Coach Net???

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

I'm seriously thinking about signing up with Coach Net for emergency roadside assistance and towing.

AAA Premier RV membership has changed their policies from a 100 mile tow to only a $500 credit towards any towing service.

If you have had a positive or negative experience with Coach Net, please share.

The benefit package from Coach Net looks very impressive. I suppose it's possible to get good or bad experience from any company. However, they seem to be telling me that with Coach Net they would tow me to the nearest Mercedes Benz dealership no matter how far away it is.

 

[mumkin]

In following good and bad experiences with various RA companies in discussion groups, to me they seem pretty much the same. One can compare coverages and decide which one fits your needs best. (as in... few Sprinter repair facilities so you might look for the longest tow) The reality is that most of them use the same phone bank and the same batch of tow trucks and phone tech help (if they offer that). The good and bad experiences depend on where you break down. If you are on an Interstate, you might have to wait until they clean up a big accident 10 miles down the road. That will have priority, not your flat tire. If you are on the blue highways in the back of beyond, the only available truck may be many miles away causing a long wait. If you are boondocking on BLM land, you may not find anyone that will go out there... if you have cell service to even call them.

Coach-Net, Good Sam, FMCA are all about same as far as dependability. Personally, I use the option on my GEICO insurance and the Ram coverage on my new van. (with all my list of rigs below, over 18 years, I have only had one tow and years later one tech call with Good Sam... and one tow with Roadtrek plan)

The only call I've made in the last few years was with the free two years from Roadtrek. When I needed it towed to my dealer on a Sunday morning in the MSP suburbs, the guy arrived almost before I got off the phone. Must have been a slow day...

 

[avanti]

This has been discussed extensively in previous threads, which are worth reading.

My opinion:
I agree with Mumkin that as far as towing quality goes, they are all the same. That's because they all use the same towing services. They are all forced to use whatever is available in a given situation.

You are not buying towing, you are buying pre-paid logistics services. What differentiates them is the quality of those services and the level of coverage you get for your money. By these standards, I believe CoachNet is the best available in the US, by a significant margin. The level of coverage is objectively true--you can read them in black and white, if you can get ahold of the actual contracts as opposed to the marketing hype. The quality of the logistics is more subjective, but my experience with CoachNet has been head-and-shoulders above the others. Happily, this experience has been limited. I present this as a datapoint, not as a hard fact. I have, however, tried almost all of them over the years, so this is a matter of experience, not blind brand loyalty.

 

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

I've had two incidents where my 2011 Mercedes Benz Sprinter became completely disabled and needed a flat tow. Each of these were completely unexpected and I couldn't have foreseen this happening.

Neither of these were "flat tires"; rather they were both in the engine compartment. First one was an idler pulleys and tensioners failure that took out a number of critical components and the second was a complete failure of the turbocharger.

The AAA Premier RV membership towed me the first time in September 2020, but, I recently discovered that they changed their service on November 1, 2020.

Their communication about this change is pathetically shameful. They could have sent a communication with my renewal, they did not. They claimed it was published in their magazine. Who reads everything in the magazine?
And, it was probably written as a small footnote or other small post so as not to draw much attention.

SO....I was caught completely by surprise when I needed them at the worst possible moment.

I've been a member of the AAA for 41 years... but, I found this lack of performance to be shocking and really makes me think about cancelling my membership. I have had faith in the AAA up until now, but this is really terrible.

 

[Roadtrek Adventuous RS1]

Thank you. So, you have Coach Net for your RV??

Coach Net has also advised me that they will cover my personal cars as well...

Besides the RV have you ever had to use them for your personal card?

 

[avanti]

Thank you. So, you have Coach Net for your RV??

Yes.

Coach Net has also advised me that they will cover my personal cars as well...
Besides the RV have you ever had to use them for your personal card?

Yes. In fact, I once used them to tow my DeLorean, which technically didn't qualify, since it was more than 20 years old. They towed it anyway without issue.

Note that they will also cover all members of your immediate family, as well as motorcycles, etc. As we have discussed at length, most AAA "clubs" are and always has been pathetic at RV towing. I am sorry to hear that they have gotten even worse.

 

[rvsprinterguy]

Wow, good to know. My AAA membership is up for renewal. I need to seriously consider the alternatives.

 

[themexicandoctor]

I just saw this & on Monday renewed my AAA Membership as I have my Insurance with them - Thank you for the Heads Up, I have used them at least once a year for a tow after breaking three of my Pitman Arms - the last time I had to wait 5 hours in Bel Air, up a heavily wooded Private Road but got a very experienced & competent driver - a month later the growth from the tree branches would have made exiting impossible without a Chainsaw & a Crane.

I now keep a new Pitman Arm in my truck just in case.

 

[rvsprinterguy]

Glad to hear of your good experience with AAA. Mine's been good, too, over the years, but I've never needed them for my Class B (knock on wood).

Are Pittman arms a weak point on GM vans? They seem to be part of the steering gear. Any idea how yours broke?

 

[mkguitar]

I "use" road america


I've never had a service call on the van, but have used a couple times for my motorcycles


no matter which 800# we call there are likley only 1 or 2 people in teh area who would be sent out


I have a basic free membership through Harley- a $50 add on covers all my cars, trucks and RV unlimited calls, unlimited mileage tow "to nearest"


mike

 

[TX-Trek]

Glad to hear of your good experience with AAA. Mine's been good, too, over the years, but I've never needed them for my Class B (knock on wood).

Are Pittman arms a weak point on GM vans? They seem to be part of the steering gear. Any idea how yours broke?

This may be of interest. Awhile back I replaced the idler and pitman arms on our 2010 210P. For critical parts I generally go oem or Spicer, sometimes Moog. In this case I used delco for idler and moog for pitman.

I noticed that the moog was smaller in size than the oem, but ok - engineering and different material can sometimes account for that. What I didn't like was that the moog pitman did not extend onto the steering box shaft as far as the oem. The nut was fully threaded but just barely and it also barely cleared the crossmember. This changeout was on the bench steering box with proper torque applied. I didnt like that fit.

Upon some research I found numerous posts about moog pitman arm shaft failures on 2500 and 3500 trucks. Even taking into account it's the internet , this info combined with the not quite factory fit of the arm, I replaced it with oem delco. And it's a pain because the box has to be at least shifted to access the nut. In my case I removed it both times. The oem fit perfectly.

Here's a pic of moog on the left and delco on the right. You can of course do as you like, but for me in this case it was back to oem.

 

[avanti]

Here's a good example of what you can expect from AAA if you break down in the middle of nowhere:

https://sprinter-source.com/forums/index.php?threads/112516/

Summary:
Guy's Sprinter died outside Roswell NM. AAA towed him to the only AAA-approved garage in Roswell. Took them 6 hours to tell him that they didn't have the computer they would need to diagnose. He will likely need a 200 mile tow to Albuquerque. We'll see what AAA does about that.

Coachnet, Good Sam, et.al. will tow you to the nearest QUALIFIED garage.

 

[RVclassB4me]

Please let us know which one you decide to join. We had AAA RV Premier for the longest time. But cancelled after we sold our last RV and bought our current Sprinter RV. I figured Roadtrek has a 2 year roadside assistance plus MB Sprinter has something similar.

Over the years since 2005 we had three RV's. The only one we had a break down (total sudden loss of engine power) was a small Fleetwood 24 FT C class on a Ford E450 gas chassis which broke down the first week since brand new!! Something about the Oxygen sensors wire harness got knocked out on the rough roads in I-5 Grapevine between Bakersfield CA and Los Angeles CA. I had to wait for some 2 hours in the heat. The RV engine was disabled and will not start at all. Lucky the house AC still worked. A huge semi tractor recovery rig showed up to tow me with my rear wheels down (he disengaged the U joint, I think). A Ford dealer in Bakersfield CA (we lived in Bakersfield CA at the time, so OK) kept it for some 5 weeks. I could have RE-PLUGGED that O2 sensor back in myself!! LOL

Our second brand new Jayco 26 FT C class on a Ford E450 gas chassis did not have any issues. Then again, we did not use it that much since the kids were in high school then and camping with parents were no longer "cool". LOL. We sold it only after a year and half with less than 8K miles.

We are on our third RV, 2021 Roadtrek SS Agile on a Sprinter diesel chassis. So far no issues (knock on wood). We are making the trip to Alaska BEFORE the OEM warranty runs out. Haha. I looked and saw no Sprinter dealers in AK. There are some Freightliner shops, but no Sprinter dealers in AK!! There are some Sprinter dealers in Canada on the NW area and that was it.

We knew all about the issues and problems with the Sprinter diesel emission going in. We test drove all the RAM chassis and Ford Transit chassis based B Class RV's.......but these did not cut it for us. I only wished Toyota or Lexus made B class RV's!!!

I'm seriously thinking about signing up with Coach Net for emergency roadside assistance and towing.

AAA Premier RV membership has changed their policies from a 100 mile tow to only a $500 credit towards any towing service.

If you have had a positive or negative experience with Coach Net, please share.

The benefit package from Coach Net looks very impressive. I suppose it's possible to get good or bad experience from any company. However, they seem to be telling me that with Coach Net they would tow me to the nearest Mercedes Benz dealership no matter how far away it is.