Reader Chris spent some extra money on a Toyota extended warranty which comes with free roadside assistance in the event his vehicle breaks down or runs out of gas. Unfortunately, that’s what happened to Chris’ girlfriend one day when she ran out of gas on a Cleveland freeway. She called roadside assistance for help, but when the rescue driver finally arrived he’d only brought a half-gallon of gas, not enough to get her RAV 4 started. Since the roadside assistance terms allow for 3 gallons of gas she asked the driver to bring additional gas to which he replied, “They don’t pay me enough for that,” and drove off. Chris’ letter, inside…
Dear Consumerist,
My girlfriend and I bought a new car from Classic Toyota. Along with it we bought the extended warranty. I know these usually pad the pockets of the seller, but she’s a high milage driver since she drives for work quite a bit, and since we were able to haggle on the pricing a bit, it came out to about the same price as a AAA membership, and comes with free roadside assistance. I figured it would be worth it. Boy was I wrong, apparently.
On the 9th, she ran out of gas on the freeway I was at work at the time so I couldn’t run to the gas station and pick up a gas can. Well, that stinks. Good thing we have roadside assistance, right? Wrong. After an hour’s wait (perfectly reasonable, I wasn’t upset yet and nor was she) the employee from roadside assistance pulled up in the eastbound lane (she was in the westbound, and told the call center that multiple times) and yelled across multiple lanes of rush hour traffic “Hey are you the one who needs help? Are you out of gas?”. She told him that he was and he drove saying “I’m going to go get you some gas”. So, apparently when you call up roadside assistance and told them you run out of gas, they don’t actually bring gas with them?
Anyway, he drives ahead to the next freeway exit, gets some gas, and comes back westbound to “help” her out. When he gets out of his car she immediately notices something is up. He has a tiny gas can in his hand. She knew immediately that there was no way it held even a gallon of gas. He put it in the tank and told her to start it up. Obviously, it didn’t work. My girlfriend drives a Rav 4 with a 15 gallon tank. Half a gallon wouldn’t even fill the fuel line. She asked how much gas he put in the car, and the man lied and told her it was 2 gallons! They pushed the car forward a bit to make sure it was on level ground, and it still didn’t work. I told her via text message to leave the key in the forward position for a bit to let fuel enter the engine. Still no dice. She asked him again how much gas the man put in. He said “It’s two gallons, but half a gallon should start this car. Half a gallon should definitely start this car”.
He gets back in his van, and talks on his walkie talkie for a bit, then comes back out. My girlfriend asks if he can go get her some more gas. Even pretending that the guy actually gave her 2 gallons of gas, we were entitled to up to 3 plus up $100 for repairs plus a tow. The roadside assistance guys response to more gas? “No. They don’t pay me enough for that.” Then he got in to his van and drove off! We called up the dealership and raised hell with the general manager, and he eventually got someone to come out and give my girlfriend 2 gallons of gas. But all told my girlfriend spend 3 hours on the side of the freeway in 95 degree heat and 60% humidity because the roadside assistance guy “doesn’t get paid enough. Thank GOD my girlfriend was on the way to pick up my infant daughter from day-care as opposed to driving home with her.
I’ve been wrestling ever since with the dealership and First Extended, the company that handles our contract. First extended tells me I should be calling the company that actually came out. The company they sub-contract to. Roadside Rescue of Cleveland, LLC doesn’t return my phone calls. The dealership handed me a $25 gas voucher and told me I can cancel my warranty and have the prorated amount refunded. This outcome is completely unacceptable. Do they have any idea how much day care charges for keeping your baby over? A hell of a lot more than $25. That’s how much.
Where the heck am I supposed to go with this, Consumerist? I can’t get anyone to talk to me, let alone help me out!
We agree that the contractor Roadside Rescue is at fault and Toyota is also responsible which is perhaps why they gave you a $25 gas voucher and are willing to refund your warranty. We think you should take your voucher and refund and be glad that you are rid of a dysfunctional relationship. Companies usually won’t compensate you for events that happened because of their blunder, whether it be lost wages or day care fees so chances are you are out of luck in that area. Also, Consumerist readers might already know that extended car warranties are a usually rip off.
(Photo: Getty)
More From Consumerist
-
I’m Glad I Didn’t Call Hertz Roadside Assistance For An Actual Emergency
-
Progressive Roadside Assistance Won’t Tow My Car After It Caught Fire
-
Call AT&T To Remove Unwanted Add-Ons, Lose Unlimited Data
-
Lawsuit Claims Dollar Rent A Car Charged Customers For Options They Specifically Declined
-
Should OnStar Have Helped A Non-Subscriber Who Locked Baby And Keys In The Car?
What is it about this post that brings all the chauvinist douchebags out of the woodwork? I wouldn’t think they’d hang out around a Gawker site.
@GearheadGeek:
The OP’s gf’s car likely became (somewhat) of a safety hazard when she got stuck as well. If Roadside Assistance is not able to get the vehicle running again, then they should tow it (I note that the responder came out in a van, so they would have had to dispatch a tow truck). Though I believe that the running-out-of-gas-will-wreck-your-car commenters are overstating the case, we can take them at their word, in which case Roadside Assistance should have considered the possibility that the fuel pump or some injectors went belly up and provide a tow.
@kc2idf: Well, atleast SOMEONE cared to give advice rather than finger pointing.
Also, as a side note, though im not a big fan of hitting girls (except with their consent), you white folks need to
“>beat your kids.
(Its a joke, and i dont care if some humorless person thinks its not funny.)
@Lucifer_Cat: i meant to link this:
[ie]
@Elvisisdead: Oh c’mon, we all know it’s supposed to be… a herring! (cue dramatic music!)
First of all, mistakes happen. That’s the whole point of roadside assistance. What’s the best case scenario here, OP haters? That woman should sit on the shoulder of the road until she dies of her own stupidity?
Secondly, you can be METICULOUS about your car and still find yourself in a bad spot. My Civic gets 450 miles to a tank of gas, if the tires are properly inflated and I don’t run the AC a lot. So if my gas light comes on at 390 or 410, I assume it’s because I’ve parked on an incline and drive on. Nearly always, the light turns off and I’ve made the right choice.
One time in a hundred, my tires will have lost an unusual amount of air since my last monthly check, or unbeknownst to me, my husband will have run the A/C nonstop while out doing errands in my car, and the light will stay on. Then I pull into a gas station and fill up.
But if I were distracted, or in a hurry to get to my destination, I might not realize the light hadn’t gone off. And I’d probably be speeding, which would destroy my fuel economy.
I know it’s pointless — the whole point of Consumerist is to trash our fellow man and feel good about the fact that nothing but rose petals every slips out of our shiny platinum anuses — but it had to be said. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go finish vacuuming the cave under my bridge. All the other trolls are coming over for bridge night and I don’t want them to make fun of my dust bunnies.
@katewrath: sheesh kate, spare us your wrath! Its the internet, what do you expect. You do have a point regarding circumstances, but well, fact remains that 99% of such incidents are because the Problem is Between The Wheel and The Seat. But yeah, its unfair to tear into someone without knowing the circumstances.
AND, /thats/ exactly the reason you buy extended warranties and stuff like that. And you should get what you paid for, irrespective of whether it was your fault or someone else’s why you needed to use that facility.
@thinwhiteduke: Please do something about the trolls, Consumerist. Please. I know I’m not the only one begging you.
I have to say this: I have not run out of gas since I was 16 and that was because I wanted to see how far I could drive after it was on E. Sadly, it wasn’t very far at all. YAY For a gas tank that doesn’t lie.
However, why would you even cut it that close? I know that car has a little light that comes on and says, “You’re almost out of gas.” Then it usually gives you about 30 miles, am I right? I have a 1999 Passat and it does that. It dings and makes noise, too.
I have so many more comments I want to make, but I’m sure that they’re already posted above.
@bohemian: Um…get a new damn car.
Sounds like pretty sucky service, but then again, how do you RUN OUT OF GAS, unless you’re a total airhead?
Even if you always waited until the light came on (not a good strategy, I usually fill mine once it’s down to 1/8th of a tank), you should still have a gallon or two left in your tank, plenty to drive to the next refueling station.
The OP’s girlfriend must have really not been paying attention in order to run out of gas.
@urban_ninjya:
At least with AAA if it happened you could call the 800 line and they’d either fix the problem or send another subcontractor.
@humphrmi: Running out of gas like that in my elderly 740 Volvo can and will kill both fuel pumps. Adding more gas afterwards won’t help.
@LoveNoelG: Sometimes it is the victim’s fault.
@fordpickup: What if it’s violence from a woman against a man, is that acceptable? Because that seems to be allowable.
@libbybee: On a brand new car? Even Detroit or the Chinese have better quality than that.
I am curious though what standard is used to determine how much gas you get for your roadside assistance. For instance, if you’re five miles from the next closest station, is it a half gallon, but three gallons if you’re 50 miles away? Does time of day make a difference, or the car model and it’s EPA efficiency?
What she should have done was cycle through turning the key on, waiting a few seconds, and turning the key back off. If you have your interior fans turned off, you can usually hear your fuel pump turn on ~0.5 seconds after you turn the key to ON. Having run out of gas it may take your fuel pump a few tries to get enough fuel system pressurized and enough fuel to the engine.
BTW, this is one reason even with high gas prices you should fill up your tank. If you tank is full the weight of the gas helps pressurize the fuel system. Consistently running with low amounts of fuel makes your pump work harder and fail quicker.
In the 10 years I have been driving, I’ve only run out of gas once, and I wasn’t far from home. My gas gauge was telling me that I had a bit above empty and it was completely empty, so it is possible to have a faulty gas gauge. But I was on a road close to home and this is the highway. It all depends on where I’m going and how long I’m driving, but I generally don’t take the freeway if I have less than a quarter tank of gas.
That being said, leaving someone stranded in the middle of the highway is pretty low. I’d take the refund and go with AAA