Ever used Roadside Assistance for Prius?

The second week I had my '04 Prius, my partner was driving a steep uphill grade when she was unable to avoid a pot hole that resulted in a blow out.

We live in an extremely remote, rural area of Northern California where everything takes longer. I first attempted to change the tire myself, but given the extremely steep grade we were on, I opted to let Toyota handle the dilema. Jacking a car up on a steep grade to change a tire is not a good idea.

I phoned the Toyota Roadside Assistance and they told me they would be out in about an hour to help us change the tire. It turned out that the same tow truck driver I've dealt with for years and years in this area, through AAA, was the contracted towing company that Toyota in turn contacted to award the towing job to.

The driver, asked me and my partner to stand behind the Prius and lean on the rear bumper while he jacked the car up to remove the blown Integrity (or lack thereof) and install the rinky dink donut spare. We both laughed and leaned and felt the car pushing against us. I could actually rock the car on the silly jack back and forth.

The tow truck driver was quick, but when he was done, he said he couldn't unhook the car from his truck untill I gave him another $75. I asked him if I would have called AAA instead of Toyota, would he be charging me an additional $75? His reply was, "...no... AAA covers up to $150 per call, but Toyota Roadside Assitance only covers the first $75."

There's more to this story, but I just got the call that dinner is on the table... I'll have to give you part 2 to the story later. Stay tuned...

 

They cover $100 per call with the '05s, although $150 sounds like "highway robbery" to me! <_<

 

Well, the cost may depend on how far out in the boonies you are.

 

<_< I have never needed roadside assistance; however, it is comforting to know that I have it should it become an issue. I also have been a AAA member for 32 years with few instances of roadside assistance required. A major contributing factor: I maintain my vehicles well.

 

Within the first month or so, I got the "Battery will not charge in Neutral" screen, which as most know here is a normal, if not poorly worded warning about a door ajar when you shift out of Park. Annoying buzzer rang out, too.

Not knowing it was normal, I called RA and I was on hold for half an hour before I just gave up and called the local dealer.

In the course of driving to the dealer, I closed the door and the problem screen went away. Still went there to make sure there was not a problem, since I was heading out on a road trip that day.

Local dealer also had not heard of this screen, checked for codes, and only found a few relating to the SKS (I had washed the car with it in my pocket and that triggered codes), which they cleared.

So far RA was no help at all. However, if I am stuck, really stuck, I'll have to wait on hold no matter how long. Like most businesses, they prerecord a "all lines are busy" excuse and choose to understaff the help lines to save money.

A very bad first impression for someone already predisposed to be pissed off due to car failure. This is not good marketing for Toyota.

 

To this point I'm very glad that I have not needed to use the roadside assistance. AAA has a very good reputation for providing quality roadside assistance and on top of that they provide it to any driver or car in which there is a covered AAA passenger.

If I'm not incorrect on this, Toyota, and most manufacturers that offer roadside assistance with new cars, do not use AAA for service. I believe that Toyota uses Interstate Motor Club (or some other assistance provider by a name like that) for their call center and dispatch service. Toe truck owners then subscribe to the dispatch services. So a driver who is a AAA provider can also be a provider for other services. This may especially be the case in more rural or remote areas where there may be one or two toe truck operators.

Anyway, I have a friend who worked for a local call center a couple of years ago. This call center took from everything from for Earthlink tech support to a couple different motor clubs and a number of other services providing first level customer support and pre-escalation. Anyway, he answered phones for Allstate Motor Club. Frankly, after hearing his stories of basically bad customer service and limited service (i.e. service provided was not as advertised) I am convinced that if you are going to subscribe to a motor club, it had better be AAA, because nobody else is as helpful or concerned as they seem to be for their membership.

 

Yeah... it's pretty expensive, however if you've ever been to Shelter Cove (The Lost Coast of Northern California) you'd understand. It's 1 hour of twisting, up and down, switchbacks with no guard rails that if you happen to take your eye off the road for more than like, 3-4 seconds, you are going over and saying, "good bye cruel world... it's been nice knowing you".

 

I also used them several times when I first got my Prius. Apparently the 12V battery kept draining... my friends were all saying, "I told you not to buy that thing." I had to have the tow truck come out 3 or 4 times to jump start it before Toyota agreed to have me bring it in and leave it for a few days so they could diagnos. After three days (they gave me a Jeep Liberty rental) they called me and said the JBL amplifier was not shutting off when I powered down. Therefore draining the 12V battery. They replaced the amp (under the passenger seat) and I haven't had the problem since. My friends are all envying me now. He he he.

 

On the Yahoo email group someone has posted that the Complimentry Roadside Assistance has been discontinued for the 2006 Prius. Whether that's true or not I don't know. You can read the thread at
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius-2G/message/45397

I have AAA and have used them (not with the Prius, though).

 

Interesting that the 2006 Priuses will no longer have complimentary Roadside Assistance.

(Oops! Duplicate post -- sorry!)