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Thread ID: 85652	2007-12-17 22:06:00	Are you an AA member?	lance4k (4644)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
622165	2007-12-18 07:19:00	Same here, been a member for years and years and years and years. For someone such as myself who has absolutely no interest in car engines they have been great for me. Now that I am older and a little more affluent my cars are not so prone to breaking down, but I have been silly enough to lock myself out and my wife has had them change a tyre and she didn't even need to show a leg! Well worth the money. All the maps you can eat and all of them fresh. I do wonder at their breaking-into-cars skills though - they are good, they are quick. Don't you think that they might be tempted to do some naughty work on the side?	Roscoe (6288)
622166	2007-12-18 07:31:00	I've depended on the AA for years and years. Yes they are great. Heart problems mean even changing a tyre is risky for me now. They do it in a flash. One day I drove to hospital for a check over - they decided I needed to be kept in for the night - the car was outside on the road. The AA picked my keys up - drove my car home - unlocked the garage and put the car away then locked up. For me it was very relaxing knowing my car was in safe trustworthy hands. If you are not a member - JOIN NOW. Tom	Thomas01 (317)
622167	2007-12-18 08:15:00	Same here, been a member for years and years and years and years . For someone such as myself who has absolutely no interest in car engines they have been great for me . Now that I am older and a little more affluent my cars are not so prone to breaking down, but I have been silly enough to lock myself out and my wife has had them change a tyre and she didn't even need to show a leg! Well worth the money . All the maps you can eat and all of them fresh . I do wonder at their breaking-into-cars skills though - they are good, they are quick . Don't you think that they might be tempted to do some naughty work on the side? Stateside, we are all licensed to possess the tools, and I still have mine . Any unlicensed or unbonded person caught with the tools is in a felony bust and will spend a little time in jail and be tagged with the MO for life . As a registered legal car thief, we could naturally go out for ourselves, but the payoff isn't worth it . After all, once you've gotten IN then you have to resolve the steering wheel lock and the ignition interface with the computer . In my better times, I could pop a Chevy or Ford in the time it took me to walk up to the vehicle . Toyotas were even easier for a while . . and a plastic ballpoint pen was the preferred tool . . but not any more . Electronic interlocks and anti-theft devices are the rage . . so if it's just opening a door for a set of locked-in keys . . it's hard enough to do professionally without the added attraction of going illegal . BMWs and MB's were harder . . but a worthy challenge to me . . some I could . . others I could not pop . I think the hardest car I ever tried was a Rolls Royce . I wondered if even having door locks was necessary as there should always be a chauffeur in the seat anyway . . . few cars get stolen when there's a driver in them . Check out the "Bosco's Collapsible Driver" ( . google . com/books?id=T6Tft-LmkosC&pg=PA233&lpg=PA233&dq=bosco's+inflatable+driver&source=web&ots=ir06qkdtC6&sig=c1_3h4GtLg9iQksqtwSuHgEFvqg" target="_blank">books . google . com) from a bygone era .	SurferJoe46 (51)
622168	2007-12-18 08:26:00	[QUOTE=SurferJoe46;625611]What a moron your driver was...the AA guy...not the wife. Stink man, dont call an New Zealand AA serviceman a moron. We give them respect here, not insults. They help you quickly when you are in deep guano with with your wheels. C1	chicken one (6501)
622169	2007-12-18 10:26:00	Same here, been a member for years and years and years and years . For someone such as myself who has absolutely no interest in car engines they have been great for me . Now that I am older and a little more affluent my cars are not so prone to breaking down, but I have been silly enough to lock myself out and my wife has had them change a tyre and she didn't even need to show a leg! Well worth the money . All the maps you can eat and all of them fresh . I do wonder at their breaking-into-cars skills though - they are good, they are quick . Don't you think that they might be tempted to do some naughty work on the side? You don't need to be a member to get the maps, you just go into repco and they are free at the AA counter . I used to be a member but my cars have always been quite new and never break down, so was effectively paying for those people who have old bombs that are always breaking down . I have now got state roadside rescue, which is cheaper, and it is tied to the car (eg whoever drives the car), and not the user, which is far better . Also I don't like how the AA backed down on the photo license scheme, and our old paper lifetime licenses that were made invalid . They were effectively brought out by being given the rights to issue and test for the licenses .	robbyp (2751)
622170	2007-12-18 10:30:00	Yea the AA have helped out on a number of occassions. The EVO problem was a rarity. Oh and by the way SurferJoe he used a metal bar type tool (looked like a metal ruler) and slid it down between the window and the rubber seel to get the door open. I think the problem was that because I had disconnected the key locks the metal bar that went from the key lock to the actual locking mechanism had fallen down inside the door and he was unable to reach it. They have also helped me a couple of months ago. I was driving in Auckland and the exhaust suddenly broke off just above the rear muffler. Made it sound awesome but it was hitting the road every now and then. They came out and said it needed to go to a muffler repair place and get welded back in place. I just told the guy to tie it up and I would get it fixed when I got back to Whangarei.	CYaBro (73)
622171	2007-12-18 16:28:00	Oh and by the way SurferJoe he used a metal bar type tool (looked like a metal ruler) and slid it down between the window and the rubber seel to get the door open . I think the problem was that because I had disconnected the key locks the metal bar that went from the key lock to the actual locking mechanism had fallen down inside the door and he was unable to reach it . That "ruler" is called a "Slim Jim" . . as in "Slim-Jimmy" ( . wikihow . com/Use-a-Slim-Jim" target="_blank">www . wikihow . com) . (Can you imagine? There's a WIKI on Slim-Jims!) Actually a Slim-Jim is a misnomer . . . there are a great number of very diverse-looking tools for the newer cars that are used . . . and the true Slim-Jim is hardly used any more . The kit that I used is like this: . securityprousa . com/14pcpraukits . html" target="_blank">www . securityprousa . com In the hands of a good tech, it is very good for it's purposes . . but in the hands of a mental midget with an attitude, it causes a lot of grief and damage to the door operating system . Usually, the bars inside the door are knocked out of their terminal ends (usually plastic gladhand-type) BY the Slim-Jim, and that's the 6-Alpha's/tow truck operator's mistake . . he is in most cases the person who causes the damage . . . not the driver/owner of the vehicle . Ah well . . you are satisfied and if your door still works correctly with the key, then all is OK . If even the key won't operate the locking mechanism . . . and it DID before you got the roadside service 6-Alpha, then he is the culprit . The Delta . . . (or the dispatch division) at AAA gets calls from members who find that their door locks aren't working . . sometimes after 4 of 5 months . They try to back out of responsibility, but in actuality they are still responsible after that much time . I don't know how you disconnected your electronic lock system, but if you didn't go into the door itself and physically remove the relay bar, then I don't see how you could be responsible for the bar being disconnected . . . and it now falls onto the head of AAA . The Delta Dispatch for which I worked in Anaheim knew all the tricks that some members would try on the company to make them responsible for scratched glass and ripped window or door seals . After a few years, I was a AAA investigator for such claims . . . OH! The stories I can tell! My Delta Number was "746" . . . and that number is still in use in the greater Anaheim/Fullerton area . Hopefully, all is well . . but I still stick with the term "idiot" for the driver who works under the banner of AAA and destroys door locks and airbags and stereo speakers with their inept bumbling . . . "idiot" fits well . In all cases, the break-in tools are the last resort because of liabilities . If (and I am sure that he could have/should have used this part) the electrical jumper trick didn't work, then he could try at his own liability/expense to open the door with the break in tools . Many times we opted to tow the vehicle to a locksmith and let the damage liability go to him .	SurferJoe46 (51)
622172	2007-12-18 21:06:00	When they popped mine, he used a small wedge crow bar to wedge open the door, then he put a pump up air bag in the gap – kinda like what they use to measure blood pressure. Once that was slid in the gap, he pumped it until the gap in the door was open wide enough to slide what looked like that nylon box strapping into the gap – he looped it around the lock and popped it up. Simple :D	Enigmur (10547)
622173	2007-12-18 22:12:00	State Insurance have a break down system,we use that at less cost than AA.	Cicero (40)
622174	2007-12-18 22:27:00	I have been an AA member for about 40 years. I have found them fantastic. Locked out of the car a few times they quickly got me in. An electronic problem they sent a tow truck, loaded it on and took it to a Toyota dealer. My Father and Grandfather were also members dating way back.	Bantu (52)
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