Screwed by AAA

[BruceK]

My motorcycle is having trouble starting so I want to have it towed to a bike repair shop 25 miles away.

I have AAA roadside assistance coverage, so normally there would be no issue as the towing coverage limit is 100 miles, much more than I need for this breakdown.  However AAA has recently changed their policy and now they make a distinction between car towing and motorcycle towing    They only cover motorcycle towing by dollar amount - not miles.  They provide $500 coverage and the AAA member is responsible for any amount over that.  Seems generous enough.    After all, motorcycles are much smaller than automobiles and virtually every kind of tow truck used these days is already a flatbed - perfect for motorcycles.  So a towing a motorcycle should be a pretty simple proposition. 

That could not be further from the truth.  For motorcycle towing AAA decides that their contractor gets to turn the meter on as soon as they leave their place of business.  The contractor they've selected to provide this service happens to be about 70 miles away from me.  And they are also about 70 miles away from the major metropolitan area - San Antonio – for which they provide towing coverage. So, to tow my little motorcycle 25 miles away they propose charging $650, of which AAA will pay $500, and I'd be on the hook for the $150.  I pushed back strongly on having to pay anything out-of-pocket (since they did not inform me of the change to their policy for motorcycles) and after many phone calls AAA found another towing contractor closer to me.  This second contractor is just 21 miles away from me.   However, the new quote to tow my motorcycle 25 miles away is  $1,100.  WTF!  So that would be $500 covered by AAA and then $600 that I would need to pay out of pocket.  Seriously., WTF? 

$1100!?  That's the price you'd expect to pay to transport a motorcycle from the East Coast to the West Coast. 

I will be reevaluating the need for a AAA annual membership.

[94touring]

Yeah that's insane.  You can't fit the bike in the back of your little truck?  You could rent a uhaul or pickup truck and get the bike to the shop easily enough.

[MiniDave]

I agree, if you're little trucklet has a tow hitch, rent a small trailer from Uhaul and away you go, cost less than $50 I'll bet. If your Yoda doesn't have a hitch, maybe it should?

If you were going to flat tow the Mini, what would you use?

I would seriously evaluate your AAA membership - better see if they've changed the car towing policy too!

What's next, no free maps? (Or do they even do that anymore?)

[BruceK]

No tow hitch on the Toyota.  But there's one on my MINI !

Somehow, as I've gone down this rabbit hole of getting it towed, I've totally forgotten that I can take care of this all by myself. Major brain fart.  It was just target fixation on my part as I was expecting it to be easy-peasy with the service I've already purchased from the AAA. 

I've rented motorcycle trailers from U-Haul before and they are insanely cheap - like $15 for 24 hours.  Very easy to pull with my MINI.   These trailers are set up perfectly for motorcycles and if you are ever looking to rent a very cheap small trailer for other stuff consider using a U-Haul motorcycle trailer.

[MiniDave]

Doh!  How could I forget about your MINI?  :-[

[BruceK]

Doh!  How could I forget about your MINI?  :-[

I know!  She's been with me for nearly 19 years now, so I definitely have no excuses. 

I was just so fixated on fighting to get what I paid for that I wasn't looking at alternatives.

[MPlayle]

If U-Haul gives you grief about towing one of their motorcycle trailers behind your MINI, let me know.  My Jeep Wrangler (4-door) has a tow hitch and will definitely tow their motorcycle trailers.

[BruceK]

Thanks Michael.  I hope I can handle myself.  When I moved from Dallas to San Antonio 18 months ago I used a U-Haul motorcycle trailer pulled by my MINI to transport my motorcycle.  I had no problems at the big corporate U-Hall place, fortunately.   If I remember correctly, the motorcycle trailer is about 800 lbs and the bike is about 500 lbs or so.   So well under the 2000 lbs capacity of the car.