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How does towing work?



 
 
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  #11  
Old July 18th 05, 08:18 PM
Rod Speed
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Marcio > wrote
> wrote


>> I think most folks over in the auto groups would agree with
>> me that, if you religiously follow the manufacturer's stated
>> maintenance timetables, you will never have a "breakdown".


> Only people who know nothing about auto maintenance would agree with that.


Indeed.

> Any piece of machinery will eventually break
> down, regardless of how it is maintained.


That may be way outside normal use tho some of them.

> That's because any part manufactured is designed
> for a certain life time of use and will fail sooner or later.


Wrong. Some machinery isnt designed for a certain life time of use at all.

One obvious example is simple stationary diesel engines.

> And a car manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables do not
> address replacement of most parts that can fail in a car. Show
> me an auto manufacturer's stated maintenance timetables for alternators,
> ignition switches, coil packs, ECUs, fuel pumps, water pumps...


Correct. And its never going to be possible to eliminate early
failures with those components by replacement even if they did.

> Most if not all manufacturer's maintenance timetables do not
> even have a timetable for thermostat replacement--a part that
> fails quite often in most cars (but fortunately usually fails opened).


He can claim that that isnt the sort of breakdown that needs towing tho.


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  #12  
Old July 18th 05, 09:41 PM
C. Massey
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> wrote in message
oups.com...
> C. Massey wrote:
>> We still have breakdowns almost every day.

>
> maybe the machines are being used beyond their design parameters.
>



Actually, we don't use our machinery to it's capabilities, so I guess that
idea is ruled out...


>
> or maybe the repairs and maintenance aren't being done very well!
>



Funny, we have other plants in our industry from all over the country call
and ask us questions on our maintenance program and ask for advice. We have
had people fly in and "join us" for a training crash course.

Maybe when I said breakdowns almost everyday, I should have stated that most
of them are minor and many of those minor repairs can be made with the
equipment running. We do have major breakdowns from time to time, and those
could take 3 shifts working around the clock 3 to 4 days to finish the
repairs as long as we have the parts that are needed or have them available
to be Fed Ex'ed in.


  #13  
Old July 18th 05, 09:44 PM
Curtis CCR
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George wrote:
> Impossible and here is an example. I keep my vehicles well maintained. I
> was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday
> afternoon when the engine simply stopped. Fortunately I was in the far
> left lane so I was able to coast off the road without cutting thru
> traffic. I had the car towed in to the garage. It started and ran OK.
> The computer did not have any stored codes. They eventually found a
> failing crankshaft position sensor.


A Jeep?

  #14  
Old July 18th 05, 10:37 PM
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Why not ask AAA that question, since it is with them you have the
contract?


mike hunt



gnubee wrote:
>
> If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them
> tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so
> I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it
> towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there?
> Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will
> the tow truck also take me back home?

  #15  
Old July 18th 05, 11:38 PM
George
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Curtis CCR wrote:
>
> George wrote:
>
>>Impossible and here is an example. I keep my vehicles well maintained. I
>>was driving at highway speed on the Interstate on a busy Friday
>>afternoon when the engine simply stopped. Fortunately I was in the far
>>left lane so I was able to coast off the road without cutting thru
>>traffic. I had the car towed in to the garage. It started and ran OK.
>>The computer did not have any stored codes. They eventually found a
>>failing crankshaft position sensor.

>
>
> A Jeep?
>

Dodge Intrepid.
  #16  
Old July 19th 05, 12:32 AM
The Real Bev
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Jonathan Kamens wrote:

> Note also that with standard AAA membership, the amount of towing you
> get for free is limited to a few miles.


You get four 7-mile tows. Plunk for the next level up, which gets you four
100-mile tows. Hell, if you're only 7 miles from home you can probably push
it yourself :-)

> If you ask the two-truck
> driver to tow farther than that, you'll pay by the mile at rates set
> by the driver (i.e., not by the AAA).


I once asked a guy what he charged. $7/mile. That afternoon I upped my
membership.

> >And will the tow truck also take me back home?

>
> That's not included in the AAA service. The driver may agree to take
> you home, but he's free to charge you whatever he wants to do it. You
> can usually ask him to call you a cab, though. If you're in a remote
> location, it might be wise to ask him to stay with you until the cab
> arrives. You should consider the distance from your house and the
> remoteness of the location when deciding to where to ask the driver to
> tow your car.


If your home is within 7 miles he'll tow you there if that's what you want. I
once wanted the guy to just tow me up to the top of the hill, I could make it
from there, but he said no, it had to be a real place, so he towed me to his
station and we pushed it from there. Yeah, on the freeway again!

--
Cheers,
Bev
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
Why is it so hot and what am I doing in this handbasket?
  #17  
Old July 19th 05, 12:55 AM
C. Massey
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"The Real Bev" > wrote in message
...
> Jonathan Kamens wrote:
>
>> Note also that with standard AAA membership, the amount of towing you
>> get for free is limited to a few miles.

>
> You get four 7-mile tows. Plunk for the next level up, which gets you
> four
> 100-mile tows. Hell, if you're only 7 miles from home you can probably
> push
> it yourself :-)




With AAA - Texas, you get four, three mile tows per member, per year on the
standard membership.

I called and checked with Sprint PCS, with whom I have roadside assistance
with, and they are the same as AAA-Texas.

I will soon be calling and cancelling Sprint ($96 per year) and getting AAA
(Plus) with four 100 mile tows per member per year plus the other perks for
$116.50 per year.




  #18  
Old July 19th 05, 01:27 AM
Don K
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<gnubee> wrote in message ...
> If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them
> tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so
> I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it
> towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there?
> Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will
> the tow truck also take me back home?


AAA will only tow a few miles and then it costs you per mile.
It's a lot cheaper to buy x-dollars worth of towing insurance as part of your
regular auto insurance policy than AAA, IMO.

It might be a good idea to give some thought beforehand, where you might
want your car towed if it were to break down anywhere along your regular commute.

Don


  #19  
Old July 19th 05, 01:51 AM
George Grapman
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Don K wrote:
> <gnubee> wrote in message ...
>
>>If I have a AAA membership, and my car breaks down at night, I can have them
>>tow my car to a shop or my dealer. I've never needed to have my car towed, so
>>I don't know how this works. If my car breaks down at night, and I have it
>>towed to a shop/dealer who has already closed, do I just leave my car there?
>>Do I put a note on the windshield explaining why my car is there? And will
>>the tow truck also take me back home?

>
>
> AAA will only tow a few miles and then it costs you per mile.
> It's a lot cheaper to buy x-dollars worth of towing insurance as part of your
> regular auto insurance policy than AAA, IMO.
>
> It might be a good idea to give some thought beforehand, where you might
> want your car towed if it were to break down anywhere along your regular commute.
>
> Don
>
>


In California AAA has two types of membership, One gives you up to 5
miles of tow up to 4 times a year. The other gives up to 100 miles four
times a year

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  #20  
Old July 19th 05, 02:07 AM
The Real Bev
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George Grapman wrote:

> In California AAA has two types of membership, One gives you up to 5
> miles of tow up to 4 times a year. The other gives up to 100 miles four
> times a year


What, they changed it? ... Nope, 7 miles according to the website. And they
have three levels of membership.

--
Cheers,
Bev
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I don't need instructions, I have a hammer."
-- T.W. Wier
 




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