My former boss' Mercedes had a number of issues. He had roadside assistance through his Mercedes service plan and called them once to come put his spare tire on. They sent some young kid who did the job and left. But then when the boss tried to drive away, his Mercedes wouldn't move, it was stuck, seized. He called and they sent out someone else (after another suitably long wait), who discovered that the first kid didn't realize that the donut spare had its own set of different lugnuts in a little bag in the trunk. I can't picture in my head how it was damaged, I didn't see it, but they had to tow the car to Mercedes and apparently replace some parts of the hub assembly and rotor that the first kid had damaged, about $1,800 worth, and that was probably ten years ago.

But yeah, I know a little about AAA. I have a membership and had to call for my Corvette once and waited and waited. When the flatbed finally arrived, it was a young kid who explained to me that none of their senior drivers wanted tow a Corvette. They were still literally sitting around the break room waiting for a minivan or suv. He got sent because he was the lowest seniority. He'd never loaded a Corvette before and was supposed to call his boss for instructions if he ran into any problems. Luckily I had trailered it myself before and was able to instruct him how to tie it down. (Wished I'd been carrying my own straps too, but we figured out how to make his straps work).

But I guess the moral to all these stories is to read your owners manual and become familiar with the emergency and recovery instructions, more familiar than the likely first timer that they might send to your rescue. I'd suggest even to practice putting your spare tire on at home so that you'd already know how to do it when you need to on the side of the road. Some cars its not even obvious how to use the jack and you don't want to be figuring that out when you're in such an anxious situation. Like those racing pit crews, I've done it so many times, that I can put my spare on and be back on the road in less time than I'd be kept me on hold if I phoned AAA. Keep supplies in your trunk to clean up afterwards, an old rolled-up bathroom towel makes a good knee pad too, and if you are typically wearing business attire or just like to protect your clothes, keep some cheap, disposable painters coveralls in the trunk.

 

I had something similar in my 06 str. Blew the radiator in the middle of nowhere so the hour wait was not bad. I was not going to interfere unless i had to. Sure enough he latches onto the front a arm and i intercede by showing him the tow hook and put it on. He looked surprised and said you learn something everyday. I had asked him his years as a tow man before that and he said 20 plus and had seen everything. No harm and he was polite but gruff like my dad was. I have aaa premier and have always had great service. The premier yards have very little room for error with aaa i was told by an owner once. It is well worth the extra 100 bucks

 

[QUOTE=scottjh9;2581564The premier yards have very little room for error with aaa i was told by an owner once. It is well worth the extra 100 bucks[/QUOTE]

Interesting. I did the premier only because of the tow distance. I once broke down in the middle of nowhere Arizona on my way to a car show in Las Vegas. This was back when cell phone service was still non-existent outside of major urban areas. Sputtered into a little roadside bar and went in to use the phone. No phonebook but the old lady behind the bar gave me the number of "a guy with a flatbed" who lived somewhat nearby. There was no place to get a new fuel pump within 100 miles, so I asked him to take me all the way to the event hotel in Las Vegas where I knew there would be lots of club members to help (a few even stopped as we were loading the flatbed on the side of the highway). He didn't take credit cards, I didn't have enough cash and nobody knew where an ATM was. It was late. Everything was closed. He wanted to know he was going to get paid before he took me all the way to Vegas so we went to the closest casino where luckily a nice lady at the window took pity one me, let me buy chips on my credit card and cashed them in. Everybody was very nice and trying to be helpful, but I still felt like I was over a barrel and wound up costing me $400 because I had to pay for his whole round trip (probably be $1,000 today).

After that, I signed up for AAA Premier because of the 200 miles towing. That would have covered my tow to Las Vegas, plus I figured that would get me all the way back home from most of the car shows I ever go to. Plus my parents who I visited often back then, lived 183 miles away. Can't say I've gotten my money's worth out of it, haven't had to be towed more than a couple of short trips the last 25 years, but I figure no matter what breaks down where, I'm all set to get a free tow all the way back to my own garage. I just need to remember to ask for the AAA discount at more places. I remember when I'm traveling but I forget to ask at local restaurants and businesses. Not trying to sell memberships, but just sharing my own story.

 

Similar situation for me sent me to premier. One of the very few bright spots in ca where i live is aaa california. Premier even has its own phone number. They answer and talk to you like it is the hilton hotel and you are a big shot

 

Experience with a flat a couple of months ago in Germany. ADAC membership saved me from a lot of trouble: they provided the promised roadside assistance by a professional within 45 minutes waiting time. Of course, n=1 only, but backed up by reports from others here as well. So it should / could well be better than many of you went through in the US apparently.

 

A bit of humor added by my gf today.
We arrive home and I drive into the garage using my trusty Mazda 3...she looks around and asks if I was going to fix one of the jags or buy another. (If only I could I thought to myself)
I have my xk8 ripped apart redying the interior and fixing the diff seal...xk sitting on a roller while I determine my wheel replacement solution.
Life is good!
WJ

 

Several years ago my 2013 XKR suffered a water pump failure. I called Jaguar's 800 number and they sent a flatbed to carry the car to my dealer about 20 miles from where I was. When the flatbed arrived I advised the driver of the cars low clearance and that it might be a problem to load it on the truck. I ended up loading it on the truck and supervising the tie down process and then got it off the truck at the dealership myself. The water pump and appropriate piping were changed under warranty and no further problems.

 

This thread reminds me that the donut is 15 years old. It holds pressure, but I'm going to order up a replacement and mount it. Thanks.

 

Not what I would have expected. Kudos to the modern tech of tires. Thanks.

 

I located an ‘okay’ wheel, almost round with typical road rash. I did a quick and dirty clean up and decided to simply rattle can the finish. It will suffice until next spring when new tires will be needed, then I guess I’ll do a real refinish to all wheels and replace the sensors.




People, check your space saver spares!!!!








wj

 

@wymjym lets see a few more pics of that shop!