I have AAA + for my Mazda which gets me 6 visits per year for tows, lock keys in car, etc. plus 1 tow upto 200 miles. My wife has a 2012 Hyundai with 35 k miles on it that we purchased last year from the Hyundai dealership. Is the Hyundai Road Side assistance plan good for the duration of you owning the Hyundai, is it only good until you reach the 10 year, 100,000 mile mark where the warranty goes away, is it good forever? Also does anyone know how it compares to AAA (tow distance, amount of visits allowed per year), etc.?
AAA vs. Hyundai Road Side Assistance
- Thread starter JayDogSmooth
- Start date
I don't know anything about the Hyundai coverage but AAA also gets you discounts on hotels, Lens Crafter's, Disney tickets & a bunch of other things.
Do you find those discounts are meaningful (i.e. you can't find other ways to get equivalent offers)?
For me, yes. I use them frequently. I also have the opportunity to add my kids onto my AAA plan since their cars don't noffer roadside plans.
All I know is AAA will be there shortly when I call. I have heard horror stories about other road size services. AAA is the original and have a well established and developed network of vendors. To me that is worth the additional expense of AAA. The other big plus is AAA covers the member and not the car. So it doesn't matter if your driving a friends car, rental car ect you are covered.
I have a 2010 Sonata (2.4 auto) with 163,000. Has been fantastic, except one time I broke down when it had around 50k (can't remember what for), called the roadside service number on the window, they took my information and had a local tow truck there within an hour, right to the dealer, all under warranty.....and, b/c I was towed in under warranty, I was a priority in the shop (which works out if they have the parts).
OMG don't get me started. Get the AAA. Please. Here's my horror story. Car has a flat, headed southbound on the NJT after a Rutgers game. Of course Hyundai doesn't provide a donut as standard equipment anymore. Don't worry says the salesman when I bought the car, we have 24 hour roadside assistance. One thing he forgot to mention. Not on the NJT. After I call it takes them two hours to subcontract to someone who can pick me up on the NJT. So I get towed off the Turnpike to this guy's shop. I call Hyundai and tell them I'm there. Well it's now past 6 PM on a Saturday and Hyundai will only tow you to the nearest Hyundai dealer. Which by then are all closed and NOT OPEN ON SUNDAY! So because of a lousy flat tire, I'm supposed to spend two nights in a hotel until Hyundai opens on Monday.
Fortunately the tower who pulled me off the NJT knew where a Firestone outlet was. They were closed but he knew that they had an after hours drop box. He towed my car there and they fixed it by 11:00 am Sunday. This guy was actually AAA approved and would have had me there early enough to get it fixed that Saturday night.
Do NOT rely on Hyundai's promises. I learned the hard way. Pay for AAA who can tow you off the turnpike and pay the extra money for a spare donut. Thanks Hyundai. For nothing.
Fortunately the tower who pulled me off the NJT knew where a Firestone outlet was. They were closed but he knew that they had an after hours drop box. He towed my car there and they fixed it by 11:00 am Sunday. This guy was actually AAA approved and would have had me there early enough to get it fixed that Saturday night.
Do NOT rely on Hyundai's promises. I learned the hard way. Pay for AAA who can tow you off the turnpike and pay the extra money for a spare donut. Thanks Hyundai. For nothing.
First I had heard of this - are other manufacturers following suit? Is there a place where a donut will actually fit on the car?
I thought it was commonsense that you're not allowed to have a third party service tow/service your car on the Turnpike/Parkway.
It's a private road, and because of that they have control on who is allowed to come out and offer roadside assistance.
However if you have AAA, it covers the roadside assistance that the NJTP provides.
This is not a reasonable indictment of Hyundai. AAA can't come get you on the NJ Turnpike, either (or the GSP). Towing contracts on those roads are awarded to specific vendors by the NJ Turnpike Authority, are highly sought after, are worth a great deal of income to the NJTA and are absolutely inviolable.
However AAA will pay for it.
http://www.nj.com/traffic/index.ssf...ers_off_nj_toll_roads_ask_commutinglarry.html
"All of the towing companies that have contracts on the Turnpike or Parkway honor AAA memberships," Feeney said. "AAA directly reimburses the towers for the cost of towing a members' vehicle back to their garage. The member doesn't have to make any payment."
The point is, at any given mile marker on either road, there's only one company that's coming to get you. The complaint about response times are, therefore, purely specific to that company's performance (and doubtless a function of how busy they are at that moment).
One thing to be aware of with car manufacturer roadside assistance is that they will most likely tow you to the near car make's dealer. I learned that the hard way when I had a flat tire recently at dawn in my 2013 vehicle. The dealer would not be open for a few more hours and was out of my way, so I called my insurance company's roadside service and got a tow to a repair shop I passed 5 minutes before I got the fat. And that place was open a half hour after my car was dropped off.
About that flat, my car doesn't have a donut either. The car has an inflatable pump with the fix-a-flat solution in a canister attached to the pump. That did not work at all.
About that flat, my car doesn't have a donut either. The car has an inflatable pump with the fix-a-flat solution in a canister attached to the pump. That did not work at all.
I've also heard from a couple of mechanics that that stuff can render a tire unfixable.
The roadside assistance wasn't provided by NJTP. It was by a towing company that paid for the privilege. So much for common sense. And if you're going to tell people you provide 24 hour roadside service, it would be nice to tell them that there are places they can't get to you. Especially when they don't provide you with a spare.
Wrong. The guy who picked me up was an independent garage that also was AAA approved. So yeah he paid the state for the privilege of picking up on the Turnpike too. And if you're providing roadside service in NJ you should have this taken care of so it doesn't take two hours to get a tow truck there.
It can also damage your Tire Pressure Monitoring System as well. I have a 2004 Chrysler Crossfire (first owner) that came with Run-on Flats, and air pump, and no spare. I've had several "flat" tires, but I have been able to drive to the store to get the tire replaced except for one time where the tire started to explode on the interstate. I heard chunks of the tire rattling around the wheel well, so I pulled over to call for a tow. I could probably drove another 20 or so miles before the tire disintegrated. I am no longer concerned the car doesn't have a spare.
Go with AAA. Many manufacturers are now going with runflats that are supposed to get you 50 miles or so. That is great for a standard hole in the tire but not a catastrophic blowout. But this is why you are seeing less and less spare tires. for us, no big deal- AAA has been very reliable over the years and we must have used them at least 10 times over the past 3 years for us, the kids, batteries, tires etc.
as Mrs. Screw pointed out, discounts by AAA are pretty much equal to Amex Platinum. And for traveling RU fans- it is great. If you need an overnight stay, any one of Hampton Inn(my choice of overnight roadside hotels) to all the Marriott brands, parks, attractions etc, pays for itself.
as Mrs. Screw pointed out, discounts by AAA are pretty much equal to Amex Platinum. And for traveling RU fans- it is great. If you need an overnight stay, any one of Hampton Inn(my choice of overnight roadside hotels) to all the Marriott brands, parks, attractions etc, pays for itself.
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