It *is* an interesting question.
In their home area, I would expect people to have their own favourite mechanic. Even if it's just the local $maker's dealer, or the quick-lube-&-tyres place they visit to have the basics done. They also probably know people who, in a pinch, could come to pick them up or even give them a ghetto tow. So the need for a "club" to handle those details for them is not so high.
However, given the sparse density of railways in America, cars are also heavily used for longer-distance journeys. There are lots of places where, in the event of a breakdown, the nearest garage of any sort might be dozens of miles away, and it probably won't be one with a recognisable name. It's not at all guaranteed that, in such a place, the average consumer would be able to locate it. A "club" would not only have access to a directory of such places indexed by location, but would also have built up a sense of their reputation. In theory, anyway.
Motoring clubs in Britain also tend to offer perks beyond mere breakdown service; they also tend to operate their own tow vehicles in most areas, rather than subcontracting. The two biggest ones, at least, run their own driving schools. At least one of them emphasises that the *member* is covered, rather than the *vehicle* - so it is common for parents to buy their children memberships, so that they can get whatever vehicle they're travelling in sorted out if they happen to go visiting.
I honestly don't know if American clubs offer similar perks.
In their home area, I would expect people to have their own favourite mechanic. Even if it's just the local $maker's dealer, or the quick-lube-&-tyres place they visit to have the basics done. They also probably know people who, in a pinch, could come to pick them up or even give them a ghetto tow. So the need for a "club" to handle those details for them is not so high.
However, given the sparse density of railways in America, cars are also heavily used for longer-distance journeys. There are lots of places where, in the event of a breakdown, the nearest garage of any sort might be dozens of miles away, and it probably won't be one with a recognisable name. It's not at all guaranteed that, in such a place, the average consumer would be able to locate it. A "club" would not only have access to a directory of such places indexed by location, but would also have built up a sense of their reputation. In theory, anyway.
Motoring clubs in Britain also tend to offer perks beyond mere breakdown service; they also tend to operate their own tow vehicles in most areas, rather than subcontracting. The two biggest ones, at least, run their own driving schools. At least one of them emphasises that the *member* is covered, rather than the *vehicle* - so it is common for parents to buy their children memberships, so that they can get whatever vehicle they're travelling in sorted out if they happen to go visiting.
I honestly don't know if American clubs offer similar perks.
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