I did a search but nothing came up, which is odd, bc i am sure there have had to be discussions on it. But anyway, i have a new used trailer( Brenderup 2005) and a new used car (Honda Pilot 2018 with tow package) for hauling. I am considering US Rider ins., But i have heard varying info. Some people say it’s not good everywhere. Some parts of the country it’s not helpful? IDK. Have you ever used it, and did they help you?
I have had it for years. Last week was the first time I tried to use it for a car emergency.
I ended up canceling my request for a tow after a 3 hour wait because my husband drove up and was able to repair the transmission in the parking lot where I was stranded. When I canceled, I found out it was going to be at least another hour.
Based on that experience plus the reviews I have heard from others, it’s not bad to have, but be aware of their limitations. In my case, help was “on the way,“ but it certainly wasn’t coming in any sort of timely manner, leaving me stranded in a parking lot with an infant.
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I’ve heard bad reports but never experienced a poor response. In fact, in the three times we’ve needed help, it’s been fast. Just keys locked - a flat tire and needing tow. Never with live horses. We live outside Columbus Ohio so close to metro. Just renewed my annual the other day.
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I’ve used mine a few times very routine, not-trailer-related things (flat tire, keys locked in car) and have never had an issue. That said - incidents were along the I-95 corridor - i.e. a heavily trafficked area where I could probably have gotten myself quick help too.
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Have had for years. Used for multiple issues. Sometimes service was slow sometimes not, but not any slower than any other road side service I’ve used. I’m in NW Indiana. I’ve found it to be a good value.
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I have had US Rider for years and have only ever needed it for passenger car issues. I do recall once having a 2 hour wait for a rollback tow (it was a 30 mile tow) but the other instances were timely. I will keep it until they give me a reason to do otherwise. I am in South Central PA.
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Same, decent experience for passenger car issues. Also in southern central PA near I 83. Appreciate the piece of mind when towing, even if imperfect.
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I’d had pretty good luck with them until the last time, about a month ago. I was absolutely NOT in a remote location, and it took them 3 hours to find a tow service, and then another hour before the tow service arrived. And this was for a passenger car. I told the CS supervisor that it was incredibly lucky that it was a car, and not a loaded trailer stranded alongside a busy highway in the 90 degree heat.
My guess is that their reimbursement rate sucks in many areas, so they can’t find services willing to handle their calls.
Since I don’t tow horses anymore, I will likely not renew and go back to AAA for my passenger vehicles.
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I have had to call them twice. Once they took 5 or 6 hours to get me a jump for a dead battery in Calgary. Color me not impressed given my easy location, and I wound up getting in contact with the tow company directly which is what finally got them there. Then I had a tire blow out on the way to Thermal in a remote part of I-5 and I wound up having 5 lug nut wrenches that did not fit my tires (facepalm). So needed help desperately with a fully loaded trailer…though at least was able to get to a gas station to wait for help. It happened in the middle of the night and USRider’s answer was basically, “sorry, can’t help, best of luck.” So my expectation now is that it is the exception when they can help, not the rule.
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@rothmpp That sounds like my experience. My location was in a rural town with multiple tow truck companies. Not a big city, but it’s not like I was in the middle of nowhere miles from civilization. I was in a business’ parking lot. The tow truck that was “coming” was from a garage a mile down the road of my location. I know because after I cancelled my request for service, they never told the tow truck driver. He called to tell me it was going to be another hour. I told him I was so sorry but I had cancelled. He was pretty ticked off, understandably.
Knowing the garage the truck was coming from, I strongly suspect that had I called them directly, they would have been there in a timely manner. Live and learn.
I intend to give US Rider another chance. I kind of see this experience as “strike one.” Maybe it was out of their control or they were just having a bad day. But from the reviews I’ve read, my experience isn’t so uncommon. Everything worked out fine in my case. But had I been stuck alongside a major interstate with a trailer full of horses, I probably would feel differently.
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I remember some past threads where people had switched to Trailguard after poor experiences with US Rider. I think it is more expensive, but may be worth the $. Anyone with personal experiences with Trailguard?
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With data phones in every pocket, is there any real advantage to these services? We can all google around for tow services easily now. It was a lot different 20 + years ago.
I’ve had US Rider for the years I’ve done cross country hauls. Didn’t have to use them, but the peace of mind was nice, I guess. But there are SO many stories out there about getting left, is it really worth it?
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I think yes, to a degree.
In my younger years, I was horse poor and on a tight budget, living paycheck to paycheck. Roadside services saved my butt by covering the cost of the tow, thus reducing the amount of “surprise” expense. I could budget for the membership, but my emergency funds would fluctuate, so it was nice to have “free” assistance.
Data services are still inadequate in many locations, so you may not be able to Google service providers.
Plus, I know I’m stressed when something goes wrong. It’s good peace of mind to have a third party handling the searching for service. Of course, not so helpful when they fail you or take hours to accomplish what you could have done yourself in minutes.
US Rider is still cheap enough that I make up a fair amount of the fee in membership discounts. But if they raise their rates without improvement in services, I don’t think the benefits will make up for the cost.
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I don’t know about US Rider or AAA, but I have roadside assistance through my insurance company, for something like $9/year per vehicle. I pay the bill and then submit the receipts and am reimbursed. Well worth it. Just had to use it Sunday for a flat tire.
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For most people, it is about getting roadside service when you are in a unfamiliar area, or as @Texarkana said, areas with poor data service. Plus, if you don’t have a roadside service, a privately acquired tow/roadside service can be incredibly expensive. Like - just to hook up and tow 5 miles can be a $200 bill. I had a friend who needed to get a 200ish mile tow for blown transmission. It was $800.
I had it - until i realized that they don’t help you if you are more than 1000’ off the road. All of my farms have long enough driveways that have precluded them from coming to help me for Jumps/ help at my farm.
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I’ve called them twice. The first time I had a horse on the trailer and was broken down on an on ramp. It took hours for the tow truck to arrive. By then I had a friend come pick up the horse. Thank God a nice policeman kept checking on us while we waited and stopped traffic so the transfer went smoothly. We are in a very horsey area so USRider who claims to have providers who can handle our needs should have had someone local to send. Right? Wrong. The tow truck driver told me they just google until they find someone who agrees to take the call. My guy came out from Philly. Oh, and if my friend hadn’t picked up our horse it would have cost me $900 to get him towed the 20 minutes back home. Blamed it on his insurance company. 🙄
Second time was when we were at the Devon Fall Classic. Trailer had a damaged tire that I noticed when I dropped it at remote parking. Called first thing in the morning and they were to update me so I could meet the driver. Hours went by and no word. I called back - they were getting someone else. The third time they hadn’t bothered to call to tell me the driver had canceled and they were going to have someone come from Philly again. I told them to forget it. My husband ended up changing it as he offered to do from the start. But I wanted to give USRider a second chance.
I leave them an honest but horrible review each time and they extend the membership for a few
months. I think it’s finally expired.
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I’ve had mixed experiences with them, but they are the only game in town if you need help with a trailer aside from trail guard, although I have thought about switching. They did finally show up to change a trailer tire on the trailer, but they were very slow. Usually we use AAA for car related stuff, they are usually faster.
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I’ve had them in the past and with normal stuff (locked keys in car) they were about the same as any roadside service. I’ve never needed them for a trailer emergency so I can’t comment. I do know they only allow 2 service calls per membership year before you get charged extra for the service.
However I will also say that one time when I didn’t have USR, AAA came out when I had a flat on my trailer. I had a spare but didn’t have tools to get it off the wall. AAA charged me over $100 to change the flat on the trailer. The driver refused to take the tire down so I could change myself. He said it was company policy. So I did have a little peace of mind by having USR when I did.
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I am confused by your last statement. You said AAA came to help, but then you said you were glad you had USR. But USR didn’t help you with the flat tire.
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