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Best Roadside Service is an auto club with all calls answered in the US. Get the best service at the best price with Best Roadside Service, serving consumer and commercial needs in the US and Canada since 1985!

What Information Should You Have Ready When In Need Of Roadside Breakdown Cover

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Roadside Breakdown Cover

If you own a vehicle, having some form of roadside breakdown cover is essential in the case of an emergency while on the road. Aside from the peace of mind this service can offer, having a support system in place will help you properly manage a roadside emergency.

When experiencing a vehicular issue, roadside assistance insurance and coverage will ensure help reaches you, but there are some steps you can take to help expedite the process. Breakdowns can be frustrating experiences, but the importance of knowing what you should do in these events is paramount. When calling a roadside assistance service, there is a fair amount of information that you should be ready to provide that can help save you time and stress.

What to Have Ready When Calling Your Roadside Assistance Service

When an emergency strikes, and you need to call your roadside assistance number, some of the most important details you should know include:

  • Your location – The first thing your roadside assistance provider will typically want to know is your current location. Luckily, this is made a lot easier with technology, and the easiest way is to simply check the GPS on a mobile device. However, in situations where that option is unavailable, finding the nearest street intersection can provide the necessary information. In cases where you might be on the highway, look for markers along the side of the road. They are usually placed every 1/10th of a mile and many have a decimal number corresponding to an exact location on the road.
  • Model and condition of car – To more easily identify your vehicle, knowing the exact make and model is crucial. This information may also include year, color, and other manufacturing details that can usually be found in your car. The condition is also important to know. Informing your roadside assistance provider the exact cause of your breakdown can help a lot, whether it’s an engine issue or a flat tire. This way your provider can dispatch the appropriate response.
  • Repair location – Another very helpful piece of information to know is an automobile repair shop location where you usually service your vehicle. Knowing the address can help the service bring your car to a preferred location in the fastest time possible, and even calling them ahead of time can expedite the repair process if necessary. If you’re unsure where you usually service a vehicle, you can always find the nearest spot to your current location, or your home.

Call Best Roadside Service 

Best Roadside Service is the #1 authority in emergency roadside service and breakdown cover. We provide consumer plans to assist you in the event that your vehicle becomes disabled due to unforeseen circumstances. With two different types of roadside assistance plans, we cover cars, trucks, SUVs, vans, and even motorcycles and scooters.

Our plans include services such as:

  • Tow services up to 75 miles
  • 3-gallon fuel delivery service
  • 24 hour repair and rescue service
  • 24 hour trip and routing service
  • $100 reimbursement for lost keys

Whether it’s for an individual or a company fleet, our plans are made to fit your unique needs while on the road. Our two most popular plans are the Vehicle Roadside Assistance Plan and the Individual Roadside Assistance Plan. Vehicle Roadside Assistance Plans cover the vehicle, regardless of who is driving, making it the perfect choice for commercial entities, with coverage starting at just $6 per month. Our Individual Roadside Assistance Plans follow the member, no matter what vehicle they’re in, even if they are not driving.

Learn more about our exceptional services today to find out what makes us the leading roadside assistance service, or contact us today for questions or to receive a quote.

The Two Most Common Roadside Emergencies And How You Can Be Prepared

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Car Emergencies

The Two Most Common Roadside Emergencies And How You Can Be Prepared 

When it comes to roadside emergencies, you can never be too prepared. While there are many, possible unexpected circumstances you can experience on the road, there are two common emergencies we should always be prepared for: a flat tire and a dead battery.

Keep reading to learn some helpful tips for roadside emergencies and what you should do when dealing with either of these two situations.

How to Handle the 2 Most Common Roadside Car Emergencies

Two of the most common car emergencies include:

  • Changing a Flat Tire

Even though flat tires don’t seem that bad compared to other emergencies, they can lead to potentially dangerous situations.

Prevention is key to avoiding a flat tire, however, sometimes it just happens. Make sure to have these items in your car if you ever have a flat tire:

  • A jack
  • Lug wrench
  • Fully inflated spare tire
  • Vehicle owner’s manual

Instructions for changing a flat tire:

  1. Locate the spare tire: Spare tires are usually under the trunk or on the back of the vehicle. Place on the ground near the flat tire.
  2. Remove hubcap: Use the lug wrench from the jack and use it to loosen the hubcap and remove it from the flat tire.
  3. Lift wheel: Use the jack to lift the wheel off the ground
  4. Loosen lug nuts: Use jack to loosen lug nuts from tire, but don’t remove yet
  5. Raise vehicle: Use the jack to lift the vehicle
  6. Remove lug nuts: Finish removing lug nuts
  7. Remove tire: Remove and place somewhere safe
  8. Place spare tire: Line up the holes with the bolts
  9. Place lug nuts: Put back the lug nuts onto the bolts and turn counterclockwise until secure\
  10. Lower vehicle: Lower vehicle and remove jack

2. Dead Battery

To prevent a dead battery, make sure to always turn off lights in a car, close doors all the way, and turn off the radio when it’s not in use.

If you have a dead battery, you can try jump-starting it. Be extra careful when jump-starting any vehicle and do not attempt to jump-start your car if the battery is cracked or leaking.

To jump-start a dead battery:

  1. Park the car nose-to-nose or directly next to another car.
  2. Take the red, positive jump clamp and connect to the good vehicle first, and then the one with the dead battery.
  3. Repeat this step with the black, negative cable.
  4. Start the engine of the good vehicle and allow it to charge the battery for around 10 minutes.

Roadside Emergency Kit

Never hit the road without a roadside emergency kit, which should include:

  • Jumper cables
  • Flares or triangle reflectors
  • A quart or more of motor oil
  • First-aid kit
  • Blanket or space blanket
  • Flashlight and extra batteries
  • Tire pressure gauge
  • Paper towels
  • Spray bottle with washer fluid
  • Dry or canned food
  • Bottled water

Best Roadside Service Can Assist You With All Your Car Emergencies 

Consider signing up for a roadside service program like Best Roadside Service, an American-owned and operated company providing customers with the best individual and commercial vehicle roadside assistance plans available at competitive prices. Our service works in any location throughout the United States and Canada.

We offer some of the best services in the roadside assistance industry including towing, lockout and lost key services, flat tire services, fuel delivery, and dead battery services.

How Can Commercial Fleet Roadside Assistance Benefit Your Business?

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Commercial Fleet Roadside Assistance

Commercial fleet roadside assistance plans are essential for both small and large businesses seeking cost-efficient methods of protecting their fleets. For business owners who may heavily rely on transportation, keeping your vehicles, and therefore your drivers, safe is sometimes the most important factor in maintaining overall efficiency.

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Protect Your Drivers With Roadside Insurance Coverage

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Roadside Insurance Coverage

Roadside insurance coverage helps businesses ensure that their drivers always have the support they need in case of an emergency, or a vehicle breakdown. The best coverage plans can provide drivers with towing, assistance with electrical issues, jumpstart services, fuel delivery, and so much more.

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What Does Roadside Assistance Cover?

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What Does Roadside Assistance Cover So, what does roadside assistance cover? Regardless if you’re a business owner or an individual, emergency roadside assistance can and will save you in a bind. It can cover everything from motorcycles and trucks to your mother’s ancient station wagon. Did you know that for every year you own your car, the chances of it breaking down increase dramatically? Incidents like tire blowouts, running out of gas, and breaking down on a highway miles from an exit are dangerous, but you can eliminate that danger with one of the roadside plans from Best Roadside Service. Since 1962, we have provided outstanding roadside services to over 15 million members across the United States and Canada.

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How to Change a Flat Tire

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How to Change a Flat Tire

Knowing how to change a flat tire is an important skill for all drivers. While hopefully, you’ll never be in the situation of having to do it on your own (that’s what roadside tire service is for, after all), it’s still smart to know the ins and outs of changing a flat tire — just in case you find yourself in a real bind.

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Winter Isn’t Coming, It’s Already Here

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Many Games of Thrones fans are disappointed this week when HBO confirmed the final season of the hit show won’t arrive until sometime in 2019. However, If you look at the cold weather and the snow across much of the United States this week, you will see that winter is already here. The team at Best Roadside Service is urging its motorists to make sure their vehicles are road-ready for the cold weather.

Approximately 22 percent of all motorists who live in colder climates across the United States are worried about whether or not their vehicles will break down while out driving in winter weather. Many are worried that their cars won’t start. Over half of them won’t have any vehicle maintenance done prior to the winter weather.

However, planning ahead and taking the time to prepare your car and being ready for winter weather can not only save time, it can save lives.

Here are 10 tips from Best Roadside Service to ensure your vehicle is ready for winter.

1. Test the battery. Ensure that it’s fully charged and in peak maintenance.

2. Ensure that the brakes are working properly. Apply them smoothly to ensure that the wheels won’t lock up on slick surfaces.

3. Rotate the tires prior to winter and make sure that the tire pressure is at the right levels. Remember that your air pressure will decrease for every 10-degree drop in the temperature.

4. Use the proper tire size for your vehicle. Tires that are too wide will float on the snow thus, reducing the grip.

5. Most cars in colder climates require engine coolant that will offer anti-freeze protection down to the lower temperatures for the region. -34 degrees is a good guideline.

6. Change wiper blades. Newer blades work better on slushy snow.

7. Get the oil changed, check windshield washer solvent and make sure all fluid levels are properly set.

8. Keep the gas tank filled at least halfway to help reduce condensation that can lead to the gas line freezing up. If your fuel doesn’t already have alcohol, use a line “dryer” additive every few tanks to ensure that it won’t freeze up.

9. If you’re traveling great distances, carry a winter driving kit with you in the car. It should include some sand or cat litter for traction, a small snow shovel, traction mats, snow brush, basic car repair kit, washer solvent for the windshield, ice scraper, a flashlight with fresh batteries, a roll of paper toweling or a few towels, blankets, extra clothing, warning devices such as flares or triangles, jumper cables, snacks and drinking water.

10. Keep in mind that you should also have a cell phone and a car charger. Make sure that important numbers are all programmed into the cell phone. You’ll want to include family members, your insurance agency number and any other important numbers including Best Roadside Service emergency road services at 1-800-480-2812 x 3.

Common Vehicle Maintenace Mistakes

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car maintenance

Proper vehicle maintenance is a combination of professional mechanical work as well as small and consistent DIY pest practices on the part of the owner. Nevertheless, both sides can still be responsible for some of the most common errors made when maintaining cars.

Car owners are advised consistently to practice good maintenance skills in the light that cars are one of the most valuable investments anyone can make. It can still be expected that mistakes will happen eventually.

To ensure that your car is not a bad investment and big regret, it is essential that you practice a stringent ritual of maintenance and attention to detail. The following article will highlight some of the most common maintenance errors and provide crucial solutions to avoiding these issues.

1. Overlooking the finer details

Never forget that the smallest things can really add up in the future when it comes to addressing the details of car maintenance. From the correct startup to the way you replace the wipers on the car, the small and seemingly mundane will affect the whole in the long run. This is the main reason motorist begin having problems with their cars, simply neglecting the smallest aspects of maintenance.

2. Neglecting the air filter

Never assume that the important air filter can simply be cleaned and the task of addressing this component is done. Replacing the car’s air filter is something that must be done on a regular basis. Once the level of dirt begins to obstruct air flow, a change of filter is essential. These are fairly generic features and available in just about any auto parts store? With this in mind, anyone who suffers a choked engine can know that this negligence could easily have been avoided.

3. Skipping on inspecting car fluids

Motorists can do a serious disservice by simply not attending to the correct adding of essential motor fluids. The motor oils are one of the essential fluids that should be changed and the damage caused by engines running with no oils is always detrimental. To make sure your car is in the best working condition keep your engine’s oil at the proper levels and changed regularly. To ensure your car never suffers any of these malfunctions, keep your engines fluids at their proper levels.

4. Overlooking brake pads

Suffering from worn and old brake pads can be a problem for a careless motorist. A good portion of the time, improper brake pads can contribute to the poor performance of a car’s steering system. Not replacing brake pads can place your car at an extreme risk and can be the cause of a severe accident. To avoid all this upset, have your brake pads checked and changed at the first signs of wear and tear.

5. Overlooking tire conditions

Many different things can happen when you neglect the tires of your car. The first and most critical result can be a blowout or other vehicular catastrophes. Tires that are not rotated frequently and those that are not kept to the correct tire pressure can also become a hazard to the smooth running of the car. The consequences for ignoring the tire’s and their conditions are serious. Make sure these tires are in excellent conditions before you attempt to head out on the roads.

6. Driving with an overheated engine

Why a driver would insist on getting to their destination when the car is obviously in a bad way is almost incredible. If an engine is showing signs of overheating it should be taken off the road and out of motion immediately or flirt with the disaster of a flaming engine barreling down the road. Yes, you will be out of commission for some time, but you will also be back on your way as soon as the issue has been addressed.

7. Proceeding with DIY without proper knowledge

Proper maintenance is a DIY thing. By the same measure, if this maintenance is applied without care, attention to detail or know-how, the results can be as bad as if no maintenance were applied at all. If you are unsure about what to do, you should always rely on professional help and care if you come to a halt in some inconvenient location.

8. Ignoring your windshield wipers

It is important to address every small aspect of car maintenance to ensure that nothing goes unchecked. The windshield wipers of your car are a good example of something that should be taken care of regularly. With the passage of time these wipers tend to become more brittle and then they can lead to a scratched windshield and larger more expensive repairs. It pays to take the time to avoid these issues with a little replacement now and then.

9. Neglecting your tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) warning light

The TPMS light is an important indication of impending disaster if you are not fast with an effective response. Unless you want hands on experience in dealing with a tire blowout, be sure you always keep your tires at the correct pressure indicated in your car owner’s manual or the tire’s indications. You can also take your car to the nearest tire service center and have your tire aligned and adjusted to perfection which will improve the overall functionality of your vehicle.

10. Disregarding the Check Engine warning light

Go ahead speed on down the road totally ignoring the “check engine” light frantically bleeping it’s warning of impending doom. This act of complacency may seem to go unpunished in the short time but, you can also find yourself stranded on the side of the road with a car heading  to the junkyard if not the mechanical ICU. The check engine light may be a serious problem, or something very minor, but it is important to act quickly to avoid all sorts of damage.

Following this checklist can help ensure that you’re not stuck on the side of the road. However, accidents do happen. Emergency roadside assistance plans can eliminate costly tows and cover expenses for lost keys or lockouts, running out of gas, and dead batteries. Purchasing a plan through Best Roadside Service includes benefits such as fluid top offs, fuel delivery, flat tire service, and lost key and lockout service. Additionally, with a quick call to our emergency hotline all your service provider needs can be located in one place, and with the right plan, fast response times will eliminate wait time. One call to Best Roadside Service will have help on the way quickly with an average response time of just 34 minutes.