Roadside assistance components vary from towing reimbursement to sign and drive tow service offered by full-service auto clubs. An annual fee of between $49 to $100 provides towing, flat-tire service, lost-key lockout assitance, extraction of vehicles that are stuck, and fuel and  coolant delivery. Some also offer maps, directions, travel and hotel discounts, and help in locating hotels or alternative transportation when you are stranded.

Manufacturer’s high-tech services such as OnStar can also have your car call for help and reporting the your location if you break down or have a collision.

Between those extremes are the auto manufacturer plans that come with a new car for the length of the auto warranty. Many companies offer roadside assistance plans, most of them farm out the work to qualified providers nationally.

Depending on where you are and when you break down, help could take a few minutes or up to an hour. Even AAA with 50 million members has left drivers in the lurch. One customer we recently signed said that AAA took seven hours to come to his sister’s aid when her car broke down on a trip from
New York to Delaware. AAA said that it was changing towing companies and the turn over was not going well.

Reasearch the roadside assistance program you join carefully as some are better than others.