The pros and cons of auto clubs

March 20, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Advance Auto Parts

Auto clubs can provide multiple services, ranging from car insurance to:

  • auto maintenance services
  • auto towing services
  • road side assistance
  • and more

Is this something that you need?

Pros of Auto Clubs

People often become members of these clubs for the peace of mind they offer. If your car stalls out, gets stuck in ice and snow, or spins into a ditch, as just three examples, you need help, fast. With membership in AAA or a similar club, you can have the security of knowing that road side assistance is on its way.

Better yet, this auto towing service is typically included in the cost of membership, which means you’ll be okay even if your wallet is pretty empty.

So, questions to ask yourself include:

  • Do you think you could handle a situation as described above, even without a membership?
  • What if the same thing happened to your teenaged or college-aged son or daughter?
  • Would a membership give you added peace of mind while your child is on the road?

These clubs provide road side assistance in ways other than an auto towing service, in the form of jump starts, gas delivery and more. They can also change your tires, help you get into a car that you locked yourself out of and much more.

These clubs also often provide non-vehicle perks. They might serve as a travel agent for members, providing discounted car rentals, hotel reservations and tickets to many major U.S. destinations. You may also receive traveler’s checks through them.

Finally, these clubs can broker many other necessities in life such as health or life insurance, financing a new car or home, and more. Each club is unique, but most will offer the basics of road side assistance and towing services, which in and of itself may be worth the relatively small annual membership fee.

The Cons of Auto Clubs

Despite the many perks of membership, there is a down side. Members sometimes complain of high-pressure sales for other services, when all they want is the basics. Other complaints focus on customer service. Perhaps you paid for your membership; didn’t need to use it all year long; but, when you finally did need an auto towing service, or some other service, response time was slow.

When it comes down to decision time about an auto club purchase, try to determine your options for auto maintenance when the unexpected happens. If your best buddy runs a towing service, then you’ve got a Plan B when the roads are slick and you spin off the road, and so your needs aren’t as pressing. If you don’t have such a sweet set up (and if you have children who are driving your vehicles) then you ought to take a closer look at available auto clubs.

Check out the extra services. Which ones would you use? If you’re planning a cross-country trip, then you may find value in certain services; if you spend all of your vacations in a cottage just an hour down the road, then these trip planning may not be needed.

Editor’s note: Visit Advance Auto Parts for a wide selection of roadside assistance kits and accessories. Buy online, pick up in store.

Filed Under: Advance Auto Parts News, Car Batteries, Electrical and Wiring Tagged With: , ,

What do brownies, bowling and batteries have in common?

January 10, 2013 by 1 Comment

Advance Auto PartsThey’re my power sources. The sweet stuff: after the first bite, I’m ready to move mountains. The sport stuff: always an adrenaline rush since my league days with The Gutter Gals. The start-the-car-NOW stuff: my family has thousands of destinations — starting the ignition, hearing an empty-sounding click, then dead silence is something we don’t need. Dead car battery. Get the jumper cables. Time for reviving a dead car battery and jump starting a car.

Never worked with jumper cables before for jump starting a car? (No worries ladies, we’ve all been there once.) A dead car battery doesn’t discriminate. It’ll happen some day, so take heed and learn how to jump start a car battery right:

  • Turn off both cars
  • Connect one of the red (positive) jumper cables to the positive terminal on the stalled car’s battery
  • Connect the second red jumper cable to the positive terminal of the battery on the car giving the boost
  • Connect one of the black (negative) jumper cables to the negative terminal of the boosting car’s battery
  • Connect the other black jumper cable to the stalled car’s engine block
  • Start the boosting car, let it run for a few minutes
  • Start the stalled car
  • Once the stalled car starts, keep both cars running
  • In reverse order, take off the jumper cables
  • Keep the jumped car running for half an hour (it’ll give the battery time to recharge itself)

That is the art of jump starting a car and reviving a dead car battery. To further avoid the dead car battery dilemma, especially with winter around the corner, be proactive now. During bone-cold weather, a battery’s ability to generate power naturally slows down. To make the problem worse, engines will need even more battery current to get started. Plus, the many demands of the defrosters, wipers and heater also increase the need for power. So check your battery’s longevity level for winter! Test it with a voltmeter. Measure electrolyte levels. Remove corrosion from battery posts and terminals.

Lastly, keep those jumper cables in the trunk. After all, you now know how to jump start a car battery and an opportunity to be a Good Samaritan may arise at the parking lot, on the coldest night this winter. Then, after reviving a dead car battery, reward yourself. I say go for a fudge-nut brownie. Or two.

Editor’s note: Is you power absolute? Advance Auto Parts offers loads of car batteries, services and solutions to serve just about every cold-cranking need. Buy online, have it installed free in store—most vehicles, most locations. (Sorry, we’re out of fudge-nut brownies at the moment.)

Filed Under: Car Batteries, Electrical and Wiring, The DIY Mom, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Things that make you go ARGH!!! (Or, reasons why your car won’t start)

November 14, 2012 by Leave a Comment

We’ve all been there… The key’s in the ignition. The car’s cranking, but simply won’t take. Or if it does, it quickly dies. Most frustrating, there just isn’t any action at all. After mumbling some choice words, you gather your car-smarts and summarize this: the car won’t start. I’ve been there myself—more times than I care to mention.

Dead car batteryTake the time we took our son for his junior-prom tuxedo fitting last spring. The car ignition kept stalling. The hubby leaned over and said to watch the dashboard. We noticed the warning lights weren’t turning on. “Looks like it might be ignition switch replacement time,” he deduced. “Warning lights being off are a sign of a bad ignition switch?” I asked. “Generally, yes,” he responded, “might be a short in the electrical system.” So I stopped (didn’t want to drain the battery) and we called for a tow. Our mechanic later confirmed my husband’s ignition switch replacement diagnosis.

A few…ahem, years earlier, back in my college days, friends and I headed for a coastal road trip. Halfway there, the car decides to undergo a midlife crisis. All we got was just a feeble click-click with each turn of the key in the ignition. “I was just with Dad when he bought this new battery! Now it’s a dead car battery,” Kelly groaned. “Then this isn’t a dead car battery problem,” I said.

Best I was able to figure out—with my Dad, thanks to the payphone—was that it still might be a power source problem, like maybe an alternator issue, since that’s what recharges the battery with power from the engine. As Dad predicted, that was all it needed. We pitched in for that alternator replacement, and though it left us with less cash for partying, looking back, it gave me the gumption to delve further into our vehicles.

Another cause for a car not starting? Bad ignition relay. That’ll cause a car to start momentarily then stop right away. In this case, this “middleman” (or “solenoid”) is incapable of relaying a low-amp electrical volt to switch a high-amp circuit that supplies power to the various electrical parts throughout the car. I’ve been the victim of this slippery middleman myself. But now, I always win since I know what to look out for.

Before I get back to dinner and homework duty, I’d like to leave you with this parting thought: alternator replacement and ignition switch replacement are probably going to be inevitable, if you plan on keeping your car a while. You will also most likely deal with a bad ignition relay at some point, and for sure, a dead car battery. Not to worry, you can handle it—I did!

Editor’s note: You can help prevent instances like these by doing simple maintenance and checkups yourself. Rely on Advance Auto Parts for a vast selection of car batteries and other electrical system essentials.

Filed Under: Car Batteries, Electrical and Wiring, The DIY Mom Tagged With: , ,