Leslie Cra

OK, it's 2pm and a beautiful Spring afternoon in Washington, D.C.; I've got the top down with nowhere specifically to go except enjoy the day and the ride. I hit a pothole and lose my right front and rear tires (new Michelin Pilot A/Ss) - BUMMER! But I say to myself, "it could be worse, `cause I've got 'road hazard' insurance on the tires and I'm driving a Lexus which has a 'world-class' Roadside Assistance program." Well, not exactly - I telephone Lexus Roadside Assistance, they ask me where do I want the car towed (I tell them NTB in Rockville, Md. (not too far away - I'm on 16th Street for those of you who know this area) and they then tell me that the tow truck will arrive in under 90 minutes. That sounded cool to me because it was only 2:30pm and NTB was going to be open until 8pm. This is not a good novel, so I'll go to the end - it took 5 hours for a tow truck to come, the car was not taken to NTB, it was taken to the dealership where it was purchased, AAA (the company that has the Lexus Roadside Assistance contract in the D.C. area) NEVER CAME. First, I was told it would take 90 minutes for the truck to arrive, after that 90 minutes passed I was told it was going to be another 75 minutes, then after that had too passed they told me around 6pm, and at 6:30 they told me AAA wasn't coming at all. Why? You're probably asking. Was the weather inclement? - No, it was a beautiful day. Dangerous neighborhood? - No again, VERY upscale neighborhood near Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Why, then? Well, first AAA told Lexus Roadside Assistance staff that traffic was causing delays. [Traffic was moderate to light where I was parked.] Then AAA told Lexus Roadside Assistance that the ONLY DRIVER available was in Virginia and that they could come and get me (in D.C.) and take me to VIRGINIA, but not to Maryland. OK, to better understand the UTTER STUPIDITY of that statement you have to know that where I was (where AAA COULD come and get me) was within 1 mile of the Md./D.C. border and 15 miles north of the Va./D.C. border. I also LIVE in Maryland and was my car was going to be fixed (i.e., where I had purchased the tires and applicable insurance for them) was in...guess?...MARYLAND! At that point I did what anyone who has been sitting for 4.5 hours waiting for a tow that was supposed to come in under 90 minutes would do - I telephoned my Lexus Dealer with whom I had purchased a total of 3 Lexus automobiles, including the SC430 I was sitting in, told the Sales Manager all that had transpired up to then, and asked for help. This is where the story gets better - the Sales Manager said that if no one came for me in 15 minutes to call him back and he would personally come and get me. Actually, a tow truck did come within the next 15 minutes - not AAA. Lessons learned - 1. NEVER use AAA - the tow driver that arrived around 7:30pm told me that AAA will always prefer the best fee. So if you're in the queue for an AAA tow and someone calls AAA after you and AAA could make more $$$ with them, you're SOL (and not just for that person who came later, but also for ANYONE ELSE WHO COMES AFTER that and with whom AAA can make more than with you - Aah Capitalism! 2. If it's during business hours when you breakdown, call your dealer before you call Roadside Assistance and give them first-crack at the problem. He/she wants to sell you more Lexus automobiles, so test their loyalty to you. 3. Purchase road hazard insurance when you purchase new tires (actually the jury is still out on this one because the car hasn't yet made it over to NTB but, under the circumstances, it would seem to be a wise choice. [More to follow....]

JCtx

Glad you shared that with us Leslie. I personally think Roadside assistance is more sales gimmick than anything else.
That's the main reason I'll continue to put up with run-craps, despite being stiffer; peace of mind.

Hope everything gets fixed to your satisfaction, and check those wheels. Good day.

WhiteTiger

Sorry to hear the bad news, but glad everything worked out for you!

Damn tow truck capitalists! (not sarcasm)

DropTop430

Sorry to hear about that, sounds like a rough way to spend your afternoon...

May I ask how you like the Pilot Sport All Seasons? I am pretty sure that is the tire that I going to replace the run flats with

What tire did you have on before that, OEM Run flats?

Regards,

Leslie Cra

To DropTop430: I LOVE the Pilot A/Ss; they are much better than the Dunlop run flats that came with the car.

Just heard from the dealer - they took the car to NTB and 4 new tires are being installed. So, it looks like the road hazard insurance DEFINATELY paid off.

By the way, the dealer that I've been referring to is Lexus of Silver Spring. As I indicated earlier, this is my third Lexus from them and the Service and Sales staff there has always treated me like they appreciated and wanted my business.

Dozer42

Strange, I've had nothing but excellent experiences with AAA, specifically the AAA Plus service.

They provide up to 4 service calls per year, with free towing up to 100 miles.

This can be HUGELY useful when you drive modified vehicles.

One time my BMW Z3 had a flat up in the Sonoma Wine Country, no way I could get a replacement Toyo Proxes T1S 255/35/18 replacement tire on a Sunday afternoon in Sonoma, so they just towed me ALL the way back to San Mateo to the shop where I purchased the tires where it was replaced under warranty for free!

Another time I'd just had the Corvette Z06 supercharged, made a wicked 607.1RWHP, but they neglected to tie down the coolant overflow tank hose, it rubbed up against the supercharger belt, eventually broke it, and bing, I'm stranded 100 miles from home down at a swingin' party in Gilroy. Again, AAA+ to the rescue, towed all the way to my shop in Santa Clara, free, and I'm good to go.

Heck, just a few weeks ago I drove the Corvette down to LA to pick up the SC430 from Irvine. We needed to get the Corvette over to a shop in Ventura, just about 100 miles away, and traffic was HORRIBLE. Should we blow our weekend and get stuck in traffic for hours and hours and hours and schlep over there with the Vette and SC430, drop it off, then schlep all the way back to Luxury Motor works to get the remote top feature installed? Heck no! Just call AAA+! Hey guys, send a flatbed over and take my Vette to Ventura.

THANKS!

Use em and abuse em. No point in wasting money on an AAA membership if you're not going to use it.

I can relate a ton of other stories where it's helped out enormously. For $65 or so a year it's a steal, and the additional discounts on rental cars, hotels, etc can pay for the membership in one weekend easily.

Roofless

I wish this subject got discussed more, but I bet a lot of us have never needed it for our Lex cars. Thanks for all your insights Leslie, and sorry the system totally sucked for you. Curious to know if it's better in other parts of the country.

Great comment on your AAA membership Dozer42. I had let my membership slip a couple years ago, but after reading your post (and Leslie's,) I'm going back to AAA. Great move Dozer42 on getting your Vette to Ventura. I live in those parts and can understand your reasoning.

I've had BMW and Mercedes assistance in the last five years, but never had to use it. Nor have I seen their programs discussed on their boards. My cousin owns an Accura, and told me they have a 30 minute policy for their assistance, which she has successfully used twice.

MarsB007

the 1 time i used Lexus roadside I wasn't very happy either although after much *****ing to supervisors I reached a compromise...

I used to live in Gainesville, FL at the time and needed to have the car towed for some suspension problem to the nearest dealer... Jacksonville, FL... about a nice 2 hour drive more or less. (They didn't want me going to the Toyota dealership... cause apparently they bill separately or something).

I called Roadside, they agreed to tow my car... about an hour later they showed up, took the car and it was on it's merry way to Jax. Of course I couldn't leave for 3 days with the car, so I allowed them to take the car with the understanding with the Roadside idiot that I would get the car back in a few days.

Needless to say... when the service dept. told me my car was ready... i called Roadside, but they said that they weren't allowed to tow it back and that the person that told me such a thing didn't have the authority to do that... after many supervisors laters, threats and *****ing... i got a big fat SORRY. They were going to pay for a loaner for ME to drive to Jax and get my car.

After probably a good 20 minutes of cursing at the "supervisor" i cracked down and decided to take the trip... made a day out of it... Got the nicest SUV the rental company had which was 1 way and went on a trip...

Hope I dont need them again...

Doc C

Thanks for the info. The Pilot Sports are WAY better than the runflats for ride,noise, performance etc. My wife hit a large bump where asphalt was rotomilled away from concrete on a bridge at 45 mph in construction zone. Not only ruined all four run crap tires, but bent all four wheels. Most wheel shops thought that the stiffness of runflats transmitted more force to the wheel and caused it to be bent. Either that or the crappy L-sportline wheels (whose customer service is rivaled only by Kia) were faulty.

Doc C

Leslie Cra

Final Update

No damage to the car other than to the right front and rear tires. NTB installed 2 new tires for a total cost of $8.00 - that's the Tire Disposal Fee that is charged by the State. So, I definately would recommend purchasing their's or any other sort of road hazard insurance for tires.

As for AAA and/or Lexus Roadside Assistance, I learned afterwards that because I am insured with GEICO I could have used GEICO's roadside assistance and that GEICO promises to be at the location of my breakdown within an hour. I pray that there will not be a next time, but if I should breakdown again I will call GEICO and my Lexus dealer (if the occurrence is during business hours) in that order.

Happy and safe motoring to all!