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| 5/24 |
| 2005/11/4-5 [Transportation/Car, Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:40445 Activity:high |
11/4 My father is going to give me his 1999 Ford Taurus. I'll be using
it for grocery shopping and making occassional short trips aroud and
outside of the Bay Area on weekends. Can someone recommended a good and
affordable roadside assistance service? Also, can someone recommend an
auto repair shop that I could use for routine maintenance and any
problems that pop up?
\_ For roadside repair, AAA is The Standard. I think it's about $45/yr.
They also have a list of "AAA Approved" mechanics, which is how I
found mine (in Mountain View). If you don't get a personal
recommendation, I suggest you look there. -gm
\_ $45 includes free towing up to 3mi. They can even tow from your
home garage which is not exactly "roadside" and "emergency".
The next level of membership includes up to 100mi.
-- member since '92
home garage which is not exactly "roadside emergency". The next
level of membership includes up to 100mi. -- member since '92
\_ 7 miles, not 3 miles.
\_ Oops, both you and I are wrong. It's actually 5 miles:
http://csua.org/u/dxc (http://www.csaa.com -- member since '92
\_ well, it's 7 miles in SoCal (for my zip code anyway).
It's probably 5 miles where you are.
\_ yah, I agree AAA is great. My car died close to home, I
pushed it to the curb, the next day I called my mechanic to
let him know my car was coming, then called AAA and they
towed it to the auto shop without my needing to go.
\_ free maps too, and their monthly magazine(so-so) and
other discounts to AAA members, like at Fresh Choice
\_ The downside to AAA is that they lobby strongly for more
car-friendly pork, often at the expense of, say, public
transportation and light rail. See:
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2003/02/11/warriors
for an alternative organization that will also provide roadside
bike assistance, albeit with a shorter towing radius. |
| 5/24 |
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| csua.org/u/dxc -> www.csaa.com/yourcar/ersguidelines/0,1037,1004050200,00.html AAA Plus Member, towing is provided up to 100 miles per disab lement from the point of disablement at no charge (up to 4 times per yea r). Winching (extrication) This service gets your car back on the road if it is stuck adjacent to a passable, established road and can be safely and legally reached from th e hard-surfaced road. Tire Change If you have a flat tire, your spare will be installed. If no inflated spa re is available, the vehicle may be towed. Fuel Delivery If you run out of fuel we'll bring you enough fuel to get to the nearest service station. If you n eed diesel fuel, you must request it when you call. If you are a AAA Plus Member, you'll rec eive up to three gallons of fuel at no charge. Lockout Service If you're accidentally locked out of your car, AAA will send a service pr ovider who will try to open it. If that fails or the key is lost or broken, you are eligible for towing. If necessary, AAA will send a locksmith (not available in all areas). Yo u may be charged for locksmith service but you will be reimbursed up to $60. AAA Plus Members are eligible for reimbursement up to $100. Califor nia law requires that locksmiths obtain identification from a person rec eiving their services, so be prepared to show your driver's license. You can avoid locking yourself out of your car by getting a free CreditCa rd Key. This plastic spare key fits in your wallet and is available for most cars, free, at any CSAA office. Mechanical Aid If your car won't start, the service person will attempt to restart it by jump-starting your battery, checking connections and fluids, or perform ing other minor mechanical repairs. you should drive immediately to a repair facility and have the pr oblem corrected. AAA's Battery Service can make on-the-spot replacement fast and simple. Your personal check for up to $250 will be accepted by any AAA independent co ntractor providing Emergency Road Service or repairs. Work done at a rep air shop, such as tire repair or battery charging, is not included in ER S coverage. Number of ERS Events Your AAA Classic or AAA Plus Membership entitles you and each of your Ass ociate Members to receive Emergency Road Service up to four times in a Membership year. If you need ERS more than four times in a Member ship year, we will continue to provide assistance, but the Primary Membe r will be billed for each additional ERS event. Please note that in order to have auto and/or h ome insurance with CSAA's Inter-Insurance Bureau, at lease one named insured on the policy must be a AAA Member. Towing Distance/AAA Classic Your AAA Classic Membership entitles you to receive towing to the indepen dent contract station providing the service, or to any point within five miles of the contract station, or up to five driving miles in a ny direction from the point of breakdown. If you require towing beyond t his limit, you will be asked to pay the tow truck operator directly at t he time of service for additional tow mileage. Towing Distance/AAA Plus Your AAA Plus Membership entitles you to up to one hundred (100) miles of towing from the point of breakdown four times per Membership year. If you require a 5th or subsequent ERS, you will be asked to pay the tow truck operator directly at the time of service for the cost of any tow mileage that exceeds the AAA Classic towing limit. The Classic towing li mit is as follows: towing to the independent contract station providing the service, or to any point within five miles of contract station, or up to five driving miles in any direction from the point of break down. Limitations And Exclusions Emergency Road Service contract stations attempt to provide prompt, effic ient service at all times. However, delays are sometimes unavoidable due to weather, traffic, or unusual service demands. Please call back if he lp does not arrive within the time promised. Your membership must be active and your current annual dues paid to be eligible for service. An unattended vehicle will not be serviced unless you, the member, are unable to remain with it because of injury or safety reasons. Service does not apply to vehicles impounded or ordered towed for lega l violations. AAA does not guarantee the availability of repair facilities or locksm ith service within the towing service area. AAA will not reimburse you for service which has been paid for under a ny insurance policy. Vehicles exceeding one-ton load capacity, trailers, motorcycles and tr ucks so heavily loaded as to interfere with the safe rendering of servic e will not be towed as a membership service. Vehicles driven into areas that are dangerous or inadvisable for trave l are not eligible to receive Emergency Road Service. Snow removal is not provided as part of Emergency Road Service. Towing to and from auction yards and automobile dismantlers will not b e covered. Vehicles unlawfully driven beyond chain control signs will not be serv iced. Neither installation nor removal of tire chains is furnished under Emergency Road Service. Service will be provided only when the vehicle can be safely reached and serviced with equipment ordinarily used by the contract station. Please note: Most services are provided by independent contractors, not C SAA employees or agents. CSAA cannot control the manner in which such se rvices are rendered and is not responsible for misconduct or negligence of contractors. CSAA will attempt to resolve Members' vehicle repair and damage complaints resulting from road services provided by CSAA indepen dent contractors. Member complaints should be reported as soon as possib le and before additional repairs are made. |
| www.grist.org/news/maindish/2003/02/11/warriors -> www.grist.org/news/maindish/2003/02/11/warriors/ Click here Main Dish Road Warriors A travel club provides a greener alternative to AAA By Michelle Nijhuis 11 Feb 2003 It's not easy to knock AAA. The venerable organization has 45 million mem bers who count on it for trip insurance, travel advice, and, most of all , emergency services. It's no wonder that many members have sworn lifeti me loyalty to Triple A: Rescuing drivers marooned on dark, lonely highwa ys can do wonders for membership renewal rates. But is there a seedier side to this respected organization? Environmental and smart-growth activists say AAA's small team of lobbyists uses the g roup's outsized membership and down-home image to promote an agenda that is ecologically irresponsible. In recent years, AAA spokespeople have criticized open-space measures and opposed US EPA restrictions on smog, soot, and tailpipe emissions. Ac cording to a 2001 article in OnEarth magazine by Michael A Rivlin, the AAA even bashed the 1990 Clean Air Act, saying the law served to "threat en the personal mobility of millions of Americans." The group is also a member of the auto industry-dominated American Highwa y Users Alliance, a powerful pro-pavement lobby. Although AAA spokespers on Mantill Williams says his group doesn't support all AHUA positions, c ritics argue that the AAA's credibility often helps the highway alliance get what it wants. Last year, the alliance, with the initial help of the Southern California AAA affiliate, crusaded (unsuccessfully, as it turned out) against the state's crackdown on carbon dioxide emissions from passenger cars and li ght trucks. The AAA affiliate in Washington state enthusiastically backe d Referendum 51, a highway-dominated transportation-funding measure defe ated by voters in the November election. "Everyone loves the AAA, because it gets them out of jams," says Barbara McCann, director of information and research for Smart Growth America. " What isn't as well known is that AAA represents a very narrow viewpoint. without AAA assistance, after all, stranded drivers would really be stranded. But now, the nati on's favorite auto club is facing something even more dangerous than bad press: competition. Getting Better All the Time Enter Mitch Rofsky and Todd Silberman. Rofsky and Silberman, who grew up together in Columbus, Ohio, and were once part of the same Cub Scout tro op, are both seasoned entrepreneurs -- and committed environmentalists. Rofsky, a former attorney for Ralph Nader's Public Citizen group, left the nonprofit world to bec ome one of the nation's most successful green entrepreneurs: He was pres ident of the Working Assets Mutual Funds, which later created the well-k nown long-distance telephone company and credit card service. Rofsky als o founded the Massachusetts-based American Consumer Insurance Agency, a socially responsible insurance company. In the mid-1990s, some environmental activists told Rofsky about their fr equent run-ins with AAA lobbyists, and mentioned that an alternative tra vel club might find a following among environmentalists. Rofsky not only got some en couraging advice about opportunities in the travel industry; They soon acquired an Interne t database of more than 50,000 vacation homes and bought and merged seve ral Oregon travel agencies. Last May, Rofsky and Silberman started selling memberships in the Better World Travelers Club to family and friends. The following month, the clu b officially opened for business, and it now has about 20 employees and 5,000 members. Like AAA, Better World offers emergency assistance, trip insurance, and t ravel advice. Road America, a network of about 50,000 local towing compa nies, provides emergency services for the new club; the network successf ully responded to its first call from a Better World member last summer. Members can also call Better World to get AAA-style road-trip advice (s taffers encourage members to use electronic maps rather than the paper v ersions), and the company's travel consultants can make domestic and int ernational plane, hotel, and rental car reservations. Unlike AAA, though, Better World offers its clients travel service with a conscience. The feel-good perks of membership might sound familiar to a nyone who's signed up for Working Assets Long Distance -- though Better World members don't get any ice cream. Better World gives 1 percent of i ts annual revenues to environmental causes and currently donates $11 to its "carbon offset fund" each time a club member makes a plane reservati on. Money from this fund is now helping to replace outdated boilers in t he Portland public schools, and Rofsky says it will eventually go toward environmental cleanup efforts in members' destinations: "If people are flying to Colorado to go skiing, we'll find a group in Colorado to donat e to." Through discounts and promotions, Better World also encourages it s members to rent hybrid vehicles, stay in environmentally responsible h otels, and sign up for eco-tours. Jonathan Budner, a green-building consultant in Portland, joined Better W orld less than a month after it opened for business. Though he was "perf ectly happy" with AAA's services, he says, he had read about AAA's quest ionable environmental record and was eager to switch. Budner's wife, Hea ther Helming, an AAA member "since she got her driver's license," was a tougher sell; only when she learned that Better World used an establishe d network of emergency-service providers did she agree to sign up. So fa r, Budner and Helming have used Better World to make travel plans and pl ane reservations, and both are pleased with the club's services. They sa y they'd probably opt for hybrid vehicle rentals and green hotels even w ithout the Better World discounts, but "it's nice to have a travel club that endorses those values," says Budner. Yet at its core, critics say, Better World is still about internal combus tion. "We get asked if people should really be traveling," says Rofsky. The worst thing in the world wo uld be for people to never leave home. We're trying to help them travel as lightly on the Earth as they possibly can." Cool Travelers Rofsky hopes Better World's travel services will work the same magic for his company as they have for AAA. "In a lot of ways, we want to be just like them," he acknowledges. Yet at the same time, Better World Traveler s Club is pointedly criticizing its 100-year-old competitor. "We're the cooler, greener alternative to AAA," says the company brochure. "Do you want to affiliate yourself with those who are Antiquated and Actively An ti-Environment? " "Yeah, they're okay," sighs AAA spokesperson Williams when I ask him abou t Better World Travelers Club. But it's not all transit all the time, and it's not all roads all the time. AAA's lo bbyists, he says, only try to make sure that all polluters, not just mot orists, do their part to clean up the air. Rofsky and Silberman are betting that the AAA's "balanced policy" is star ting to rub some of its members the wrong way -- that a substantial numb er of people want a travel club that isn't in cahoots with anti-environm ental lobbies. "I believe that the marketplace works, that it gives cons umers what they want," says Rofsky. "We need to be persuading consumers that business can do a lot more for them." AAA isn't going to be put out of business anytime soon, but Rofsky has bi g dreams. "I say, it took AAA 80 years to get to 20 million members," he says. |
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