The AA - you a member ?

Silvera

Are you a member of the Automobile Association ?

Has it a role in defending/voicing motorists concerns to the govt. - or is it merely a breakdown service, insurance, etc provider ?

unkel

Oh yes I am. My last car was 7 years old when I bought it and 10 years old when I sold it. Current car same plan. For me AA membership is a cheap part of my budget

I have found their service to be of superb standard - although my experience is based on only 4 call-outs in the last 4 years

For me it is only a breakdown / insurance kinda service. I wouldn't pay a cent for the AA to lobby for motorists. Their lobby is limb to put it mildly

stratos

stopped breaking down the minute i joined them. odd eh ?

Winning Hand

Been a member for 2 years, never yet had a call out. Hope I never do either

Our man in Havana

I think the AA might hate me. I had 4 callouts in the last year.

mike65

Not a member, every now and again I think about it but never seem to do anything...

Mike.

Our man in Havana

mike65 wrote:

Not a member, every now and again I think about it but never seem to do anything...

Mike.

Tis handy when you drive 130 miles a day to work at anti social hours.

528i

I'm with mike on this one, but i'd certainly give it alot more thought if driving to somewhere like the south of france or wexford.

Standard cover is probably only the price of a puncture is it?

Kêrmêttê

I had to get my brand new out of the box 2000 reg car towed 3 times in the first year of owning it. Sold it. Joined the AA with my next car and I've never had to call them. This is gonna be the 4th year I'm a member.

The cool thing about having AA membership is that YOU are the member not your car. So if you're a passenger in a mate's car and it breaks down YOU can call them out to have a look at the broken down vehicle. Pretty cool imo.

It feels like I've wasted my money because I have never needed to call them out. But when you look at it realistically it gives great peace of mind for the female motorist like myself.
My sister, for example, had a blow out on the M50 at 10pm one winters night. She called them up to come out and change the spare wheel and they were out to her within 10 minutes! Excellent!!

mike65

110 euro a year basic, quite a bit more than the UK price though I notice the packages are not directly comparible.

http://www.aaireland.ie/membership/apply.asp

Mike.

528i

fingernails intact

€110 buys alot of punctures.. sometimes I wish I even had a spare wheel.. I think the mclaren F1 had a satellite communication system hooked up with Munich HQ which immediately contacted them if anything happened or went wrong with the car, so they'd send out a helicopter full of technicians to sort it out and if they couldn't, they'd airlift it to the nearest bmw dealership for you.

Thats what I call service, and tremendously reassuring should you find yourself (and your gold plated engine bay) stranded in some middle eastern country amidst a Washington defcon-5 situation, or worse.....Tallaght

Kêrmêttê

Aha! But if you already have your car insurance with the AA, (like myself), you are only charged approx €60 which is pretty sweet!
Some form of loyalty discount I think.

Silvera

That's right, if you have insurance through the AA (whichI have!) it costs c€60 to join.
I have been 'thinking about it' for the last few years

(The offer also includes "associate membership" i.e. for your partner, parent, etc. for c€35.)

However, I would like to know more about how/if the AA really represents Irish Motorists - their website has little info on this subject.

ds20prefecture

528i wrote:

I'm with mike on this one, but i'd certainly give it alot more thought if driving to somewhere like the south of france or wexford.

Standard cover is probably only the price of a puncture is it?

I pay €35 p.a., my wife pays €60

The AA do not cover continental Europe.

I recently did a 2 week 6000km round trip to Switzerland in the DS, but the AA would not give me breakdown cover. My insurance company (Carole Nash) offered road-side assistance anywhere in the Europe (not just EU) but I took out travel insurance with them for €60 just in case. This covered flying the myself & spouse home in case of mishap. The car would be trailered home too, but I imagine somewhat later.

€60 for 2 weeks piece of mind is quite expensive, but the car is 32 years old so it is justified.

Needless to say, once I took the insurance out, I didn't need it.

opus

Any experiences with the RAC? My AA membership ends this month & I was wondering if it was worth switching.

Ba_barbaraAnne

Joined the AA as I do a lot of driving up to Dublin and would be lost if I broke down. Happened once years ago and was stranded overnight with 3 kids. Have only used them once since joining, but it's nice to know they are there if I need them.

Have AA insurance cover too and its really cheap. Great policy for women drivers over 40.

Our man in Havana

opus wrote:

Any experiences with the RAC? My AA membership ends this month & I was wondering if it was worth switching.

I was with them for a year. I would never use them again. Only the car is covered with is a disadvantage. When you need to call them you get thru to a UK or beyond call centre which means trying to tell someone you are 2 miles from Aschragh is a nightmare. They don't have their own vehicles so they use local muppets, not good as in my experience, they will make no attempt to fix you on the side of the road. The extras with the AA are farr better in my opinion.