Automotive

do you use your CAA membership at all?

  • Last Updated:
  • Oct 21st, 2012 4:42 pm
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Deal Addict
Mar 14, 2006
4409 posts
819 upvotes
UrbanPoet wrote: Yep.
-Got my car towed when my radiator broke.
-Battery boost when i left the ignition on II instead of I to listen to the radio. Oops
haha any stories of you going on a trip and had to use the service? in case that happens to me on a trip lol
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Jan 27, 2006
19792 posts
3421 upvotes
Woodbridge
I just signed up actually.

My Coupe has 118k and after my Alternator failed, I don't trust it anymore. When I'm driving I think I'm seeing the Battery Warning Light go on?

I did multimeter test, which passed. I even bought a battery charger the Eliminator at Canadian Tire (on sale of $54.99).
"I'll put up color bars before I'll put you in front of our cameras."

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Deal Addict
Feb 24, 2007
4233 posts
1220 upvotes
Been with them for 7 years but NEVER need to use it. Only used it a few times for the hotel discount but my company paid for it anyway so I actually don't need it. Tried their auto insurance quote and were not cheaper than what I have right now. On the whole it's not that worth it but it's just like any kind of insurance. I've been thinking about getting the TD VISA Elite as they offer road side assistance as well since CAA has increased the rate already not long ago.
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Deal Expert
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Jan 27, 2004
52937 posts
18148 upvotes
ONTARIO
mingyang wrote: haha any stories of you going on a trip and had to use the service? in case that happens to me on a trip lol
lol Nope...

The radio thing was just me being a dummy.
The radiator thing... eerrr... I shoulda been smarter about that too. My heater stopped working for a week, I shoulda gotten it checked. Woulda prevented the whole mess! lol
Deal Fanatic
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Mar 24, 2004
8683 posts
573 upvotes
Toronto
Used it three times, for the same thing.

Axle snapped, had to get car towed home.
Tow truck driver locked keys in the car, because I needed to be at work and nobody was home. Extra set of keys were at girlfriend's, so I needed to call CAA to unlock the car lol.
Then tow the car to the garage when I booked appointment.

I split a "family" plan with a buddy. When it expires, I'll probably go TD based on the milliondollarjourney comparo.
Banned
Aug 8, 2012
1115 posts
84 upvotes
Dallas, Texas.
I have used it many times, especially when I had beaters.
mingyang wrote: recently got a gold visa elite from TD, will have the deluxe auto club for free.

comparison....
I wish my bank had this as well.
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Feb 6, 2004
6902 posts
586 upvotes
GT'eh
I had it the last 7 yrs and found I was using it more for family and friends than myself. Probably had my car towed 3 times in 7 years, so I guess i broke even. I know tow driver who will tow locally for $100. CAA does give you peace of mind and they have great deals on movie tickets on occasion. but its over priced. Their service used to be better in the late 90's-early 2000s. Their new premium service offer 1 free rental a year I always mad sure to take advantage of that, so that helped to offset the high cost.

I know from people who have worked for them that they have lost a crapton of clients their costs have risen dramatically.
The 2 things CAA could do to win back customers are:
- have a rewards or a reduced fee system (sorta like insurance policies) for those who won't use services much/at all
- let you carry over service calls to the following year.

If you have a beater or don't carry a premium travel cc, it may be worth it for you in the long run. But there was a comparison done where over a 10 year period you would pay something like close to $1300 and the value discounts and it was found if you only travel once a year you would be better off not having CAA and paying for services when you need them. Strangely enough, I can't find the link no more. Some premium CC's offer roadside assistance and many newer cars offer this as a bonus so for many those may be better options.
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Deal Addict
Mar 4, 2011
1057 posts
175 upvotes
Vancouver
No longer have membership as my current vehicle has roadside protection but when I had a membership I used it for
- a tow when alternator died
- battery jump
- battery replacement when we thought the battery had died but actually one of the posts had broken off. Great service as it happened on a Sunday night when we were out for dinner. Battery truck came and replaced battery while we had another coffee in the lounge. No trying to figure out where to get a battery on a Sunday night.
- Lots of maps
- And $10 off CCC reports membership
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Jan 25, 2011
1540 posts
405 upvotes
Twice this year, when my old car failed on me (knew this was coming). Towed it home, then towed it to the scrap.

Now that I got a 2008, no way I'm paying for CAA. Payed them for way too long, not a good investment.

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