cestmoi

After owning my TSX 2006 since Nov 2006, I've "had" to call for roadside assistance today since I've never done so and thought I'd take advantage of it since it's included in the price of my vehicle.

This morning after coming back from an errand, found out that my right front passenger tire looked flat. Sure enough, after measuring with a PSI gauge, it was down to 12.5 PSI. I tried unscrewing the lug nut and man it took my full 175lb of weight by sort of jumping down on the torque wrench to turn it. Those guys at Acura service over-torqued my lug nuts or what?! Or is this normal?

What is the spec on the torque anyhow? 80lbs/ft?

It took me awhile to loosen four of the five or six nuts and then thought, hey, maybe these roadside service guys may have a power torque wrench in their trucks and so I called Acura Roadside assistance since I'm covered up to $100 anyway (shouldn't be over $100 right??)...

Anyway, they came, I did most of their job for them already... pointed to him where the nail was, asked him to patch it up for me (a 5 min job); he took both my regular tire and my spare to the gas station to fill them up... took no more than 20 mins in total (though took him over 45mins in travel time)...

Anyway, do you tip these guys normally? Are they expecting to be tipped? I didn't tip them. The guy looked like he expected something just before he left even though he was the owner of the service shop that is contracted by Acura.

What say you?

nj2pa2nc

never had the chance to use roadside assistance on my 06 tsx, also bought new 11/06. I remember on other cars when I had the tires rotated they were overtorqued as a air-impact wrench was used. My tsx has 89,000+miles.

SoCaliTrojan

I usually tip on those occasions when someone services me. For example, if they serve me food, cut my hair, or park my vehicle for me, I'll tip them. I don't tip when I purchase merchandise or intentionally seek out service by paying a visit to a shop (alignment, oil change, etc.)

So, the question for you is...does the tow truck driver's coming out and helping you out constitute a service for you? Or do you see it as if you went to Acura roadside services and the tow truck driver is just a contractor of theirs?

He should have probably just towed your car to the shop and fixed it there, instead of driving to the shop and driving back.

Itchytoe

I'm an asshole. I don't tip people. It's not my job to pay your paycheck, that's what you have an employer for. It's not my fault you took a crappy paying job.

ZildJonKim

harsh hahahaha.

litesout

I tip based on service. Not just when it comes to the car either. In general. Good service, you get a tip. Bad service, no tip. When I had my last car towed I tipped the guy even though it was covered by the insurance company roadside assistance. He called me less than 5 minutes after I got off the phone with the insurance company to make sure I was in a safe location (even though they asked too, he knows the area, so he knows where its safe and where it isn't.) I was, I was in the parking garage at work which is like Ft Knox. And he was there less than 20 minutes after that. Very clean, very professional. He took the short way to the house to minimize mileage as insurance only covered up to 12 miles. So yeah, I tipped the guy.

It sounds like you got good service from them, I probably would have tipped.

dlee74

May I ask how much you gave him as tip? For me, roadside assistance really didn't cross my mind in giving a tip even when I had triple A.

kipsy

when i called, the lady on the phone had trouble locating me. i can only repeat myself so much so i had to hang up. not impressed. got reimbursed anyway.

808havok_tsx

i'm never impressed by those roadside assistance type programs.

i've had to call it several times before with my previous car. every single one was drama filled.

- car won't start so i called roadside assistance. they told me it might take up to 45 min to get to me. i live in HAWAII. 45 min gets you to the other end of the island. most tow companies are in town and should take no more than 15 minutes to get to me. the tow truck did worse - it took over an hour.

- car won't start again (dealer didn't fix anything. blamed battery). tow truck took 45 minutes to come and the dude was DRUNK. like bloodshot-eyes i-can-smell-beer-from-6-feet-away drunk.

there's more incidents but that's the gist of it.

i haven't used acuracare roadside assistance (yet) but i wouldn't be surprised if the same tow truck companies are contracted.

litesout

Well, the insurance covered the first 12 miles. I live about 15 miles from work. The tow company charges $2.50 per mile, and the guy had to log all his odometer miles. Total cost to me was $7.50. I gave him a $20 and told him to keep the change.