Roadside assistance - who pays?

[ShadowLady]

Yeah, I pay about $75 for AAA-deluxe, free towing up to 100 miles, 4 free services per year.  That includes tows, jumping the battery, changing a tire, things like that.

Tom should get something like that.

[artk2002]

In this particular instance, the car owner pays. The only reason the non-owner would pay is if they were borrowing the car or if the owner was doing something the non-owner a favor (even then it might be negotiable).

Best example I have of a favor: my boss’ car dies, he asks if I have jumper cables, I do, I go outside to help him jump his car, and his battery drains my battery.

I call AAA, they tell me I need a new battery, I pay for it, Boss then gives me cash. Because his vampire battery killed my car.

In this case, I don't think your boss should have paid the entire bill. Your boss's car's battery probably didn't kill yours. Chances are, it was already on its last legs and was going to have to be replaced soon anyway.

My battery was only 6 months old at the time. And I didn't ask him to repay me, he just did.

He then went and spent a couple hundred dollars at the repair shop b/c something more than just the battery was wrong with his car.

I'm very surprised by a couple of things here. First, there's no way a jump, if done properly, should have drained your battery. You did have your car running during this, right? If you did, then I'd say that there was something wrong with your alternator.

Second, a 6 month old battery, even if drained, should be rechargable. And if it didn't recharge, I'd be going back to the place that sold it to me asking for a replacement because that is a defective battery. 2-33 years is typical for a warranty on a battery with 100% replacement. After that it is prorated by the age of the battery.

[Outdoor Girl]

My Dad taught me to jump a car with my car NOT running.  Because then it is just the battery that gets drained if something isn't properly hooked up.  If it improperly hooked up and your car is running, it can damage your alternator.

So I'm wondering if something was cross connected?

[artk2002]

My Dad taught me to jump a car with my car NOT running.  Because then it is just the battery that gets drained if something isn't properly hooked up.  If it improperly hooked up and your car is running, it can damage your alternator.

So I'm wondering if something was cross connected?

Interesting. I've always jumped with the car running. If you don't hook it up right, you get a big shower of sparks so I'm not sure what your dad was concerned about.

Edit: I typed "battery jump with car running" into Google and the first 7 sites that came up all said to have the good car running. Two of those were on insurance company sites and I think that they have a vested interest in getting it right.

[Outdoor Girl]

It's been a while since I jumped a car but I've never had a problem doing it with the car not running.  In fact, I jumped my landlady's car twice in the span of a couple of days.  Her husband was at work and she was stranded.  He realized that they needed a new battery after the second issue.  My car was fine; I traded it in a couple years later with that same battery.  Maybe it was the shower of sparks that made my Dad nervous and he wanted me to avoid that but he definitely mentioned alternator issues if the jumping car was running and the cables weren't hooked up correctly.

I'd have to read the instructions again to make sure but my cables indicated to hook the +ve to the +ve and hook the -ve on the dead battery to the frame on the jumping vehicle.  I think it is less likely to have an issue doing it this way.  Maybe that's why they introduced those directions.

Please note:  I know next to nothing about cars, even though I still drive a stick.  I can check the oil, I can add windshield washer fluid and I can dial the phone to make an appointment to have my oil changed twice a year (not much mileage and synthetic 'oil' used).   

[johelenc1]

I'm really curious as to what prompted this post originally.  Is the OP the car owner or the friend:-)?