infradig

On a recent rental ('09 Volvo V50) the hand brake got stuck in the fully on position. Try as I might it would not release so I called National Roadside assistance. They talked me though how to release the brake and it still wouldn't release. They then said that they could have deliver a replacement and tow the car, but I would be liable for the delivery and towing charges which they had no way of estimating. Considering it was the car that was faulty I asked why I should be liable for towing chargers (no answer). I assumed roadside assistance was just that, but was told that it only covers flat tires and dead batteries. I'm an Exec club member and was surprised by this. Anyone else had any bad experiences with faulty vehicles or roadside assistance?

In the end I borrowed some tools, disassembled the hand brake lever and managed to release the brake, no thanks to National.

Auto Enthusiast

An Avis car once broke down, as in lost all power on the highway. I was surprised the tow truck driver was able to drive it at a slow crawl onto the flatbed. Roadside assistance arranged for a NJ Turnpike authorized towing company to bring it to the nearest airport workshop (EWR, at a cost of $200 to THEM), after which I was given another car. I also asked about the gas, since obviously I couldn't refill it. They said don't worry, I won't be charged for that. I also got a discount to make up for wasting my time.

Later, I heard through the Avis office grapevine that the car had a transmission problem, and after warranty repair, was eventually one-wayed out to Islip. I guess Newark wanted to say good riddance to this brand new, fully loaded Sonata with 25k mi and sudden transmission failure.

drzoidberg

I had a good experience with Roadside Assistance that included their dropping off a replacement car and towing the broken one back, with no additional charges. I suspect I was not charged because I was less than 5 miles from the rental location.

Now, if you're AAA Gold, you can have them tow your car up to 200 miles. AAA covers the person, not the specific automobile.

infradig

I was at least 100 miles from ATL where I picked up the car. Still there is a National location in Chattanooga. The National rep I spoke to was very clear that I would be responsible for any towing charges and wouldn't/couldn't give me an estimate of what these would be. I've had cars swapped out by Enterprise free of charge 100+ miles away from pick up. I'll probably email to get some clarification on what is covered and if there is a distance limit.

I wrongly assumed roadside assistance would be similar cover to AAA only provided by National since they own the car.

RoyalFlush

Best of luck with this situation. I would have searched “Atlanta Volvo dealers” or “Eastern Tenn Volvo dealers” or similar and asked for their service department. I bet a service rep would have loads more experience with this intricacy and could walk you through releasing the hand brake.