False information re tire repair by Roadside Assistance

Purchased a new Leaf in June
I did not like the absence of a spare
Was told, dont worry just call roadside assistance, they will come fix it or replace it

I may be too gullible because I believed it

Ran over a nail one Saturday, roadside assistance said they do not repair or replace but will drive to dealership
Dealershio parts department was closed till Monday, so was without a car for the weekend, and had to pay arm and leg for spare

Anyone else had this misleading statement made to them?

It seems that while *some* roadside assistance contractors will be nice and tow the car to your house, most of them follow Nissan's orders and only do what you experienced. I suggest you get either a plug kit (the car has a built-in inflation pump: use that, but not the "goop" also included, as that will ruin the TPS sensor, and it costs more than you could image to buy a new can of it.) or carry a spare. There are two topics here on the latter.

We have AAA and while I have never had to use it on an actual breakdown, they will tow anything anywhere for free with your annual membership. In NYC alone I saved about $800 at a hotel in one weekend visit because of a AAA discount. In general you save 10% to 30% on AAA rental cars. So I only payed $13 total for 3 days (Friday/Sat/Sunday, expensive days) on another weekend trip through Hertz. All the benefits even if you never need a tow, are pretty awesome.

Generally I use my tows to transfer vehicles between houses or friends' vehicles that break down. So while your Nissan dealership may have made that claim, everything they say is generally a lie so I don't listen to any of it.

This is only true with the Plus and above accounts. With the basic, it is limited...

2k1Toaster said:

We have AAA, they will tow anything anywhere for free with your annual membership.

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TomT said:

This is only true with the Plus and above accounts. With the basic, it is limited...

2k1Toaster said:

We have AAA, they will tow anything anywhere for free with your annual membership.

Click to expand...

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Interesting. I have no idea what we pay per year, but the savings are so tremendous that even without a car I would still have it.

AAA towing and extrication benefits vary depending on your membership, and the limits include the distance the tow truck has to drive to get to you. If you get a membership, get one with unlimited miles. It will pay off after the first tow. There are no such limits with the included Nissan roadside assistance, but to be fair, the LEAF can't really go far from a tow trucks dispatch point.

You're probably better off asking the tow truck to take you to their own shop (tow trucks aren't Nissan owned, they typically come from garages who probably have better hours and cheaper prices than the Nissan dealer where they are instructed to tow you). You can probably have them patch your tire and send you on your way, whereas the dealer will be inclined to charge you MSRP plus labor for installation of a new tire for a simple nail.