jaysigel Report post Posted July 18, 2021 On Thursday, July 8th, our engine overheated on our diesel pusher as we were returning from a vacation. We pulled over from I-45 just on the north side of Houston, about 30 miles from our home. Suspecting a coolant hose rupture, we called for help from the FMCA Road Rescue (RR) service. They sent a mechanic who arrived in his sedan without any tools. He said he couldn't help us outside his shop. We called the RR back and asked for a tow at 6:30 PM. They kept promising 90-120 minutes. They seemed unable to cope with large RVs (ours is 38'). They said that they arranged for several towing companies who couldn't handle our size vehicle. Finally, they found one, but he refused to come until RR would authorize the tow. RR said that they had authorized him to tow us 3 times. He finally arrived at 9:30 AM the next day. That was 15 hours after we asked for a tow!!! In order to tow us, he had to disconnect the drive shaft. We were towed 15 miles to the repair shop and then the driver asked us for payment, $2380, even though RR had authorized it. We paid it and then submitted the paperwork to RR for reimbursement, but we have not yet been reimbursed. Today, with the coolant hose replaced and coolant added, we started driving to our home, just 25 miles away from the shop. The drive shaft had been reconnected. After about 4 miles, the vehicle started shaking and I heard a scraping sound on the pavement. I stopped and turned off the engine. Looking under the vehicle, the drive shaft had become disconnected and the U-joint was broken off. We were stuck in a left-turn lane while attempting to get onto I-69 in west Houston. The shop sent over a mechanic to try to replace the drive shaft on the street, but there were no available parts on a Saturday afternoon. We called RR to arrange for a tow back to the shop. The first wrecker said that we were too large. Another said that he could be there in 90-120 minutes. Then the Houston police arrived. They said that they couldn't have us waiting up to 2 hours for our wrecker to arrive while we were blocking traffic. The city had called in a heavy duty wrecker. The police couldn't tell us which wrecker would arrive. When the wrecker arrived 30 minutes later, we immediately called RR to see if they would authorize the tow. They refused because the police had called for the wrecker and RR was quite rude about it. The 2nd tow 4 miles back to the shop cost us another $1100. These 2 experiences with FMCA's Road Rescue have been terrible. I cannot recommend them. I have sent several messages to FMCA about this and have yet to receive a response. Beware. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
manholt Report post Posted July 18, 2021 Sorry you fell thru the crack twice! Like insurance, we go shopping for RR every 3 years, as a back up to our insurance RR, we are now on Coach Net. Yes, it cost more $$$ than GS, AAA or FMCA RR....but with CN you get what you pay for! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
