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Good Sams/ FMCA ?
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In real money, Jon, I am at about $1800 for 16 years.
For that they sent a guy to change a blow out on my brand new fifth wheel on top of Jellico Mountain in Tennessee about 3′ from the traffic lane.
Sent a guy to help me in a parking lot when my fifth wheel broke a shackle bracket and spring.
Jumped my pickup truck two different times after it had been parked in motel parking lots for 3-4 weeks during overseas mission trips.
Unlocked the car doors for my wife one time at the mall. (You did not hear that from me)
Sent a tow truck to jump me in the first two months I owned the bus when I left the running lights on. He did not have the capability to jump 24 volt systems, but he pointed out to me that I had a battery charger that I could use. Duh! Four hours later, I was rolling.
Sent a mobile guy to a campground to remove an outer drive tire and inspect it when I noticed it was low after sitting a few days.
AND reimbursed me $825 for the tow in Houston.
Moneywise, I would say I am about even or close either way.
When I factor in the little bit of peace of mind that I derive from the coverage and the great big peace of mind my wife has from it, I am way ahead. The other phone numbers I have stored and this forum give me even more peace of mind.
As is often pointed out here, everyone has a different tolerance for risk.
I do agree that Good Sam, Coach-Net or anything else should not cause us to be lazy on preparing our coaches to ride down the road with the least amount of problems possible. If you will tell me how to provide proper maintenance for the wiring harness from the ECM to the fuel injectors to prevent another gut-wrenching tow, I will put it into practice immediately.
As always, great conversation here.
Davy
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I have no answer about how to prevent the unforeseen problems such as your recent ones. There is no routine maintenance process or pre-trip inspection procedure I can think of that would have prevented or anticipated that one.
However, flame me if you must, but insurance claims, not only road side assistance claims are something that forces those of us who take pains to avoid them to pay for those of others who are more than willing to allow others to share their expenses.
Our insurance premiums are out of sight, and are going to get significantly worse.
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Just renewed CoachNet. $159 (1 year) for Premier Service. Have had it for 9 years and never used it. With what it coasts to tow, and with my older coach, I think it’s worth it.
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I was wrong the Good Sams is $139 they want me to uo grade to the Platinum $219 not sure what difference ?
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They get to keep more of your money. Next question?
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I recently renewed my Good Sam for $149. I paid an extra 10 bucks because I wouldn’t sign up to let them automatically debit my account. I used them once for the bus and once for my car but never for towing.
From what I found out all the insurance companies use the same organizations for service. So I’m not sure if it makes much difference Good Sam vs FMCA?
Come on Jon, Good Sam has a smiley face on the card front.
Harry
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
He isn’t smiling, he’s laughing.
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My experience with Good Sam has been excellent.
A changed flat tire at a football game, one at a RV park, a complete road side pick up and tow on a large flat bed for my twin axle trailer and boat (when I lost a wheel bearing), mechanical change of a pulley in an RV park in Arkansas and a recent change of a punctured tire on a ranch in West Texas ….. all covered. On each occasion, we received call backs from the dispatchers and follow ups.
When we sold the coach, we renewed the road side coverage for our 1.) boat and trailer, 2.) Bar BQ twin axle 28″ open trailer …. and three cars…. $110 per year … no coach coverage. Interestingly enough, they would not road side cover our 28′ car carrying enclosed trailer. Do not know why.
It is my understanding that Good Sam and Coach Net use the exact same vendors.
Pres
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Jon is cracking me up. Are you on the ornery juice again?
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Jeff,
He ran out of Geritol.
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whoever you call TELL THEM YOU NEED TRAILER OR FLATBED FOR A 45 FTR. IF THEY JUST HOOK U UP. THEY WILL BOUNCE YOUR BACK END ALL OVER THE ROAD. I THINK THEY ALSO,HAVE TO DISCONNECT YOUR DRIVETRAIN?
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When I ran out of Geritol I switched over to Carter’s Little Liver Pills and they might make me grumpy. Or maybe I get really concerned when it seems getting towed or trailered is a reasonable decision because someone else (like an insurance company) is paying for it.
In case my aversion to putting a coach on a trailer or towing is not clearly understood that is the absolute last thing you ever want to do. But if you feel compelled to do that, you as an owner have to protect yourself and the coach. First, make certain it is being towed to a destination where there is ample expertise to work on the problem. Otherwise you run the risk of being a victim who ends up paying some shop for their on the job training.
Second make certain the person or company doing the towing knows and understands how to tow the bus, or get one on the trailer without damage. The number of owners who experienced coach damage way beyond the cost of the repair that created the need for towing in the first place.
Make sure towing is an absolute necessity. Over the years we have had posts about towing for really silly reasons. For example a failed parking brake diaphragm can cause a substantial loss of air, but all it takes is about 20 minutes worth of work to cage the brake, block the air flow and the coach can be safely driven anywhere for service. But despite the ease to repair or work around simple issues owners continue to be willing to risk the damage that can happen to the coach from towing.
The good news is if you really need a tow your road service insurance will pay for it, but the bad news is that may not be the best option and despite what others have posted about their numerous experiences and delight about having the insurance coverage the insurance company is betting you will use less services than you are paying for. And your best insurance is to do your best to understand your coach and do a good pre-trip inspection and a proactive maintenance program.
Only really old farts on here (Truk?) have heard of or know about Carter’s Little Liver pills.
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