Justifying AAA Costs

In the last 8 months of my No Buy project, I have been continually going over our expenses and re-evaluating what we spend. One of my first impulses was to do away with AAA. However, I began this new lifestyle in August, about three months after I had renewed my AAA membership, so I had almost a year to really evaluate the service.


I first became a member of AAA courtesy of Tee. I was six months pregnant and about to drive a thousand miles to Walt Disney World with my other sister and my 12 year old niece. I was a little apprehensive about driving so far being pregnant and my sister has multiple medical conditions that would make her unable to assist with even changing a tire. Tee stepped in and gave me a gift membership to AAA. It gave me great peace of mind for the drive, and we didn't use it at all.


The next time my membership came up, I had an eight month old baby and routinely took day trips to Houston. It was totally worth the $55 for peace of mind. For the next two renewals, it was just a bill that came in the mail, so I sent out a check. I had never used the membership for anything other than discounts.


So, during the first few months of No Buy, I decided I wouldn't renew the membership. I just didn't see the value, but alas, I was soon to learn.


In January, DH had parked his Saturn in the driveway, blocking in the Bug. Somehow, DH had gone to get something out of the Saturn and Hoot had tagged along. I really have no idea what happened, but I know the keys were laying in the front seat and the doors got locked. Blame in on DH, blame it on Hoot. Doesn't matter. I tore up the house looking for the extra set of keys before I gave up and called AAA. I figured I might as well use the service I was paying for, right? Well, I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly someone came, and in under 30 minutes, the keys were free. Hm, maybe I should look at this a little closer.


Earlier this month, when I was at the mall buying my glasses, I came out to the parking lot to find a flat tire. I almost dialed AAA again, but decided against it. Heck, it was only a flat and I have never taken more than 10 minutes to change a tire. So, 8 minutes later, I was tooling down the road on a donut. This did not make a great case for renewing AAA. The score was tied 1-1. However, I have to be honest, if it had been over 85 degrees outside, I totally would have called!


Last weekend, we took the trip to my parents' house for Easter. As we were a whirling mess getting out of town and arrived a bit out of sorts, it should have come as no surprise when I locked my keys in Penny's trunk. Now, it is really hard to lock your keys in a New Beetle. If the driver's side door is open, you can not lock the doors or activate the alarm. However, if the car is armed and you only pop the trunk, it can happen. It can also happen if you go in through the passenger side door, but the trunk was our issue.


Around 8:30 pm on Saturday night, I was out front fishing through the Easter basket supplies I had hidden away in the trunk. Hoot was in the house getting ready for bed, or so I thought. Then, the front door burst open and Hoot was dashing across the lawn. I scrambled to get things recovered and quickly shut the trunk. Yep. And I didn't even need to bother. He just peed on the side of the house and DH herded him back inside. (At 3, he just loves to pee outside!)


My parents live in Westhoff, Texas. It only has a flashing caution light on the highway and a post office. That's it. You can't even buy gas. It's so small, they don't even have a population sign. The nearest town is Cuero, fourteen miles away. If you want to go to the city, you have to drive to Victoria or one of the San Antonio suburbs. I thought this would be a great test of the AAA service.


I gave AAA a call and while I had to spell Westhoff twice and give the zip code at least three times, the agent assured me that it would be no issue. She gave me an hour window. We received the call from the wrecker service within 10 minutes. My mother spoke with the guy and gave him directions. He recognized the road they lived on because it is very long and stretches about 30 miles. She told him at least 3 times to not take Cheapside Road (yes, they live on Cheapside Road, but they used to live on Poverty Point Circle!) all the way to their house. He took Cheapside anyway and was 20 minutes late getting to us. Glad I wasn't in the middle of nowhere, oh, well, I guess I was, but at least I was at a house and not stuck in the car with DS.


So, Mr. Congeniality gets out of the truck, apologizes for being late, admits that he took the bad road, and says it will be no problem to get into my car. He uses his air cushion to pry open the door and is amazed that when he pushes the unlock button nothing will happen. Um, yeah, Volkswagen, alarm.... These are not friendly cars to steal. I like it that way. So, he tries the unlock button again and again. I kept thinking, "Good Lord, just let me do it" but you know.... So, I suggest he try the door handle from the inside. He pries and pries and finally, she gives. Boy, does she ever! Penny's door bursts open and this guy is put onto his back in the driveway. Her alarm is going crazy and in the back of my head, I remember the salesman telling me that if the car is breached and left armed for so long, the computer will shut down. I totally didn't even check on him. The trunk latch will not pop and the locks still won't unlock, so I dive into the back seat. It's full of car toys, blankets, and books for the drive, so I have to shove it all up into the front seat. Then, I have to throw the car seat out onto the driveway so I can put the back seat down and get into the trunk. I finally have the key and I shut off the alarm. Mr. Congeniality is still going on and on about how the door burst open like that and how crazy it was. I was wondering if he had ever seen a Herbie movie!

And just like that, AAA pulled ahead on the scoreboard. As our cars get older and we put more miles on them, the score will probably get even bigger. So, as I have been evaluating, it looks like I may raise rather than lower my AAA bill. DH's Saturn will hit 200K miles this spring or summer, looks like I'll be adding his coverage as well. Also, as curiosity got the better of me, I asked Mr. Congeniality what it would've cost me without AAA. With the mileage, it would've run almost $110! Well, actually it wouldn't have because for $45 in gas, I could've just come home in my mom's car for the extra keys.


On the hunt:
He was so busy running for eggs, he couldn't even be bothered with his basket!

Overheard at the bookstore:
Don't know! I haven't been there since Friday and I'm not going back until Monday! Yippee!