that going for it. But if it's so broken that i can't get it going, it's probably new engine time. There's no fixing that on the side of the road by myself. That's tow truck time. And there's no getting towed to the nearest repair shop like normal roadside towing provides. They'll take one look at the car and refuse service. Not that i would pay some random yahoos to rebuild it anyway. I would want towing recovery. That's it. Hence the topic at hand: long distance towing coverage
I stick to places with cell reception. I've only ever stayed one place for a few days without any cell reception in the 6 years I have been RVing full time.
AAA hired towing would take just as long as me calling up a tow company myself, so I don't get your point. I am by myself without people to come bail me out, so I have to take things into consideration like towing coverage. I have to be prepared for the worst. That's RV living in general.
I fix shit myself when I can but sometimes things are beyond fixing on the side of the road. I do my own brakes on my 27ft motorhome because I have been burned too many times by incompetent mechanics/shops. I replaced it's power steering gearbox on it in an AutoZone park lot in Idaho. Replaced the Saginaw power steering pump in the Arizona desert. I wouldn't be calling towing for every tiny thing. I've only ever called for towing once in the past 6 years, and it was on an F250 because the starter literally broke suddenly without warning and that was beyond fixing in a Lowe's parking lot without any auto parts stores nearby. Closet second was getting stuck in mud in a Washington state park and a ranger fetched some boards to help get it unstuck. (The ground seemed hard but wasn't.)
So, in summary, you didn't contribute anything worthwhile to the discussion. You just insulted me. |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22639
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 2:05 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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Get your cars into preventative maintenance mode, not run to fail mode , then pay for big tows if needed. Figure $4 a mile for a tow.
AAA is just a towing brokerage, not a network of integrated , dedicated towers as the marketing suggests. This varies with area.
It’s not cost effective for one person. In our family with three drivers in one locale, we buy one membership, 100 mile, and if one breaks down , we recover non-member and subscriber takes the tow.
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 2:31 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| Abscate wrote: |
Get your cars into preventative maintenance mode, not run to fail mode , then pay for big tows if needed. Figure $4 a mile for a tow.
AAA is just a towing brokerage, not a network of integrated , dedicated towers as the marketing suggests. This varies with area.
It’s not cost effective for one person. In our family with three drivers in one locale, we buy one membership, 100 mile, and if one breaks down , we recover non-member and subscriber takes the tow. |
$4 x 75 miles is $300, three times the cost of a year of AAA.
I have already gotten the engine pretty darn reliable but again you never know when something might break.When you're too far away to walk back, you have no one you know to come rescue you, and public transportation isn't available, towing is the only option. I have roadside on the auto insurance (can't do classic car insurance on a baja, plus it's never garaged, so Hagerty etc won't insure it) but that's kind of useless since it'll get sent to the nearest repair shop. might help if it gets me near a parts store if they carry something like a starter or clutch kit. but useless if I need to go somewhere specific.
It's almost required for my lifestyle. Cost effective is in the eye of the beholder. I consider it an insurance policy, $8.33 per month isn't bad to have peace of mind that i won't be in a bad way if i have a major breakdown. Long term over many years it may not make sense, such as with a fresh new engine, but I have an old unknown engine right now. It could last another 3,000 miles or 30,000 miles. Who knows? $100 is cheaper than buying a new engine for "prevention" right now. I already did lots, like a good rebuilt fuel pump from sparkx werks, put a good working carburetor (German 28 pict 1), new NGK spark plugs, adjusted valves, new (Chinese) vacuum distributor (had 009, in the parts box in the car now) etc. It fires right up and runs down the road fine. I change elevations a lot, so the biggest annoyance is having to retune the carb sometimes to keep it from stalling at idle when coming to a stop, but that's par for the course. I keep a screwdriver at the ready sticking out of the ashtray, and being a Baja, it's easy to reach the screw quickly.
and yes I'm aware of how AAA works, it's like car insurance roadside assistance towing. still can be a big savings for someone in my position with my lifestyle. I can't have friends or family come to my rescue, most of the time. I need to be able to get crap done by calling a service like AAA and have them deal with hiring a tow truck from a nearby service. |
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 2:57 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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Ohh and i should mention this. Right after I got the bug, I was trying to get it back to Utah from Arizona where I bought it, and one of the old rear tires lost it's tread. The one on the other side looked like it was about to do the same. I tried calling up tow companies myself. One company basically said they wouldn't help me because they don't actually have a truck in the area where their freaking office is, and the other wouldn't answer their phone. I had to just drop the car in the roadside pullout, leave it, and take the two rear rims with me 30 miles in the motorhome to a tire shop. so trying to hire your own tow truck can be impossible. they don't have any interest in actually helping you if you aren't with a company, i guess. It's a flat out nightmare.
and yes it has all new tires on it now |
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busman78
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 4520
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 3:53 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| Don't worry about gettng a tow in the sticks, carry a tow strap in your vehicle and a crisp $100 bill, if you have issues find the nearest water cooled four wheeler, flip him the C-note and hook the strap up and enjoy the ride back to your RV. |
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clockworkbox
Samba Member
Joined: July 12, 2020
Posts: 281
Location: Williamsport, PA
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 4:15 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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I have had AAA for many years. Aside from the roadside assistance, they also offer decent travel discounts and take care of all our vehicle title and notary needs. I think membership is worth the money.
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PatJr
Samba Member
Joined: August 09, 2010
Posts: 204
Location: earth
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 6:17 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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I have AAA and for many years now. I have need some long tows and had a good, if you can call it that when needing a tow, experience with them.
Still, proceed with caution, AAA aint what it used to be. It seems like every year they reduce the benefits and limit the service more.
In the end it's just gambling, so try and tilt the game in your direction.
From your description, maybe have that baja checked out. I think you should get a little better performance out of it then 55mph top speed.
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busman78
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 4520
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 6:42 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| If it is like most Baja's then there are tall fat tires on it, that 55mph might very well translate to 70+ mph and if it is a 64 trans 434 or 412 drive, that would be top end and the engine screaming for a reprieve. |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22639
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 7:18 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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You took it personally when someone offered their opinion but if you are so risk adverse that you think you need a big tow once a year , this isn’t the car for you. I once waited 4 hours for a AAA tow in a county of 1,000,000 people, so I would question the value you would get off road.
It is possible to maintain these cars so that the big failure becomes a 1:1000-10,000 event in which case insurance makes no sense financially.
To me, there’s no peace of mind of a tow broker for remote travel, you will have to do the legwork home.
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mukluk
Samba Member
Joined: October 18, 2012
Posts: 7023
Location: Clyde, TX
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 8:48 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| Cubey wrote: |
| It's curious how many people here reply with nothing good to say about the topic at hand, but rather to trash the poster for having an old VW. |
I in no way trashed you for having an old VW. Why would I? I have and love old VWs myself and would have no qualm about using one as a towed vehicle or even a daily driver -- in fact, I have done both. I merely stated my opinion that your best option would be to attend to your very clearly expressed concern about your baja breaking down on you. To bring up a very applicable quote, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Instead of focusing on what the best inflatable life boat is out there, maybe it'd be a better idea to fix the leaks in your hull or find something more seaworthy. 
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 8:54 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| busman78 wrote: |
| If it is like most Baja's then there are tall fat tires on it, that 55mph might very well translate to 70+ mph and if it is a 64 trans 434 or 412 drive, that would be top end and the engine screaming for a reprieve. |
No. I ran a gps speedometer to check the speed. I have also gone past the radar speed signs. My speedometer definitely shows about 10% slower than I'm actually going.
Bigger tires reduces top speed, not increases. In 4th with the pedal to the floor, it isn't screaming. RPMs aren't very high (2200 maybe? i forgot now) and it's there's no more power for the engine to to give. Oh and i do have a cheap tach installed so i know what RPMs it's doing.
I did confirm that the throttle is opening fully, so it's not that.
It's a '65 40HP case serial number so I can assume it's a stock 40HP. I haven't checked the transmitter serial, but i can safely assume it's a 64-65 one. No reverse light switch port on the swing axle transmission. |
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 8:59 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| mukluk wrote: |
| Instead of focusing on what the best inflatable life boat is out there, maybe it'd be a better idea to fix the leaks in your hull or find something more seaworthy. |
"There is no danger that Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers."
Phillip Franklin, White Star Line vice-president, 1912 |
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 9:07 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| busman78 wrote: |
| Don't worry about gettng a tow in the sticks, carry a tow strap in your vehicle and a crisp $100 bill, if you have issues find the nearest water cooled four wheeler, flip him the C-note and hook the strap up and enjoy the ride back to your RV. |
It's not about a tow out in the woods. I cannot get get up to a 100 mile tow on the highway with a tow strap from a stranger for $100.
I think everyone is missing the point by sticking to the fact that it's a baja. Forget that fact, pretend it's a normal bug that never leaves pavement. Now imagine you go for a long drive and you break down and don't have anyone to call on to come help you. That's the point. |
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 9:15 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| PatJr wrote: |
I have AAA and for many years now. I have need some long tows and had a good, if you can call it that when needing a tow, experience with them.
Still, proceed with caution, AAA aint what it used to be. It seems like every year they reduce the benefits and limit the service more.
In the end it's just gambling, so try and tilt the game in your direction.
From your description, maybe have that baja checked out. I think you should get a little better performance out of it then 55mph top speed. |
They pretty clearly outline the towing benefits so there's no real way to buy in for it without understanding.
It's a low budget baja. I don't have the dough to get a new engine. compression is on the low side but not horrific. At least it was months ago.
It was burning oil pretty bad and the strainer disgusting sludged when i got it. I changed the oil and tried some "engine restore" which didn't seem to do much. Tried a bit of STP. Also didn't do much, kept burning it pretty fast. Mind you I was also putting pure oil between trying them (15w40 diesel oil)
Finally put a bit of Marvel Mystery Oil (about 10% of the engine oil capacity) and i think that did the trick, the engine oil consumption has dropped a lot it seems. Far less blue smoke. |
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busman78
Samba Member
Joined: August 17, 2004
Posts: 4520
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 9:33 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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You missed my point too, the strap and 4-wheeler gets you to pavement,campground, whatever, after that your tow service can snatch you up. If you want to play in the outdoros you got to be able to pay the price.
Oh yea, never go anyplace that you cannot walk out of, cell or no cell, be wise and be prepared. |
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 9:33 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| Abscate wrote: |
You took it personally when someone offered their opinion but if you are so risk adverse that you think you need a big tow once a year , this isn’t the car for you. I once waited 4 hours for a AAA tow in a county of 1,000,000 people, so I would question the value you would get off road.
It is possible to maintain these cars so that the big failure becomes a 1:1000-10,000 event in which case insurance makes no sense financially.
To me, there’s no peace of mind of a tow broker for remote travel, you will have to do the legwork home. |
A 4 hour wait plus an hour for the actual tow over, let's say 50 miles, is still better than being 50 miles from "home" and trying to hire a tow company myself, or walking 50 miles or trying to hitch a ride.
See the post above when I tried to find a 30 mile tow once in Arizona. And i was right on a US highway. The nearest tow companies had no interest in helping or answering their phones at 3pm on a weekday when I tried to broker it myself. I'd have probably had to be call in one from 60+ miles away. It would have been a $300-400 tow, it's probably safe to say.
Around 2016, I had to wait 2 hours for lockout service on a 2003 car in a major metro area on a Sunday. Still better than busting out a window since I was in no hurry. I'm rarely in a hurry. I have more time than money to spare. |
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Cubey
Samba Member
Joined: May 13, 2009
Posts: 253
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 9:39 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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| busman78 wrote: |
You missed my point too, the strap and 4-wheeler gets you to pavement,campground, whatever, after that your tow service can snatch you up. If you want to play in the outdoros you got to be able to pay the price.
Oh yea, never go anyplace that you cannot walk out of, cell or no cell, be wise and be prepared. |
I didn't miss the point. I was never talking about tow truck recovery from off road. You just presumed it. I was talking about the OPPOSITE in fact, getting tows from pavement and getting it dropped off at the head of dirt roads or to the front of an RV park, so it's walkable back to my motorhome so i can drag it back to camp with the tow bar. I don't think I could said it anymore clear in the previous post discussing that. |
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Abscate
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2014
Posts: 22639
Location: NYC/Upstate/ROW
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| Posted: Thu May 11, 2023 9:50 am Post subject: Re: Is AAA best for longer distance towing? |
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For a solo rider with low local support, Ill give you that. Get the 100 mile AAA plan for peace of mind, and keep on top of your mule.[/quote]
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