When I was hit head on by a postal truck on Dec. 16, I called Prius Roadside Assistance for, well, Assistance. I was worried about a random tow truck towing it. I wanted it to be towed to a Toyota body shop but ended up having to go to a tow yard first. I have prepaid maintenance (which I'm really happy to have) which is supposed to include Roadside Assistance. The first call was made by my passenger who could not find the VIN because the police officer had it and the operator told her she couldn't help. I called them again they finally found the car and told me they would send someone out as soon as possible and call 20 minutes or so before the tow truck would arrive. This was around 4:30 in the afternoon. After a couple of hours and no call from Roadside Assistance, the police insisted the car be towed, and so it was. I never heard a word from Toyota Roadside Assistance. I called the next day and was told they were very sorry, but a tow truck went out at 8:50 and found no car and they could not reach me by phone (even though they had the correct number) They had not contacted me the night of the accident at home, cell or my passenger's cell. I called Toyota Corporate to complain and was again given an apology and connected to.....Roadside Assistance, where I told them the whole story again and they apologized again. I'm just glad I wasn't waiting on a deserted stretch of I15 with a flat tire. I don't have confidence in the Toyota Motoring plan now and have purchased additional roadside assistance. Has anyone else had this experience with Toyota Roadside Assistance?
I am generally quite cynical about auto tow people. Despite whatever "national" coverage or assistance one might have, it still boils down to the locals who contract for the service. Their quality can vary all over the map, thus the ultimate gamble. Sorry you had a bad experience. Hope it works out for you.
I have roadside assistance with my Jitterbug phone. I have yet to use it and hope I never will. $ 4.00 a month.
Manufacturer's roadside assistance is just another call center. I had a new BMW motorcycle that quit on me at about 600 miles. It came with "legendary BMW roadside assistance," so I called them from a nearby gas station. -It took forever for them to answer the phone. -I had to explain where I was several times. -After waiting about two hours, I called them and they said they were still trying to get a towing company that would haul it within their payment limit, as I'd have to pay the overage. "We're trying to save you money." -After another hour of staring at my cell phone I called them and they said the tow truck had been delayed and, "We tried to call you." Total BS. -Finally, a flat bed tow truck wandered into the gas station for fuel and I roped him into hauling my bike to the dealer. I submitted my bill to BMW Roadside Assistance and they paid about 60% of it. Next time I need any "factory roadside assistance," I'll just call a towing company directly and send in the bill after the fact - and save myself half a day of BS.
for the same $4 a month on your cell phone you can get real AAA roadside assistance and probably get more coverage. ive used the roadside cingular uses for lockouts and out of gas calls. its alright, i never actually had a car towed with it, so i don't know how many miles of free towing you get... the only time i called for a tow was when i was in an accident and they said they wouldn't help me, their service is only for roadside breakdowns, they did not give me any phone numbers for any towing places, and i had my wireless modem with me at the time, so i went to craigslist at 10 oclock at night to find a tow in california AAA is like $60 a year and if you do not turn in a claim in 1 year, you can upgrade to premiere plus and you can get 4 x 100 miles of free towing or 1 200 mile free tow each year for $120 a year.
Same deal with Acura Road Side Assistance. Called when my wife's car wouldn't start. After several calls back and forth, they told me I only had $100. towing and it would be another $165. overage because it cost $265 for a 50 mile tow. I called a local tow company, they said they would do it for $150. total. Acura would not pay any part of the $150. Kinda makes you wonder.
Toyota Corporate Came Through After complaining to Toyota Corporate and being transferred to roadside assistance, whose attitude was "Well you didn't pay anything out of pocket," we complained again and were transferred to Toyota CEC (not sure what that means, but it was on the email they sent me). The representative finally asked what we thought would make us satisfied with Toyota, and we told her that we were not looking for money and that we were very satisfied with our Prius. She told us she could give us future service, etc. We told her we have the prepaid maintenance (which included the roadside assistance) and the car is so good that the only thing we were going to do in the near future was get an updated GPS dvd, and she responded "We can do that." The upshot is that we faxed her the receipts yesterday and a check is supposed to be arriving within 5 weeks. I'm definitely pleased with the Prius and this experience confirmed to me that Toyota does try and keep their customers happy.
