Auto Insurance vs. AAA: What's Better For Roadside Assistance? - The Motley Fool

Evaluate your options to marque the champion prime for you and your car.

Key points

• Roadside assistance is highly useful.
• A batch of car insurers either connection it arsenic add-on sum oregon adjacent see it arsenic portion of a regular policy.
• AAA is champion known for roadside assistance, but a rank comes with different perks that mightiness beryllium utile to you.

If you've been a licensed operator for immoderate sizable magnitude of time, chances are you've recovered yourself connected the broadside of the roadworthy successful request of immoderate help. Perhaps you ran retired of gas, locked yourself retired of your car, oregon had a elemental level tire. Or possibly you've had thing much colorful spell wrong, similar accidentally moving implicit someone's discarded tailpipe connected a snowy highway, puncturing your lipid pan, and having each of your engine's lipid leak out. That was maine 1 time backmost erstwhile I was a grad student. It wasn't a amusive day, but thankfully, I had roadside assistance sum done my auto insurance.

Roadside assistance sum tin beryllium added to galore car security policies, and having entree to it tin truly travel successful handy. Roadside assistance tin assistance you if your car breaks down for immoderate crushed -- it tin see towing services, artillery jumpstarts, locksmith help, and more. And it tin beryllium particularly utile if you person an older car that is retired of warranty from the manufacturer, arsenic they are much apt to necessitate mechanical intervention.

But if you're funny successful roadside assistance, positive entree to various discounts and different utile perks, you whitethorn beryllium wondering if you should get a AAA rank alternatively of opting for roadside assistance done your insurer. Here are a fewer questions and answers that tin assistance you determine betwixt car security and AAA for roadside assistance.

Does my car security travel with roadside assistance?

If you're trying to determine whether to outpouring for roadside assistance done AAA, it's a bully thought to reappraisal the argumentation details for your car insurance, arsenic you mightiness already person it. If you person a broad argumentation with your insurer, roadside assistance could beryllium included, oregon you whitethorn already beryllium paying for it. Through your insurer, it's apt a nominal interest of possibly $8 to $25 per year. If you already person this coverage, oregon tin easy adhd it to your security policy, is it worthy besides considering a AAA membership? Perhaps.

How overmuch is simply a AAA membership?

Pricing for AAA memberships alteration based connected wherever you live, however galore vehicles you privation to cover, and whether immoderate peculiar deals are available. As of this writing, present are the disposable rank tiers/annual costs disposable to me:

As you tin see, adjacent the basal level of rank is much than the mean yearly outgo of roadside assistance done an car insurer. However, AAA precise intelligibly outlines the level of work they provide; for example, if I opted for the Plus level membership, I would beryllium entitled to 4 roadside assistance calls per year, and AAA would tow my car up to 100 miles. My car security argumentation is done 1 of the larger nationalist insurers, and according to its website arsenic good arsenic my acquisition of utilizing this work successful the past, it lone covers towing my conveyance to "the nearest repair facility." This is little adjuvant to maine than being capable to take wherever my conveyance is taken. And remember, AAA rank comes with much than conscionable assistance if your car breaks down.

What does a AAA rank include?

AAA is beauteous well-known for offering a myriad of discounts connected edifice stays, car rentals, and different question expenses. But it besides gives members the accidental to reap discounts connected eating out, gym memberships, and adjacent medicine eyeglasses. And these discounts are disposable careless of the AAA rank level you purchase. Suddenly, paying for adjacent a basal level rank mightiness marque much consciousness for you.

Now we scope the crux of the matter: Does paying for a AAA rank marque consciousness for your budget? If you volition usage the discounts and perks disposable to you arsenic a AAA member, you're a predominant traveler, oregon adjacent if you thrust an older conveyance that is prone to mechanical problems and you'd similar to person much flexibility successful the roadside assistance disposable to you, past a AAA rank mightiness so marque consciousness for you. It's a bully thought to find retired if you person roadside assistance sum done your auto insurer, what it mightiness cover, and however overmuch a AAA rank mightiness outgo you. This accusation volition assistance you marque the close choice.

If you, too, person known the dread that comes with a car breaking down and leaving you stranded connected the broadside of the road, you've nary uncertainty rejoiced that roadside assistance programs tin prevention the time (or astatine slightest your bank account, due to the fact that towing services are often expensive). Now that you cognize however to determine betwixt roadside assistance done your insurer oregon AAA, you are amended prepared to beryllium harmless down the instrumentality (as good arsenic save immoderate money).